The Chisago County Board is expected Wednesday to take a fresh look at its decision in December to reject a Muslim cemetery after learning that the U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation of the north metro county for religious discrimination.
The County Board also faces the threat of civil litigation from the state's Muslim community. County officials are aware that a south metro township that turned down a Muslim cemetery had that decision rejected in the courts.
All sides were reticent on Tuesday about the case, especially after it emerged that one of Chisago's five county commissioners won't be at the special meeting because she's hospitalized in critical condition after a freeway crash.
But it is known that the County Board met behind closed doors last week to consider its options before calling a special meeting for Wednesday — open to the public — to reconsider the case.
In an e-mail message, County Administrator Bruce Messelt confirmed that Chisago County is being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice on its "zoning and land use practices pursuant to the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act," which protects against religious discrimination.
The cemetery is being sought by European rather than Middle Eastern Muslims, but has nonetheless been the subject of virulent objections locally on social media and in other quarters. The request came from Minneapolis Muslims of Bosnian origins who were looking for affordable land within reasonable distance of the metro area.
The proposed site is south of Chisago City, in a rural township just north of the Washington County line.
Just before Christmas, the Chisago board voted 3-2 to deny the request, even though the county's planning commission recommended the project and the county's staff backed it.