The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is in crisis, hemorrhaging attorneys at a rate that would make even a fast-food chain flinch.
That’s according to AFSCME Local 2938, a labor union that represents Hennepin County attorneys and legal support staff. In contract negotiation documents from August, the union warned that even with immediate pay adjustments, it could take years—if not decades—for some divisions within the office to regain “their pre-2023 levels of proficiency, professionalism, and recognized statewide leadership among fellow county attorneys’ offices.”
“Building a best-in-class public law office requires decades of careful hiring, training, and promotion. That progress can be undone in a matter of months as key personnel voluntarily leave. That is the nature of the current crisis at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office,” the union wrote in those documents.
The county’s Youth Prosecution Division has been hit especially hard, losing 10 of its 21 attorneys between February and October 2023—an annualized turnover rate of nearly 63%, according to AFSCME.
“A fast-food restaurant would struggle to operate with such a high turnover rate,” the union said. “This turnover at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is destabilizing.”
A source with inside knowledge of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office spoke to Alpha News on the condition of anonymity and detailed both the scale and the underlying reasons for the turnover.
“At the beginning of 2024, the Adult Prosecution Division had 37 assistant attorneys. As of now, 11 have left, and another six have transferred to other divisions. That means about a third of the attorneys have exited in less than a year,” the source stated.
Shortly after the interview, the source said a 12th attorney resigned.
Volume of cases leads to burnout
According to the source, attorneys in the Adult Prosecution Division, which handles violent crimes committed by adults, are carrying overwhelming caseloads.
“Every [assistant] attorney is handling 100 violent crime cases on average,” the source explained. “On Mondays, they have between four to seven trials set per person. It’s unsustainable.”
Assistant attorneys handle all homicides, sexual assaults, sex trafficking, domestic assaults, severe burglaries, and carjackings.
“They look at homicides, child abuse, and sexual assault photos on a daily basis,” said the source.
Adding to the burden is the lack of adequate onboarding for new hires.
New people are thrown into the deep end with little guidance, “working nights and weekends without compensation,” the source added.
Pay disparities worsen morale
The exodus at the county attorney’s office is further fueled by pay disparities, as the source reports that new hires under County Attorney Mary Moriarty are being paid more than existing staff at the same level.
According to the source, this has created frustration and resentment among attorneys who feel undervalued despite their dedication. Contributing to the turnover is recent, and substantial, pay raises for Minnesota public defenders.
Amid the pay disparity and turnover crisis, the County Board approved a 15% pay increase for the embattled Moriarty—raising her annual salary from $195,065 to $224,000 by 2025. The Board of Commissioners also approved pay raises for themselves and the Hennepin County sheriff.
Union pushes for better pay
Adam Tomczik, president of AFSCME Local 2938, told Alpha News the union is currently in mediation for contract negotiations for better pay and manageable workloads, so he was unable to comment at this time.
Vacancies impact everyone in the legal system, from victims to defendants, Tomczik stated earlier this year in an interview with the Star Tribune. “Nobody benefits from an underfunded legal system.”
That article notes that there were 60 people who left the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office in 2023, but 70 new people were hired.
However, according to the union, “public-sector attorneys require at least five years to become proficient in their roles, and they generally require 7 to 12 years of experience before they can move into informal, non-supervisory positions of expertise or leadership within their division.”
“The good news is that the leaders of the three Hennepin County public law offices all support higher wages for attorneys and legal staff,” Tomczik told the Star Tribune. “Our leaders realize that this is a crisis that will not improve without attention.”
Once a benchmark of excellence, the office fights to recover
Once a gold standard for public-sector attorneys, the office now faces an uphill battle to restore its expertise and leadership.
“Hennepin County has always been the biggest, the best, and the brightest in this business,” stated the source, who explained why some attorneys choose public-sector work over private law firms.
“There is a passion to be a traditional prosecutor—someone who cares about public safety, holds people who think they’re above the law accountable, and fights for those who cannot speak for themselves,” they added.
Alpha News reached out to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office for comment but did not receive a response. “I’ve fought for salary parity in the past and am doing so now for our staff,” Moriarty previously told the Star Tribune.
Jenna Gloeb
Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.
