Wabasha County board tries to dock prosecutor’s pay over plea bargains

A simmering conflict between the top elected prosecutor in a rural county south of the Twin Cities and the board that controls his budget erupted in public this week. The Wabasha County Board of Commissioners took the highly unusual and likely illegal step of attempting to cut County Attorney Matt Stinson’s pay by more than $20,000. 

Board members were aware that state law bars them from cutting Stinson’s salary in the middle of his term, but on Tuesday a 3-2 majority voted for the pay reduction because they wanted to send the prosecutor a message about what they see as his poor job performance.

The county board says Stinson — who narrowly defeated his predecessor in an election in 2022 — is resolving too many criminal cases with lenient plea deals and is not responding to the county’s other legal needs in a timely way.

“The citizens of this county are not getting what they’re paying for at this point, and I hope that improves in the future,” Commissioner Don Springer said in the meeting. “I don’t feel that the citizens of this county are safe, especially women and children.”

Stinson had asked the county board to boost his salary to more than $150,000, citing market conditions. Instead, Springer made the motion to reduce it from $130,900 to $110,000. 

“I do wish the individual commissioners who had voted in favor of this resolution had come to me to discuss things beforehand,” Stinson said in a phone interview with MPR News.

Stinson said he was surprised by the vote. Springer sent him a list of questions about his job performance, and Stinson said he requested a meeting but never heard back. 

While county boards control the budget for local prosecutors’ offices, the law makes it clear that the board can’t cut the county attorney’s pay until their term is over.

Stinson said that he found it “concerning” that the board found it “worthwhile to go forward with violating the law in this way.”

‘A pro-police candidate’

Stinson was admitted to the Minnesota bar 10 years ago. He practiced as a criminal defense attorney and part-time public defender before running for county attorney. He defeated long-serving incumbent Karrie Kelly, winning by 139 votes, or a little more than 1 percent.

Stinson positioned himself as “a pro-police candidate” and promised “to improve trust between the Sheriff’s Department and the County Attorney’s Office.” Neither the sheriff nor the police chiefs of Lake City or Wabasha responded to requests for comment. But members of the board said police officers told them privately that they viewed him as “disorganized” and too willing to strike plea deals. 

Stinson told the board at a previous public meeting that his office prosecuted no jury trials in 2023, his first year in office, prompting one board member to respond, “interesting.” 

Data from the Minnesota Judicial Branch shows that jury trials in felony cases are fairly rare in Wabasha County, even before Stinson took office in 2023. Court records show no felony cases resolved by juries there in 2022 or 2020 either. There were three in 2021 and two so far this year. Stinson is prosecuting a jury trial this week in a theft-by-swindle case.

“A trial is a full week of work for at least two of the people in my office,” Stinson told the county board in early November, explaining that a plea bargain is often preferable. “Our case may not be strong enough to really sustain at trial.” He added that he didn’t think his office had a higher ratio of plea agreements to jury trials than other counties.

Kelly echoed the allegation that his plea deals have been too generous. 

One case that Stinson took over from Kelly involved a man who was caught with child sex abuse images. Kelly said she wanted him to serve 30 months in prison, but Stinson’s office struck a deal that allowed him to serve only three months in jail. 

And she pointed to another sex crime case that Stinson took over and resolved in a way that she said left the perpetrator with no jail time.

“I have communicated with so many victims over the years of domestic assault, criminal sexual conduct of all ages,” she said. “I was upset that it was resolved in that manner.”

‘Always walking in the door late’

At recent county board meetings, commissioners complained that Stinson wasn’t responsive enough when county departments asked for legal advice, didn’t reply to emails promptly and often had a full voicemail box.

“Obviously he isn’t fulfilling his responsibilities," Commissioner Rick Powers said of Stinson. “He’s always walking in the door late. Sometimes he doesn’t even show up.”

In spite of those concerns Powers voted against cutting Stinson’s pay. “I don’t believe in that, but I certainly wouldn’t give him a penny more.”

Hints of Stinson’s alleged disorganization are detailed in a pending case involving a 39-year-old man who allegedly sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl. While the case is part of the public record, MPR News is not naming the defendant to protect the identity of the alleged victim.

Defense attorney Lauren Campoli has moved to dismiss the case. She argues in court filings that Stinson’s criminal complaints lack essential facts that the law requires, including the dates and locations of many of the alleged assaults.  

According to court records, a judge asked Stinson twice — in April and October — to make the corrections. Stinson eventually filed an amended complaint in late October.

“If a judge said to me twice to do something, I would just crawl underneath the table,” Kelly said. “I just can’t imagine how you get there.” 

For his part, Stinson blamed the errors and delays on a software glitch and maintains there’s still time to make additional changes. 

Stinson said he’s still considering how he will respond to the board’s attempt to cut his pay.

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