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Politics and Government News
Kirsti Marohn

Longtime Stearns County commissioner at center of dispute over competency resigns

man in headshot
Leigh Lenzmeier, who’s served on the Stearns County Board for 34 years, announced Wednesday, April 23, that he is resigning his seat.
Courtesy of Stearns County

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A longtime Stearns County commissioner has resigned amid a legal dispute over his mental competency. 

In a letter to county officials and his constituents on Wednesday, Leigh Lenzmeier announced he is retiring from the county board, effective immediately. 

Lenzmeier, 77, has represented District 4 in the city of St. Cloud for 34 years. He has suffered ongoing health problems. For the past year, he has been in an assisted living facility in Buffalo, about 35 miles southeast of St. Cloud, and attended county meetings virtually.

Earlier this month, a judge granted Lenzmeier’s wife temporary emergency guardianship. His wife argued he was no longer able to fulfill his commissioner duties due to cognitive decline.

A judge held a closed hearing Wednesday to hear arguments about extending that guardianship permanently. 

In his letter, Lenzmeier said he is proud of his service on the board. 

“No one wants to quickly step aside from anything that is special to them,” he wrote. “This was not an easy decision, or a quick one for me to make. But, I realize today, it is the right thing to do for me, my family, the board and the residents of my district and Stearns County as a whole.”

The county board was scheduled to hold a special meeting on Monday to discuss Lenzmeier’s future on the board. That meeting will now be canceled.

At a county board meeting on Tuesday, Chair Jeff Bertram said he has received more contact from constituents about Lenzmeier than anything else during his two years on the board, and called it “painful.”

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve cried about this, because it hurts me as a person,” Bertram said. “But again, we have to separate the person from the process.”

County Administrator Mike Williams said the county board likely will set a special election in November to fill Lenzmeier's seat.