Statement on the Recent Media Coverage Regarding Sheriff Hutchinson
Thank you to the numerous residents who have communicated with my office in the last few days. I am appalled by the recent media coverage related to Sheriff Hutchinson and the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office. In addition to past misconduct, the actions described in the articles related to creating a hostile work environment via racist and homophobic remarks and the misuse of his county-issued credit card with expenses over $17,000 in the 4 months after his accident are completely outside of the expectations of any Hennepin worker, and elected officials should operate at an even higher level of leadership.
The communications that were obtained from the Sheriff are hateful, racist, homophobic, and truly despicable. Hate has no place in our communities and when we see it, we must root it out and overtly oppose it. Further, his spending of County resources is frequent and unreasonable, a clear violation of Hennepin County policy.
As a result, I maintain and reiterate my position from January 5th: the only way to maintain the dignity of the Sheriff's office and to show respect for the laws he is sworn to uphold is for Sheriff Hutchinson to resign immediately.
I have been informed that Hennepin County Administration has an ongoing investigation on these matters, and therefore, I am not privy to many of the details. Still, I will be working diligently on residents’ behalf to:
Ensure Hennepin County’s public safety responsibilities are being met.
Support the workers who have experienced harm, discrimination, or harassment from the Sheriff.
Pursue actions to prevent future misuse of County policy and taxpayer dollars.
Consider methods of accountability for countywide elected officials who are derelict in their statutory duties.
I am grateful for the work Hennepin staff is doing, as well as for the external investigation. If new information is reported, my office will continue to engage in the necessary due diligence to receive that information, feedback, and concerns with the care it merits.
If you have further questions, comments, or concerns, please reach out to Constituent Services & Policy Aide Bill Emory at bill.emory@hennepin.us