Now-former county commissioner no longer under wife’s guardianship

ST. CLOUD – A judge has dismissed the emergency guardianship of a former central Minnesota county commissioner whose wife sought the order as his dementia worsened.

The dismissal hinged on a resolution brought to the court and agreed upon by now-retired Stearns County Commissioner Leigh Lenzmeier, his wife, Alice, and their three adult children.

Alice Lenzmeier filed for, and was granted, emergency guardianship over her husband in early April.

“This is all about preserving his dignity and respect — and getting him off that board," she told the Minnesota Star Tribune after being granted emergency guardianship. “I don’t feel the need for the whole world to watch him go downhill.”

The temporary guardianship was set to last 60 days. At an evidentiary hearing last week, which was closed to the public, a judge heard arguments on whether to make the guardianship permanent. Before the hearing, the parties and their attorneys met and discussed less restrictive alternatives, which they presented to Wright County Judge John Bowen.

Bowen approved the order, which included a stipulation that Lenzmeier retire from the board immediately. He did so Wednesday.

“The residents I have served, the board members I served with, and the staff I worked with will always be the highlight of my life, and hopefully my legacy,” he wrote in his resignation letter. “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.”

The order also names one of the couple’s daughters as the irrevocable health care agent who will be granted authority under a court-approved health care directive, and states Alice Lenzmeier will continue to hold authority over financial matters under the power of attorney agreement from March 2016.

The parties also agreed to move Leigh Lenzmeier to appropriate housing in the St. Cloud area within 90 days. He has been in an assisted-living facility in Buffalo, Minn., for about a year and attending county meetings virtually. As recently as early last week, Lenzmeier had said he was determined to finish the rest of his four-year term, which runs through 2026.

The order granting the emergency guardianship stated Leigh Lenzmeier had received a diagnosis of major neurocognitive disorder, which is characterized by a “progressive and persistent deterioration of cognitive function” in which “affected patients often have memory loss and a partial or significant lack of insight into their deficits,” according to the National Library of Medicine.

The Stearns County Board will likely set a special election in November to fill Lenzmeier’s seat, according to County Administrator Mike Williams.