State Sen. Nicole Mitchell off committee assignments while case under review

DFL state Sen. Nicole Mitchell, of Woodbury, who was arrested in an alleged burglary this month, will be relieved of her committee work and removed from DFL caucus meetings while her case is under review in the courts and the Senate, DFL Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy said in a statement Sunday.

“This is a tragic situation, and there are still questions that need to be answered,” Murphy said.

Mitchell is, however, expected to participate in votes, DFL Assistant Majority Leader Sen. Nick Frentz told the Star Tribune Sunday morning. There is no rule prohibiting Mitchell from voting while the ethics complaint and legal issues are pending, though Senate Republicans object.

Mitchell is the vice chair of the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Committee, and serves on the committee for energy, utilities, environment and climate, plus the elections and human services committees.

She was arrested April 22 and charged with felony first-degree burglary after she allegedly broke into her stepmother’s house in Detroit Lakes. Police found her dressed in black and a flashlight covered in a black sock nearby.

“I know I did something bad,” she allegedly told police, telling them she was trying to take some of her late father’s belongings, including his ashes. A backpack found near Mitchell contained a laptop police suggested belonged to her stepmother.

In a Facebook post, Mitchell said she was checking on her stepmother, who she said was experiencing a “decline due to Alzheimer’s and associated paranoia.”

Following the incident, many have called for Mitchell’s resignation, including Republican leadership. Mitchell has said she will not resign.

The hearing for a Senate ethics complaint filed by Republicans is scheduled for May 7.

Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson said in a statement Sunday that his caucus will not vote alongside Mitchell before a decision from the ethics committee.

Johnson called Mitchell’s removal from committees a “half-hearted punishment.”

The incident has added intrigue to the final weeks of the legislative session. Mitchell’s vote could be crucial for the DFL, which controls the Senate by one seat. The DFL caucus met for more than four hours Saturday.

On KSTP’s “At Issue With Tom Hauser” on Sunday morning, Minnesota Republican Party Chair David Hann pointed out contradictions between what Mitchell allegedly said to police and what she posted on social media. He said the Senate needs to decide whether or not Mitchell is qualified to continue to serve before continuing to pass bills.

“The question is really, is she able to serve and be in the state Senate,” Hann said. “The problem, I think, is really elevated because it’s a one-vote margin of a majority and she is the deciding vote on every piece of legislation that will get passed.”

Also on KSTP on Sunday, DFL Chair Ken Martin said Mitchell deserves due process and that he thinks the upcoming Senate ethics decision is the right move. He said if he were in her shoes, he would consider resigning, “to focus on the legal challenges ahead and my family.” However, he said it’s a choice only Mitchell can make.

“I’m not quite there in the position right now to ask her to resign,” Martin said. “I believe this is a decision she alone can make.”

Mitchell is out of the Becker County jail on conditional bail and has appeared on video remotely since her arrest.

Staff writer Josie Albertson-Grove contributed to this report.