Disregard for state law by Steele County officials calls into question transparency issues

A disregard for state law over the past several months raises major red flags and important questions about how Steele County government is communicating with the public when it comes to critical information about the operations of the county.

Minnesota counties are required by Statute 375.17 to publish a full and accurate financial statement of the preceding year’s receipts, expenditures, assets and liabilities. The law specifies that the summary must be published in a qualified legal newspaper within the county, and in some cases, published in two newspapers within the county.

The statute is simply designed to keep taxpayers informed of what’s happening with their tax dollars. It fosters transparency between the government agency and the citizens it represents.

For decades, Steele County had published the previous year’s annual financial report in late November or December. The timing was not accurate, as the statute calls for it to be published “not later than the first Tuesday after the first Monday in March.” But it at least got published – even if it was eight or nine months late.

Steele County has chosen the Owatonna People’s Press to publish its legal notices in recent years. This includes county board minutes, agendas and public hearing notices. The statute requires counties to publish the annual financial report in the legal newspaper as well as in one other newspaper, if one of general circulation is located in a different municipality in the county than the official newspaper.

The Steele County Times is based in Blooming Prairie, which means the financial statement should also be published in the Times.

For at least the past 15 years prior to 2025, Steele County has published the annual financial report in both newspapers, OPP and Times. However, something has drastically changed at the county government center this year, as taxpayers are being left in the dark: The 2024 financial statement is not being published in either newspaper. (The 2025 report should be published this week.)

The Steele County Times has made repeated requests to county officials for the 2024 report to be published, but the county fails to comply, and consequently is violating state law.

The county attempted to skirt the entire issue by placing a small notice in the newspaper directing citizens to a website where the information could be found. The Times did its due diligence and chose not to publish the notice as the contents of the notice did not comply with state law. OPP did publish the abbreviated notice in December.

Who’s calling the shots?

It appears Steele County Attorney Robert Jarrett and County Administrator Renae Fry have taken it upon themselves to put the county at risk of not being compliant with state law. When asked what legal authority the county has to violate state law by not publishing the report, Jarrett dodged the question and did not answer.

Attorney Mark Anfinson, who has represented newspapers throughout the state for nearly 50 years and helped write many of the legal notice laws, said the law is explicit in regards to the financial statement. “It doesn’t give counties open-ended authority to decide” on what goes into the financial report or when and how it should be published, he said.

It is incredibly troubling that the county’s top attorney would expose the county to legal violations. Jarrett claims the county board is constantly seeking ways to reduce costs to taxpayers; apparently not publishing what’s required by law is one of those ways.

Jarrett accused the Times of being “self-serving,” because our standard rate is higher than the rate given to the county by OPP. It is not—and should not—be about money; it is about following state law.

State mandates often do incur a price tag. Publishing legal notices is one of them. If Jarrett or anyone else in the county has an issue with the financial part of this, they need to seek out state legislators to make changes. Changing the law at their own whim is something they do not have authority to do. And neither do we.

This particular issue quite frankly should have nothing to do with saving the county money. It’s about keeping citizens informed as prescribed by law.

Jarrett also claims that neighboring counties do not include the statements in the paper. However, when asked which counties he’s referring to, he failed to respond. We have learned that both Dodge and Waseca counties have published the reports.

Why should you care about this?

This lack of openness fuels declining public trust, which continues to be a major problem on all levels of government. Transparency is the heart of a healthy democracy. When public institutions lack openness, they often struggle to maintain legitimacy, as only a small fraction of citizens report trusting the government to do the right thing.

What’s strikes us as most disturbing in the Steele County case is a prevailing attitude that the county, and specifically the county attorney, can do whatever they want, whenever they want, even if it means violating state laws.

We’ve seen this play out with the East Side Corridor over the past several years; many issues have arisen about a lack of transparency with the transportation project. In fact, just last fall, an administrative judge ruled that Steele County twice violated the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act regarding public record requests for the East Side project.

These are just a couple issues that have surfaced and come to our attention. What else is the county attempting to hide? Citizens need to demand more accountability from county leaders.

County board members and some county leaders, including the county attorney, are elected, while others are appointed to positions where transparency needs to be of utmost consideration and importance.

Your tax dollars are being spent by county officials who are violating state laws. If this is happening with these particular issues, the natural question quickly turns to: “What else are they hiding?” Transparency promotes accountability and provides information for citizens about what their government is doing. Furthermore, transparency is the government entity’s obligation to share with its citizens the information needed to make informed decisions – and hold officials accountable for conduct of the people’s business.

Taxpayers should not expect anything less. And we don’t either.