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Mounds View City Council January 26, 2026 Regular Meeting Page 10 1 City Attorney Riggs reviewed a memo of options available to the City Council, which included 2 draft ordinances. He stated the last three weeks have been unprecedented times. He indicated his 3 office represents 75 different cities and his firm was trying to address this issue. He commented 4 on the memo he provided to the Council when it came to what they can and cannot do. He reported 5 he put together an ordinance that had a very broad spectrum that would require anyone operating 6 as law enforcement in Mounds View has to operate like the local police officers. He indicated 7 these provisions may be challenged by the federal government. He stated the goal of this ordinance 8 was to provide transparency. He commented further on what local staff members can do. He 9 discussed how people are trying to work through this issue and there have been communications 10 between the governor and the president, which was a positive thing. However, the reality is, the 11 City Council controls how law enforcement is conducted in the City of Mounds View and the 12 proposed ordinance would assist with setting regulations for all law enforcement activities in the 13 community. 14 15 Prosecuting Attorney Katrina Joseph introduced herself to the City Council. She discussed the 16 federal court lawsuit that was heard today in Minnesota by Judge Hernandez. She reported on 17 January 12 the State of Minnesota, city of Minneapolis and the city of St. Paul filed a lawsuit 18 against the Department of Homeland Security as to how it was carrying out operation Metro Surge. 19 She indicated there was a request for a temporary restraining order. She explained on Friday the 20 city of Golden Valley received some communication from the Attorney General's office asking 21 for suburban law enforcement agencies to file an amicus brief. She stated she heard from the 22 Golden Valley prosecutor around 4:30 p.m. on Friday and on Saturday morning after the ICE 23 shooting in South Minneapolis there was an emergency meeting of the Hennepin County City 24 Managers and at this meeting the City Administrators indicated they would like her office to file 25 supporting briefs. She inquired if the City Council would like to also file an amicus brief on behalf 26 of the City of Mounds View. She reviewed the five items addressed within the amicus brief noting 27 it was limited in scope. 28 29 Prosecuting Attorney Joseph commented on a current case that was being heard against a US 30 citizen who has a wife with valid status. The wife has indicated to the advocates at Tubman that if 31 she cooperates with prosecution, he will divorce her and turn her over to ICE. She indicated she 32 takes her job very seriously and discussed how impossible it was to prosecute a domestic violence 33 case without a victim present in court. She stated if victims are worried about being picked up by 34 ICE in court,they will not come forward. She commented further on how the jury pools were being 35 impacted by what was happening in the community. 36 37 Prosecuting Attorney Joseph reported there was a lot of anger and fear in the community with how 38 local law enforcement was not keeping people safe. She requested the City Council vote to join 39 the amicus brief 40 41 Mayor Lindstrom stated he was concerned with the fact the BCA was not allowed to participate in 42 the investigations. He indicated there was no accountability for the federal agents,which was very 43 alarming. He explained he supported the proposed ordinance moving forward with the City of 44 Mounds View joining the amicus brief. 45