County Attorney’s Office Very Busy in 2025

The Meeker County Attorney’s Office has been very busy this past year. There were 9 jury trials in 2025, along with 9 court trials.

County Attorney Brandi Schiefelbein says the court trials are those without juries, but with the 9 jury trials, there were 6 felony trials with 12 jurors seated for each (one of those was for attempted murder), 1 gross misdemeanor trial and 2 misdemeanor trials with 6 jurors each. She says more than 1300 citations were issued in 2025 – up 226 from 2024 and there were more DWIs and criminal sexual cases, so when activity rises for the law enforcement department, the work load increases for the County Attorney’s office.

Schiefelbein says there was only one truancy case in 2025 and there were not as many child protection cases. She says she is currently the president of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association, and something that is being phased in this year is the Minnesota Rehabilitation Reinvestment Act which is giving individuals sent to prison the opportunity to serve less time than their original sentence.

Schiefelbein says there is an opening for an assistant county attorney in her office as John Fitzgerald was recently appointed as a judge to the bench in Kandiyohi County. She says this is her 12th year as Meeker County Attorney and she will be filing for reelection in May so voters will see her name on the ballot again in November. She says she and her staff have been enjoying their new space on the 4th level in the Justice Center – the former Meeker County Court House – as they used to be housed in one of the lower levels.