DOJ Drops Probe Into Minnesota’s Hennepin County Race-Based Prosecutorial Policy

Other parties may still pursue legal action against the county attorney’s office for any harm caused under its previous policy, a DOJ official said.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington on Sept. 29, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Feb. 26 it has ended an investigation into a policy from Hennepin County, Minnesota, that it said required prosecutors to consider a defendant’s “racial identity” when making prosecutorial decisions.

Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said in a letter to Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty that the DOJ dropped its investigation after Moriarty’s office revised the policy to remove language requiring prosecutors to take racial identity into account when sentencing defendants.