Appeals Court Reinstates Smaller Pay Hike for Freeborn Sheriff
Albert Lea, MN (KROC-AM News) - A southern Minnesota sheriff has suffered a major setback in a legal fight over his salary.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has overturned a ruling issued by a district court judge concerning FreebornCounty Sheriff Kurt Freitag’s pay. The sheriff filed an appeal last year after the Freeborn County Board set his salary at just over $97,000, which represented a 5-percent increase from 2018. Sheriff Freitag had requested his pay be increased about 23-percent to just under $114,000.
In its decision in favor of the sheriff, the district court ruled the Freeborn County Commissioners acted in an arbitrary manner and lacked a "full understanding" of the sheriff's responsibilities, experience, qualifications, and performance. The Court of Appeals, in reversing the decision, found the county board acted in accordance with state law and did not act arbitrarily when it awarded the sheriff the 5-percent pay increase.