03
The accountability gap
Same county, same year: a $175,000 line for the board, a
$174,999 signature to walk around it — and a six-figure salary
that keeps going up.
$175,000
The amount at which County Board approval is required
$174,999
The amount the sheriff signed for, on his own
$236,178
The sheriff's salary after a Feb 2026 board raise (up ~$9,000
in two months)
"Prior to the Sheriff's decision, I had advocated for keeping the
project within the County's Capital Improvement Plan process so
the financial implications could be fully reviewed, the public
could be meaningfully engaged and clear policies governing the use
of the technology could be developed before implementation.
Instead, the Sheriff decided to move forward under the authority
of the Sheriff's office."
County Commissioner Mandy Meisner, via the Forest Lake Times, July
2026
"It's not Brad Wise's policy. It's state statute. I was authorized
to do that just under the normal course of duties of being an
elected sheriff."
Sheriff Brad Wise, KARE 11, July 29, 2026
The salary, for scale
In December 2025 the County Board approved a 6% raise for the
sheriff, to $227,094.40. On February 17, 2026 — after comparing
salaries with other Minnesota counties — the board approved a
second, 4% raise to $236,178. Commissioner Jeff
Reinert voted no both times, calling it "two bites of the apple":
roughly a 10% increase in a single budget year and about 30% over
three years. Commissioner Meisner called the raise "hard to
swallow." The board — not the sheriff — set those salaries; the
point of juxtaposing them is simply that the official who priced a
six-figure surveillance contract one dollar under the review line
earns $236,178 a year, and the board that reviews big purchases also
sets his pay. For scale: the $174,999 contract the board never voted
on is worth about 19 times the $9,083.60 raise the board voted him
in two months.
Sources: Anoka County Union Herald, "Board approves second salary
increase in two months for county attorney and sheriff," Feb 27,
2026 (Peter Bodley); Forest Lake Times coverage of the contract.
What Minnesota law requires
-
Minn. Stat. § 626.8472 requires every agency that maintains an
ALPR to adopt a written policy — use without one is prohibited.
Anoka County has one: Policy 424.
-
Policy 424: ALPRs may be used for official law-enforcement
business;
no reasonable suspicion or probable cause required; data destroyed within 60 days unless retained for an active
case; BCA notified within 10 days of any installation.
-
State data-practices rules (Minn. Stat. § 13.824) limit what the
county can collect and how long it can hold it.
