Olmsted County commissioners start process to appoint new county attorney

ROCHESTER — Olmsted County commissioners will appoint the next county attorney, with an application process potentially starting this week.

“I do think this is an opportunity for the board and the community to get to know the rest of my office, the rest of the people,” County Attorney Mark Ostrem told the board in discussing his resignation, which commissioners officially accepted on Tuesday.

While Ostrem refrained from stating his preferred path between an appointment and November special election during Tuesday’s county board meeting, he later said he believes the right decision was made by commissioners.

“This is what I was hoping for,” he said, pointing out the process will help commissioners improve their understanding of how the county attorney’s office works.

The commissioners voted 6-1 to start the process to appoint Ostrem’s replacement, with Commissioner Bob Hopkins casting the sole opposing vote.

While commissioners voted Tuesday without comment, Hopkins made his preference clear during a Feb. 4 discussion of options.

“It’s an elected position, and I think the people should have a say,” he said.

On Tuesday, County Administrator Travis Gransee encouraged the commissioners to start the appointment process with a call for applications as early as this week, with the process led by the county’s Human Resources Department.

With plans to accept applications through March 17, he said the commissioners are expected to appoint an acting county attorney on March 18 to temporarily fill Ostrem’s position after he retires on March 31.

“That will get us through April 1st until whenever we finalize this process ,” Gransee said, pointing out current plans call for the next county attorney to be appointed on April 15 or May 6.

Gransee said commissioners have voiced varying levels of interest in being involved in the work of recruiting and reviewing applications ahead of interviews, but he suggested staff handle the process until it’s time to make decisions.

“When it’s time to select candidates for interviews, that will certainly be a responsibility of the board,” he said.

Ostrem said he expects the outlined process will provide a transfer that is more smooth than the one he faced when elected as the county’s third full-time county attorney in 2006.

“The office had not been planning or expecting a change at that time, and it was apparent,” he said of taking over in 2007, after winning an election challenge against Ray Schmitz, who had served 24 years as county attorney.

Schmitz was initially elected in 1982, after his mentor, DeWayne Mattson, retired. Mattson was elected as Olmsted County’s first full-time attorney in 1954.

“For 70 years, you’ve only seen three of us up here. I feel kind of blessed to be in that company,” Ostrem told the county commissioners on Tuesday.

He said his decision to leave office ahead of the 2026 election provides a chance to raise awareness of his staff of nearly 50 people, which has grown in seven decades from having two attorneys to the current 26.

The appointment might not be the last change for the office in the upcoming years, since whoever commissioners appoint will face a Nov. 3, 2026, election to remain in the role.

“The election process will run its course,” Gransee said of the 2026 vote.