Did a Minnesota sheriff resign
Executive summary
There is no clear evidence in the provided reporting that an elected Minnesota sheriff resigned; the dominant news items instead describe county sheriffs collectively voting no confidence in Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell and calling for his resignation, and separate reporting about entire small-town police departments or individual officers quitting over pay or discipline issues [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]. If the question refers to a specific sheriff or a different time window, the supplied sources do not include that detail and cannot confirm it [7].
1. Sheriffs mobilize against the Department of Corrections, not stepping down themselves
Multiple outlets report that the Minnesota Sheriffs’ Association voted a formal no-confidence resolution in DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell and called for his resignation or removal by the governor, characterizing Schnell’s leadership and inspection practices as harmful to county jail operations and local taxpayers (Fox 9, MPR, Audacy/WCCO summaries) [1] [2] [3]. Those items focus on sheriffs as a bloc demanding an official exit from the corrections commissioner; they do not say an individual county sheriff resigned from office as part of that dispute [1] [2].
2. DOC and sheriffs present competing narratives about inspections and outreach
Local reporting records the DOC pushing back, saying it takes the sheriffs’ statements seriously and that Minnesotans deserve “an accurate and complete understanding” of the department’s role, while the sheriffs say DOC Rule Chapter 2911 enforcement has become inconsistent and burdensome for county jails [4] [3]. This is a classic institutional standoff: the sheriffs’ group has a political interest in reducing regulatory burden and fiscal costs at the county level, while the DOC’s interest is in asserting statewide standards for inmate care and safety—both narratives are present in the sources [4] [3].
3. There are documented resignations in Minnesota law enforcement, but they concern municipal police and individual officers
Several supplied stories describe entire small-city police departments resigning over pay and management—Goodhue’s police force is a repeatedly cited example where the chief and all officers quit, forcing reliance on the county sheriff’s office for patrols (AP, Forbes, CBS, People) [6] [8] [9] [10]. Other records note individual officer resignations after misconduct findings, such as an internal probe that led to a resignation in June 2025 for an officer who falsified traffic stops (mncrime) [11]. Those items show turnover and high-profile exits within Minnesota law enforcement, but they document municipal police or specific officers, not an elected county sheriff resigning.
4. Legal nuance: retirement can be treated as resignation under Minnesota law and advisory opinion
If a sheriff “retires” while an inquiry is pending, Minnesota administrative guidance and state statutes treat such retirement as effectively a resignation for purposes of data access and vacancy timing: the Data Practices Advisory Opinion concluded retirement can be considered a resignation and made investigative records public once the retirement occurred, and Minnesota Statutes state a resignation is effective when received by the proper authority [7] [12]. That legal nuance means some departures labeled “retirement” may be functionally equivalent to resignations in public records, but the supplied sources do not document a current sheriff retiring/resigning under that doctrine.
5. Bottom line and limits of the reporting
Based on the provided material, the direct answer is: no reporting here confirms that a Minnesota sheriff resigned; the coverage instead shows sheriffs collectively opposing DOC Commissioner Schnell and several unrelated resignations among municipal police or individual officers [1] [2] [3] [4] [6] [8] [11]. If the underlying question targets a particular county sheriff, a specific date, or a resignation after these pieces were published, those details fall outside the supplied sources and cannot be confirmed or refuted from this reporting [7].