Woodbury Democratic-Farmer-Labor Sen. Nicole Mitchell says she won’t resign as she faces a felony burglary charge after allegedly breaking into her stepmother’s home earlier this week.
Nicole Lynn Mitchell mug shot. (Becker County Jail)
Mitchell, 49, announced her intention to remain in office Thursday as a bipartisan Senate ethics panel started moving forward with an investigation of the senator, who is accused of breaking into a Detroit Lakes home in the early Monday.
Mitchell denies she had entered the home to steal anything and has issued statements contradicting the allegations in a criminal complaint filed in Becker County District Court. In that complaint, Mitchell is alleged to have told police she entered the home through a basement window and that she knew “she did something bad.”
Statement from Mitchell
In a statement issued through her attorneys, Mitchell said she was “extremely disappointed” the criminal complaint filed against her Tuesday didn’t include “complete information,” such as that she knew her stepmother since she was four years old and cared for her wellbeing.
“It saddens me that some people are attempting to use a tragic family situation to score political points,” she said. “I am confident that a much different picture will emerge when all of the facts are known.”
Mitchell was released from jail after being formally charged on Tuesday with first-degree burglary. As part of her conditions of release, she’s not allowed to contact her stepmother, who also obtained a restraining order against Mitchell. She’s next scheduled to appear in court in June.
Already, Mitchell’s absence from the Senate has delayed two days of voting on bills as the legislature closes in on the end of session on May 20. The DFL has 34 seats in the Senate to the GOP’s 33, meaning the absence of just one senator means partisan bills can’t move forward.
On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said she will consider allowing Mitchell to vote remotely for the rest of the session. In a Thursday statement, Murphy said the Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct is working with Mitchell and moving forward with setting a hearing date in the next 30 days.
Senate Republicans, who unsuccessfully pushed Wednesday to accelerate the ethics investigation process, said they’re prepared to whatever is needed to resolve the investigation as soon as possible.
“Moving expeditiously with a hearing and a determination ensures the Senate maintains the highest levels of integrity in its service to Minnesotans” said Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks.
Mitchell is a first-term state senator elected in 2022. Mitchell worked as a meteorologist with the U.S. military and for KSTP-TV and Minnesota Public Radio before she was elected to the Senate. She still serves as lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, commanding a weather unit..
She represents Senate District 47, which includes Woodbury and southern parts of Maplewood.
Alleged burglary
It’s still not exactly clear what happened Monday morning at Mitchell’s stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home, but police responded to a 911 call about a break-in at the house at around 4:45 a.m. and found the senator in the basement, according to charging documents.
In a 911 call transcript released by the Becker County Sheriff’s office, the caller, Mitchell’s stepmother, told police she had “tripped over” a person on the floor next to her bed, who then ran into the basement.
That conflicts with statements Mitchell made to officers detailed in her charging documents. In the charges, she allegedly admitted to entering her stepmother’s home through a basement window, where she had left a backpack containing her drivers’ license, two laptop computers and a cell phone.
The senator was dressed in all-black clothing and was wearing a black hat, charges said.
Mitchell denied she was there to steal anything, and in a public statement said she was checking in on her stepmother.
Burglary charge
The senator now faces a first-degree burglary charge, a felony that carries a minimum sentence of six months in jail, and a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Mitchell’s burglary charge comes a little more than a year after the death of her father. In January, a judge awarded her stepmother 100% of the father’s $172,931 estate.
In a post on Facebook, Mitchell said she was checking on her stepmother and denied stealing anything. She said she had visited the home “countless times” over the last 20 years, and that her son had a room there at one point.
Her attorney Bruce Ringstrom Sr. said his client made a “poor choice” in how she handled her concerns, but did so while under a lot of stress.
“She was dealing with a tough family situation and it exploded on her,” he said.
In an interview with the Associated Press, the stepmother said she is afraid of Mitchell. Most of her husband’s ashes were buried, she told the AP, but she sent Mitchell a small container.
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