What does it really cost Carlton County taxpayers to compensate their elected commissioners? Beyond annual salaries, commissioners may receive additional per diem payments, taxpayer-funded health insurance, retirement contributions, life insurance, and other benefits. County records reveal that per diem spending had already exceeded its entire 2026 budget by August — while questions about individual payments and reimbursements remain unanswered. Carlton County Watch examines the true cost of elected office and asks a fundamental question: Has public service become a taxpayer-funded career with benefits?

After a violent assault by Leonard Simich in Carlton County, the victim of the assault now faces criminal charges involving his criticism of sheriff's deputies and his calls to 911, while the prosecution of his alleged assailant was dismissed. As a November 2 jury trial approaches, Carlton County Watch examines the evidence, prosecutorial decisions, and a fundamental constitutional question: When does criticizing law enforcement become a crime?

Carlton County Sheriff's Office records identify nine complaints involving eight deputies and investigators between January 2024 and March 2026. But the initial production leaves important questions about complaint tracking, oversight, missing reporting periods, and access to public personnel data. Carlton County Watch examines what the records establish — and what the County has yet to explain.

Jeffrey Boucher is running unopposed for Carlton County Attorney in November 2026. From his failed 2024 nomination for a Minnesota judgeship to unanswered questions about his office's workload and performance, Carlton County Watch examines the public record and the information residents still need to evaluate their county's chief prosecutor.

In early 2025, a hacker downloaded the contents of a Carlton County HHS employee's mailbox, affecting 3,502 people. Months later, the County's longtime IT director was terminated following an attorney-client closed session. Meanwhile, auditors trace a significant computer-risk-management deficiency back to 2006. Early evidence suggests that the hack was extensive to include both the County Attoney’s Office and the County Sheriff’s Office. Carlton County Watch examines what we know — and the questions the County still needs to answer.

Carlton County Commissioner Susan Zmyslony confirms that the controversial Regional Commercial designation at I-35 and County Road 4 near Mahtowa has been removed from the County's preliminary 2050 land-use map following public feedback. But the September 29 planning memorandum still identifies County Road 4 as a corridor for Regional Commercial development. Carlton County Watch examines what changed, what remains, and why the public deserves a clear explanation.

Before candidates ask Carlton County voters for their support in 2026, we think they should answer two straightforward questions: Will you support reasonable term limits? And can you show taxpayers what your office would look like with a 25% smaller budget? Forget the slogans about fiscal responsibility and accountability. Show us the numbers. Show us the cuts. Show us the plan. Then let voters decide whether the answers are good enough.

Carlton County keeps asking taxpayers for more. But when does government ever ask itself to spend less? As the County Attorney’s budget climbs (> 10%), Carlton County Watch examines the missing question in the annual budget debate: what would happen if county government were required to cut costs instead of automatically increasing them?

Carlton County commissioners say the proposed 9.02% levy increase needs to come down — and Commissioner Dan Reed says the County must “grow somehow.” But what does economic growth actually look like in Carlton County? Just weeks after unanimously approving a one-year pause on data-center development, the Board now faces a larger question: if expanding the tax base is part of the answer to rising property taxes, what industries and investments is the County prepared to welcome? Carlton County Watch looks beyond the slogans and asks where the economic-development strategy is.

This November, Minnesotans will vote on a constitutional amendment involving one of the state's largest — and least understood — public assets: the approximately $2.4 billion Minnesota Permanent School Fund.

Created from lands granted for the support of public schools, the fund has grown for generations through timber, mineral royalties, land transactions and investment returns. Today, its principal is constitutionally protected as “perpetual and inviolate forever,” while investment income helps support every public school district and charter school in Minnesota.

The 2026 amendment would change that framework. If approved, Minnesota would move toward a modern endowment model that distributes 4.5% of the fund's three-year average value, while requiring the fund's purchasing power to be preserved for future generations.

So what exactly is the Permanent School Fund? Where did its billions of dollars come from? How is the money used today? And what are Minnesotans gaining — and changing — under the proposed amendment?

Carlton County Watch takes a closer look at the history, money and constitutional language behind one of the most consequential questions on Minnesota's 2026 ballot.

Carlton County approved $327,900 in State Affordable Housing Aid for a five-home development in Barnum and told commissioners that the homes would carry an 80% income restriction. But newly released County records still leave some of the most important questions unanswered: Who qualifies to buy the homes? What will they cost? Must buyers occupy them? Can they later be rented or quickly resold? And what document actually makes the affordability requirement enforceable?

Carlton County Watch reviewed the latest production and found an extensive paper trail surrounding the project — but the mechanics behind the promised affordability protections remain unclear. We are now seeking the missing agreements, eligibility rules, resale restrictions, recapture provisions and other records that should show exactly how the public's investment will be protected.

Carlton County is considering a 9.02% property-tax levy increase for 2027 — an additional $3.21 million over the 2026 levy. Commissioners will discuss the preliminary budget during a special 4:00 PM meeting today, with the preliminary levy scheduled to be set September 28. Carlton County Watch takes a first look at where the money is going and the questions taxpayers should be asking.

The Carlton County Sheriff’s current policy says personnel complaints and inquiries should be documented in a tracking log — and that the log should undergo an annual audit. Following earlier reporting on the Michael Soderstrom matter, public-data requests are now seeking the complaint logs, historical policies, audit reports, and records of outside or criminal-investigation referrals. With Sheriff Kelly Lake’s retirement approaching, Carlton County Watch is asking a simple question about the accountability system the next sheriff will inherit: What do the records show?

Eight years after former Carlton County Deputy Mike Soderstrom was disciplined following a threatening off-duty confrontation at the Third Base Bar, a major question remains unanswered: Was his conduct ever reviewed as potential criminal conduct at all?

Carlton County Watch asked Sheriff Kelly Lake for records documenting any criminal investigation, charging review, prosecutorial referral, declination, or decision not to pursue criminal review. Lake’s September 4 response was striking: her office found “no data responsive” to the request. Lake is retiring at the end of her term, leaving Carlton County voters to select a new sheriff.

The records do not establish a cover-up or prove that Soderstrom committed a crime. But they raise a fundamental accountability question: When potentially criminal conduct is alleged against one of law enforcement’s own, who makes sure the allegation receives the same scrutiny that would apply to everyone else?

Barnum has now confirmed that Tracts 2 and 5 were transferred to Ideal Homes on August 25, 2026. The City says the project will cost Barnum “ZERO,” yet the land itself was the City’s contribution — and Barnum says it will impose no liens or affordability rules beyond ordinary zoning. The land has changed hands. The bigger question now is whether the public subsidy will remain affordable housing — or eventually become private gain.

Barnum promised answers about its five-home housing development and transfer of public land to Ideal Homes. A month later, the public is still waiting. Instead of answering questions about land value, affordability, subsidies, and taxpayer protections, the City sent Carlton County Watch a data-request form — along with a policy dated 2011. The paperwork arrived. The answers did not.

“Liberty is to faction what air is to fire,” James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 10. More than two centuries later, that lesson remains essential. State Rep. Jeff Dotseth is free to condemn vulgar political speech — and the protesters are free to criticize him. Courtesy may be a virtue, but it is not a constitutional prerequisite. The First Amendment protects Americans precisely when their words, ideas and gestures make others uncomfortable. The Constitution is not an etiquette manual. It protects both sides.

A billion-dollar AI campus is obviously a data center. But what about a local business with a dedicated server room? A township computer facility? Your home office? An existing operation that simply adds more servers? Carlton County’s new moratorium may be written far more broadly than its stated purpose suggests — and the wording raises questions that deserve answers.

Carlton County Watch asked to inspect the public records showing what Carlton County Commissioners actually receive in salary, per diems, reimbursements, benefits, and other taxpayer-funded compensation. More than a month later, no responsive records have been produced — and the County now says it may need another 30 days. Taxpayers pay the bills. Why are they still waiting to see the records?

Nearly a month after the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office promised a data requester a “timely” response to a Minnesota Government Data Practices Act request seeking public employee complaint and disciplinary records, no records, inspection date, timeline, or substantive explanation have been provided. Minnesota law requires government not only to respond to data requests appropriately and promptly, but also to maintain its records so they are “easily accessible for convenient use.” Twenty-eight days later, the public is still waiting — and asking why.