Senate Committee Takes Up New Ethics Complaint Against Senator Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury

ST. PAUL (KVRR/KFGO) – A Minnesota Senate committee has taken up a new ethics complaint against Democratic Sen. Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury, who is facing two felony burglary charges.

Republican lawmakers revised a previous ethics complaint for entering her stepmother’s home in Detroit Lakes last April.

Mitchell has pleaded not guilty.

Republican Sen. Karin Housley says the new statement is incredibly detailed, including descriptions of where Mitchell was found, what she was wearing, and comments Mitchell made both before and after she was given her Miranda rights and arrested.

There is also an additional complaint that she violated chamber rules on conflicts of interest when she voted on a procedural motion blocking a debate and later, a vote on her expulsion from the Senate.

The Senate Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct has an equal number of Republican and Democratic members and could not agree on how to proceed.

Both complaints will remain open until after Mitchell’s trial which is scheduled for June, after the current legislative session ends.