Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has told members of the Conviction Review Unit’s advisory board that the statewide office tasked with reviewing potential wrongful convictions will be wound down and closed. The move comes in the middle of an internal restructuring of the attorney general’s office that has already led to layoffs, and it leaves a big question hanging in the air: what happens to the people whose cases are still under review?
In a letter to advisory board members, Ellison said he chose to wind down the CRU because of budget constraints and wrote, "I am very proud of the work our CRU has done, work which has led to case corrections and people being released from prison." The letter stated that the unit has closed and framed the decision as driven by finances, according to reporting by the Star Tribune.
The closure follows a June restructuring inside the attorney general’s office that included the layoff of 17 employees, about 4% of the roughly 443 people working there, cuts the office has described as necessary because of rising costs. A spokesperson for Ellison’s office said at the time that the restructuring "will not impact ongoing litigation" even as staff was let go, as first reported by Axios Twin Cities.
CRU's Caseload And Findings
Created in 2021, Minnesota's Conviction Review Unit quickly drew a sizable workload and became known for extensive investigative reports that, in several cases, led to corrections or releases. An external review prepared for the attorney general’s office found that between April 2021 and Sept. 30, 2024, the CRU received 1,151 applications and described the unit as a model for statewide conviction-integrity efforts. Those findings and case summaries are laid out in a report from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.
Unanswered Questions For Pending Cases
Ellison’s announcement did not spell out how many active investigations the CRU had or how ongoing reviews will be completed now that the unit is being wound down. The office "did not immediately respond to a request for more information, including how many criminal cases were in queue for potential review at the time of the decision," according to the Star Tribune. That silence leaves applicants, their families and attorneys waiting to see where their files will land.
How Recommendations Move Toward Relief
The CRU’s role was to investigate and issue public reports and recommendations. It did not have the power to vacate convictions on its own. Instead, local prosecutors decide whether to bring motions or dismiss charges, and judges determine the final outcome. As local guidance from county conviction-integrity units explains, "ultimately, a court must be the one to grant the relief," and prosecutors choose whether to back those requests based on the investigative record. Procedural details and background on these reviews are outlined by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and on the Conviction Review Unit pages of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office.
Ellison’s office also confirmed earlier this month that some positions were cut as part of the broader restructuring, and the decision to shutter the CRU is likely to draw questions from defense lawyers, innocence advocates and lawmakers about oversight and where complex post-conviction work will go next. At the same time, the attorney general’s office has said the restructuring will not affect its Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, a point reiterated in reporting by Axios Twin Cities.
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