Minneapolis’ top public safety official is set to leave by the end of 2026, ending months of political limbo after the City Council twice rejected his reappointment. Toddrick Barnette will remain in place through December as the city prepares to replace both its public safety commissioner and police chief.
Barnette, a former Hennepin County chief judge, has led the city’s public safety operation since 2023. According to The Star Tribune, progressive council members blamed him for police and fire budget problems, gaps in violence-prevention oversight and delays in implementing police reforms.
The first rejection became an unusually tangled City Hall fight after Mayor Jacob Frey vetoed the council’s action. Minneapolis City Council records show that the council later sustained the veto, leaving Barnette’s appointment unresolved rather than giving either side a clean victory.
The dispute also exposed deeper doubts about the Office of Community Safety itself. Axios Twin Cities reported that council members across the political spectrum have questioned the agency’s performance, its authority and even whether the commissioner position should continue in its current form.
Minneapolis is already operating with interim leadership at the police department. The City of Minneapolis announced in June that Bill Peterson would serve as interim police chief while officials conduct a national search for a permanent replacement.
Barnette’s Final Months Will Carry A Full Public Safety To-Do List
Over the next five months, Barnette is expected to help onboard Fire Chief Reginald Freeman, lead the search for the next police chief and oversee the opening of the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center, according to The Star Tribune. The commissioner’s office was created after George Floyd’s death and the ensuing unrest to coordinate police, fire, 911, emergency management and neighborhood safety operations.
That makes Barnette’s departure more than a routine personnel change: Minneapolis will be searching for its third community safety commissioner in less than five years while its police department remains under reform pressure. As Axios Twin Cities noted, the next leader may inherit not only a vacancy, but an unresolved argument over what the job is supposed to accomplish.
