Public data case resolved, appealed in one day

A Kettle River city council member pleaded guilty earlier this month to violating government data practices rules but is already appealing her guilty plea, according to court documents.

It’s a case that has unfolded in court hearings and various petitions over roughly a year, with a long background of personality conflicts and previous actions by people named in the case. Many are currently involved in the governance of Kettle River: with witnesses including a city staff member and the mayor, the defendant a current councilwoman up for reelection and the plaintiff — who requested the records — a private citizen now running for city council.

Monique Doward, 42, of Kettle River, was originally charged via citation Oct. 7, 2023, by a Carlton County Sheriff’s Office deputy for violating government data practices. According to the criminal complaint, a Kettle River citizen, Laura Simi, had filled out a data request for all of councilwoman Doward’s emails and text messages regarding the city of Kettle River on July 17.

According to the criminal complaint, when contacted about the request by Kettle River city administrator Kathryn Lake via email, Doward told her to consider the request “unfullfilled” via a responding email four days later.

Lake initially reported the violation via a 911 call the morning of Aug. 17, 2023, after Kettle River mayor David Lucas said he wanted Doward charged for the violation.

Doward, who has a master’s degree in biology, petitioned to represent herself in the case, which the court granted.

Before any hearings were held, Doward filed a 39-page motion to dismiss in January of 2024, along with a counterclaim against Lake, Lucas, Simi and attorney Sarah Sonsalia, asking for $100,000 in damages. In that filing, Doward claimed defamation, abuse of process, civil conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violation of civil rights and malicious prosecution.

The first hearing in the public data case was held Jan. 11 remotely with Judge Rebekka Stumme, whom Doward requested be removed from the case Jan. 30. The case was reassigned to Sixth District Carlton County Judge Amy Lukasavitz.

Following a contested omnibus hearing March 27, Doward filed a new 62-page motion to dismiss. Ten days later, the Carlton County Attorney’s Office filed its own 52-page motion in opposition to dismissal. Judge Lukasavitz took the matter under advisement on April 26.

On May 16, Lukasavitz issued an order denying Doward’s arguments challenging probable cause and set the matter for a pre-trial hearing.

“The facts allege that at first, defendant stated she would fulfill the (data) request, but not until Oct. 6, 2023, because her schedule was busy,” the order read. “Upon being informed that she had a 10-day deadline for the matter, she stated she would not comply with the demand. The law is clear that she needed to comply with the request within the deadlines. The defendant exhibited a willful refusal to comply, which is a clear violation of the statute, and more than meets the requirement for a showing of probable cause,” Lukasavitz wrote.

At the pretrial hearing, July 15, 2024, Doward legally demanded a jury trial. Both sides began preparing for the trial to begin in mid-October, submitting witness lists and various requests for discovery and records, leading to more rulings by Lukasavitz.

A hearing was held on Oct. 15 with a trial set to start the next day.

According to a court transcript, Doward agreed — after more than one discussion with prosecuting attorneys outside the courtroom — to plead guilty to the misdemeanor charge and receive a stay of adjudication. Under the terms of the stay, Doward would be on probation for six months. Provided there were no same or similar offenses during that period, she would not have a conviction on her record. It was, Lukasavitz said, essentially “a stay of conviction.”

Prosecuting attorney Amy Voss told the judge she believed Doward’s claims, but had to charge the case that was in front of her.

“I understand there’s a lot of frustration, but … I have full faith that this is going to be dismissed in six months,” Voss said. “… I understand there’s a lot going on here, and that’s kind of the purpose of our resolution today.”

Judge Lukasavitz also offered a possible public defender or standby counsel if Doward wanted to proceed with a trial the next day

After another break, Doward agreed to the plea deal, admitting that she had received the data request, then told Lake to consider it unfulfilled and never provided the requested emails or text messages to Simi.

The judge accepted the plea and waived the $50 stay of adjudication fee, canceling the jury trial.

The following day, Oct. 16, Doward filed a brief with the Minnesota Court of Appeals, alleging that the district court failed to recognize Doward’s status as an elected official during a criminal trial. That appeal process is ongoing.

Previous reporting

In March 2023, the Pine Knot News reported on a letter sent by the Minnesota State Auditor to the city of Kettle River outlining ways the city had violated Minnesota state law, according to state auditor Julie Blaha.

Those items include unauthorized use of a city credit card by current and former employees; payroll violations including pay raises for city employees without city council approval; and missing, incomplete or inappropriate meeting minutes.

The state auditor’s letter provided a review, findings and recommendations on the issues it found after being tipped off by Doward, who had been at odds with Lucas, Lake and other city officials since coming onto the council in 2021.

At the time, Doward said she felt vindicated for pressing officials on providing information on items the state investigated and found to be improper.

“It’s everything I’ve been asking for,” she said of the state letter.

Mayor David Lucas said that many of the items on the state’s list had been “dealt with and resolved,” although there were some items they couldn’t explain, including missing information regarding 13 transactions on a city credit card.

Ultimately Lucas said there were some valuable lessons to be learned from the letter and changes were already being made.