The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension closed its investigation into where the Ramsey County sheriff was living after prosecutors told them residency requirements don’t appear to apply in the case of an appointed sheriff.

In May, Vadnais Heights Mayor Bob Fletcher requested a criminal investigation into Jack Serier’s residency at the time he was appointed Ramsey County sheriff. In June, Fletcher filed to run for sheriff in the November election against Serier. Fletcher was sheriff from 1994 to 2010.

Fletcher’s complaint included details that he said showed Serier remained a resident of Stillwater after he became sheriff in January 2017.

Elected officials in Minnesota must maintain residency where they serve. Fletcher asked for an investigation into a Minnesota statute regarding “illegally assuming” public office, which is a gross misdemeanor if someone is convicted.

But the Minneapolis city attorney’s office, reviewing the case for the BCA, wrote in a memo that while there is a residency requirement to run for election for Ramsey County sheriff, “there is no existing law that specifically requires a person to be a Ramsey County resident upon appointment to the position of Ramsey County sheriff.”

Serier said in a Wednesday statement that he has met with local media in the past “and openly and honestly answered residency questions. There is nothing additional to add. I was a resident of Ramsey County prior to my appointment to sheriff, and I continue to live in the city of St. Paul.”

BCA Superintendent Drew Evans wrote to Fletcher in a July 2 letter that the Minneapolis city attorney’s office “advised the BCA that even if the allegation were to be proved true, no criminal laws were violated. Sheriff Serier was an appointed sheriff rather than an elected one and therefore the applicable residency requirements do not appear to apply to an appointed sheriff according to their analysis. Therefore, the BCA will close our file as there is no criminal violation to investigate.” Related Articles Sept. 30 is last day for public comment on Pigs Eye Lake makeover

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The Ramsey County board of commissioners appointed Serier, who was Ramsey County sheriff’s chief deputy, as sheriff after Matt Bostrom retired halfway through his second term.

Fletcher said Wednesday that he found the city attorney’s office’s position to be “a strange opinion,” but he said, “in today’s world it’s not unusual for five lawyers to have five different opinions.”