Civil Rights Department seeks staff additions, cites enforcement gains in 2025 budget presentation

Michelle Phillips, director of the Minneapolis Department of Civil Rights, told the Budget Committee on Sept. 12 that her 2025 recommended budget aims to align staff and internal controls to speed investigations and strengthen accountability. "We're devoted to advancing accountability, upholding our civil rights and human rights laws," Phillips said as she outlined a restructuring to improve timeliness and data transparency.

Phillips said the department is focused on three priorities—compliance, credibility and culture—and is working with HR and budget partners to fill vacancies. "Currently, here, we have 12 vacancies," she said, adding that a newly created supervisory position would raise that count to 13 until filled. She presented a staffing plan through 2026 and said the goal is stronger supervision and quality-assurance protocols for the Office of Police Conduct Review (OPCR).

Kayla McCanendera, director of the Complaint Investigations Division, described case volumes and outcomes. She said the division closed 78 cases in 2023 and 36–37 so far in 2024; the average investigative timeline for open investigations is about 114 days, and the office has met the 150-day completion goal on roughly 75% of cases this year. "We have maintained no backlog of appeals before the Civil Rights Commission," McCanendera said, and noted an uptick in public hearings tied to findings of discrimination.

McCanendera also reviewed source-of-income enforcement in housing, which the department re‑began enforcing after a 2022 injunction lifted. She said staff received 39 complaints about source-of-income discrimination, issued 10 director's charges and closed 26 of those cases, reaching just over $21,000 in settlements related to those matters.

Johnny Burns, director of the Contract Compliance Division, said the division certified 47 small businesses this year, conducted site visits and investigations and recovered about $26,000 for 39 workers through enforcement actions. Burns said the office approves affirmative-action plans for contractors doing more than $100,000 in annual work for the city and actively monitors contractors' payroll compliance.

Phillips said the department began 2024 with 206 backlog cases categorized in March; as of Sept. 4, that number had decreased to 89 intake/backlog cases, with 30 already assigned to intake staff and roughly 59 not yet triaged. She described investigators as carrying about 30 cases each in investigations. To speed staffing and panel operations, Phillips requested $30,000 to expedite Minneapolis Police Department background checks for OPCR investigators and new Civil Rights commissioners.

Councilmembers pressed for details during a Q&A. Councilmember Paul Musano asked how many backlog cases remained unassigned; Phillips said the intake team is vetting and packaging cases for assignment and expected the intake backlog to decline as triage continues. Vice Chair Koski and budget analysts questioned salary and fringe increases; analysts attributed the growth largely to enterprise-wide personal-cost increases and changes in employee health-benefit selections.

The Budget Committee concluded the Civil Rights presentation and moved on to the Communications Department. The committee adjourned at the end of the meeting and scheduled follow-up budget presentations for Sept. 13.