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(KNSI) – A Central Minnesota State Senator has proposed a law that would force small cities to be transparent when disciplining a police chief, department head, or other public officials.

Minnesota statute lets cities with less than 7,500 people and counties with populations under 5,000 disciplining public officials for wrongdoing without making the reasons public.

If a city or a county is above those population thresholds, that information is public.

Rockville Senator Jeff Howe was a guest of KNSI’s Dan “The Ox” Ochsner and said he thinks that rule is ridiculous.

“My question is, so why does a person that lives in a small town not have a right to know what wrongdoing his public official has done?”

Senator Howe says the statue was put in about 15 years ago.

“It was trying to protect small cities from, you know, everybody knows everybody and trying to help folks to protect them. And I’m thinking, why do we want to protect people that something wrong? I don’t get it.”

The bill is still being worked on and has some opposition from labor groups.

Howe proposed the bill because of an incident that happend in St. Joseph in 2018.

Then police cheif Joe Klein was placed on leave after a complaint was filed, but the city wouldn’t tell the public about the complaint citing state law.  In June of 2018, Klein resigned.

A report later released by the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training conducted determined Klein was guilty of sexual harassment.

According to the agreement signed by Klein, the investigation found he had conversations with women about exchanging sex for additional vacation time.

He also stated all he wanted to do was have sex with college girls and making comments on colleagues’ breast sizes.

He was also accused of making an inappropriate training scenario that asked employees to simulate a criminal necrophiliac act.

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