Wife of Stearns County Commissioner Leigh Lenzmeier Petitions for Long Term Guardianship and to Remove Him from Board

(KNSI) – A hearing scheduled for next Monday could make an emergency guardianship petition against Stearns County Commissioner Leigh Lenzmeier permanent, which would likely force the board to remove him.

Lenzmeier’s wife, Alice, initially went to Wright County Probate Court on Monday, April 7th, saying he had been suffering from declining mental ability for well over a decade, with a “rapid acceleration” the past three or four years. The petition notes that Lenzmeier has fallen while alone and been unable to get up. He also has diabetes and cannot set up a regimen to take medications or follow a proper diet on his own.

Alice cited a report from Dr. Katherine Fabirizio of Cognitive Insights Neuropsychology that was written after her husband underwent a lengthy test, saying he “demonstrated rapid forgetting” and could not appreciate how disruptive his condition is on his quality of life. Fabirizio added Lenzmeier needs to be in a regulated care setting, can’t drive, and recommended he step down from his role on the Stearns County Board of Commissioners.

The report was referenced by Alice in a letter to Stearns County Administrator Mike Williams on December 19th, 2024 that was included as an exhibit in the guardianship petition. Alice wrote “he has had five different hospital groups document and record his cognitive decline” in the past year and “he is not willing to resign his duties but it is evident from so many professional opinions that he needs to do so.”

Fast forward three and a half months and in her petition, Alice painted a picture of a board and county administration that was practically abusing her husband in order to manipulate him to vote the way they wanted on complex matters he can no longer fully grasp.

The guardianship petition notes that Stearns County had previously taken Lenzmeier’s laptop from him for unspecified “inappropriate use” and it had been logged that he was at the administration building on odd hours, often until early morning, even though staff had warned him to only stay during normal business times, generally considered 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

At some point, the commissioner was granted access to a laptop again and has used that to log in for board meetings since he moved away from the county and became a resident of a restricted memory care unit at Havenwood of Buffalo on April 29th, 2024. Alice says that move was an additional detail about the seriousness of his condition known to Stearns County officials. She alleges in the petition that Lenzmeier doesn’t really understand how to operate the laptop but someone gave him a “how-to” step-by-step guide that allows him to get into a meeting on Zoom.

Alice says, even with the extra care taken to make the board meetings available to Commissioner Lenzmeier, sometimes he forgets and alleges the other commissioners misled the public about his absence, saying technical difficulties were to blame.

Administrator Mike Williams was asked by KNSI News about whether Alice had made her concerns known to senior staff. He admitted she had, but explained removing a commissioner from office is extremely difficult by design, or else there would be moves to unseat politicians at every level after any vote that raised the ire of at least some constituents. He says, “Up until just recently, there really hasn’t been any official information available to the board for it to justify any actions. For example, to remove him from the board.”

We also inquired about the residency issue, which was brought up earlier this year as part of two separate appeals from neighbors of Sunny Mary Meadow flower farm in St. Wendel Township. The neighbors specifically raised concerns over Lenzmeier not even living in the county and logging in remotely. The neighbors provided a timeline to us that showed Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall denied an administrative appeal hearing on the matter once on February 27th and again on March 17th.

Williams explained it was known that the commissioner was living in a facility in Buffalo but it was expected to be temporary, adding for anyone who had talked to him, he would tell them “his intentions are, now that he’s received some good medical care, that he’s doing much better, and that he would want to return to the district, and that’s what he’s been telling us all along.”

Alice wrote in her guardianship petition that her husband is being exploited by other commissioners and they have gone so far as to try to “engineer a move to Stearns County without regard to the care and supervision he needs and requires.”

Williams confirmed that the county attorney personally looked into the matter and he says he is confident that no action taken in the past would put the county into legal jeopardy regarding Lenzmeier. “I’ve consulted with our attorneys about this too, that anything we’ve done in the past is done. [We] really can’t be questioned because of this.”

Alice won emergency guardianship but the push for long term guardianship will involve a contested hearing, meaning both sides can make arguments before the probate court in Wright County.

Williams admitted if a judge hears a balanced view of the evidence on Monday and still feels a guardianship is necessary, that will likely force the Stearns County Board of Commissioners to act during their next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday. “If a judge says that an elected official is incapacitated at this point, where they need a guardian, I think we can leap to the next conclusion. Something should be done about them making decisions on behalf of the county.”

Williams believes there is still time to schedule a special election for November in the Fourth District. The winner would serve until the regularly scheduled general election in 2026.

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