Outdated State Systems Force Counties Into Costly, Error-Prone Workarounds

(KNSI) – Minnesota counties are still relying on an archaic computer system built before the internet existed, and Stearns County wants state lawmakers to see exactly what that looks like in 2026.

On Wednesday, county staff gave State Senator Aric Putnam and county commissioners a live, hands-on demonstration of the decades-old DOS-style technology that county human services workers use every single day to process applications for food assistance, health care, and financial aid.

The state operates two separate systems that do not communicate with each other. MAXIS handles programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Women Infants and Children, and cash assistance, while MMIS manages health care coverage, including Medical Assistance and plans on the Minnesota Insurance Exchange. Neither system is interoperable, forcing staff to manually enter and re-enter the same information repeatedly, with no modern interface, no mouse, and function keys in place of anything resembling current technology.

Stearns County Human Services Administrator Melissa Huberty spoke to KNSI after the presentation wrapped up and explained the inefficiency creates serious risk. When a client fills out an application online, staff must then take that same information, print it, and manually type it into the system by hand. “I would say that’s one of the biggest issues. It’s so duplicative, and requires such manual labor, that there’s a lot more room for error.”

And those errors are costly. Huberty confirmed a single data entry mistake can run $3,000 to fix because it has to be done at the state level and cannot be fixed locally. She said the long-term solution is clear. “It is our opinion generally that we need to actually get rid of all of these systems and get an entirely new one that can really do the job appropriately and effectively and that is more cost effective.”

She says Stearns County has roughly 50,000 residents on some form of public assistance and 100 support staff working to get them through the process. Huberty said those clients deserve better. “Every single person wants 2020s technology and it to process right away. But that’s not what the system is set up to do.”

County Commissioner Terrell Clark, who also served as a state lawmaker from 2006 to 2011, said the fix needs to come from St. Paul, and there may already be money available to make it happen. “The good news is they can use one time money. There’s pretty much every year, they have some dollars that are still there in that second year of the biennium. That is money that can get used for technology because it’s not to hire ongoing staff.”

Stearns County Commissioner Bob Johnson says the bottom line is about the people being served. “Lots of folks need help. We need to do it in an efficient way so that we’re saving tax dollars in the process of providing quality care for these folks.”

County leaders said their goal is to get legislation passed this session. The bill currently being debated at the Legislature is Minnesota Senate File 4719, which would do two main things. First, it creates a new oversight committee called the Human Services Systems Steering Committee, made up of representatives from state agencies and counties, to guide how Minnesota’s human services computer systems are developed and managed.

Second, the bill would appropriate funding to modernize the legacy systems county workers use to determine eligibility for programs like food assistance, health care, and child support. The money would go toward things like replacing existing screens with modern interfaces, reducing duplicative data entry for county workers, expanding AI tools, and making it easier for recipients to submit information electronically.

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