Legislator Recognition

The MCPA Legislator Recognition Program honors legislators' critical role in enhancing community safety and promoting effective policing policies. Recipients are chosen based on their commitment to advancing legislation supporting the law enforcement community and ensuring all Minnesotans' safety. The program fosters a collaborative relationship between lawmakers and law enforcement agencies, emphasizing the importance of joint efforts in addressing public safety challenges.

Recent Recipients

In 2023, MCPA honored Senator Nick Frentz and Representative Kaohly Her. Together, they took on one of the most pressing challenges impacting Law Enforcement agencies across the state for the past few years: mental health for public safety professionals and, specifically, the issue of skyrocketing duty disabilities related to PTSD.

The journey to passing this legislation differed from your typical public safety bill process. Senator Frentz and Representative Her had to work with a large group of public safety stakeholders, who didn’t always agree on how this issue should be addressed. At several points, they compromised with various stakeholders to keep this bill moving forward. They also had to work within their respective legislative bodies to gain bipartisan support to pass this bill. As this bill was moving through the various committees, a relatively small but very vocal contingent within the public safety community was working very hard to block the bill from being passed.

None of these challenges or obstacles deterred these legislators from accomplishing the objective of passing the most comprehensive and impactful public safety mental health legislation in the Nation.

MCPA was proud to award the 2023 Legislator Recognition Award to Senator Nick Frentz and Representative Kaohly Her for their outstanding determination and resolve to address these vitally important issues.

*Rep Her was out of state attending a conference at the time of the award luncheon, but she has expressed her sincere appreciation for receiving this award.

Criteria

A current Minnesota Senator or Representative qualifies for recognition if they do at least one of the following:

  • Authors bills that address the legislative priorities identified by the MCPA Legislative Committee.
  • Supports bills that are consistent with MCPA’s positions as identified by the MCPA Legislative Committee.
  • Displays a desire to better understand and take action to solve the public policy challenges of law enforcement.
  • Develops a thoughtful and persuasive argument that shapes the public narrative around an important issue facing local and/or national law enforcement.

Nomination and Selection Process

Any current MCPA Voting member can complete the nomination form to nominate a legislator for recognition by the association. The legislator must be in elected office at the time of the nomination to be eligible for recognition.

The Legislator Recognition Program nomination form is closed for 2024.