The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office is ramping up its work under the state’s new red flag law, training 150 people Thursday and announcing plans to review cases to determine if they qualify for a civil court process to temporarily take someone’s firearms.

When Minnesota put in place Extreme Risk Protection Orders at the start of the year, it joined other states with similar processes.

The law allows a court order to be issued, prohibiting someone from having or buying a firearm, if the person poses a significant danger of harming themself or others.

Officials could wait for cases to come to them, but Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said they are being intentional about seeking the orders to help with homicide and suicide prevention.

They’re also intended to be used when there are threats of mass harm, including school shootings.

As law enforcement presents cases to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office for consideration of felony charges, Choi announced Thursday they’ll be asking them to fill out an investigative checklist, including about whether an Extreme Risk Protection Order would be appropriate in the case. If prosecutors agree there’s a legal basis to proceed, the county attorney’s office will file a court petition to get the process started.

“This is about preventing tragedy,” said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher. “… Time and time again, … after the tragedy occurs, we go back and look at the police reports, the evidence, we talk to family members, and they say, ‘Well, we tried to warn people. We called the police, we told you what was going to happen. Or we knew there was a problem, but we really didn’t know how to handle it properly.’”

There were 109 petitions for Extreme Risk Protection Orders filed between the start of the year and last Friday, with 83 filed by a law enforcement agency and 26 by a citizen, according to the Minnesota Judicial Branch. Family or household members are among those who can apply.

There are two kinds of orders: an emergency order, which goes into effect right away and lasts for 14 days, and a long-term order, which can only be granted after a court hearing and lasts between six months and one year.

In the Minnesota petitions, there were 30 when an emergency order was granted; 66 when an emergency order was granted and then a long-term order after a hearing; five cases when a long-term order was granted after a hearing; and eight cases when no order was issued, according to the Judicial Branch.

Using the orders in threats of self-harm and domestic violence

Although the term isn’t used in Minnesota law, they’re commonly called “red flag” laws.

Chris Carita, a national expert on violence prevention and threat management, said in many states that have passed such laws, “they end up being sort of a tool that sits in the background. … The problem with that is, when no one takes responsibility for moving it forward, … you wait until there’s a tragedy where you needed it, and then you’re not prepared to use it properly.”

With 73% of firearm deaths in the state classified as suicide between 2018 and 2021, it’s important that Minnesota’s law has a caveat allowing cases to be sealed when they involve only threats of self-harm, Carita said.

“If a family member is suffering a mental health crisis and threatening to take their own lives, a judge has the option to … keep them from public view, which helps maintain the dignity of a person who is likely going through a mental health crisis and needs to seek help,” Carita said.

When people are concerned about someone in their family and wonder, “Is there something out there that doesn’t simply criminalize this risk?” they should know that Extreme Risk Protection Orders are “a civil tool, so that the focus is on removing that gun from a person who might harm someone when there might not be any other criminal activity present,” said St. Paul City Attorney Lyndsey Olson.

Rob Doar, senior vice president of government affairs for the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said what they’ve been most surprised about “is the disconnect between the way the bill was messaged, and the way the orders are being issued.”

“We were told that this was an important tool to allow family members the ability to intercede with a loved one in crisis in efforts to ensure their safety,” he said. “In its execution, the overwhelming majority of these orders are being requested and granted to law enforcement, not family members.”

The Gun Owners Caucus also remains “concerned about the due process implications of ex parte orders that act on the presumption that removing a firearm addresses the individual in crisis without appropriate measures to address the individual themselves,” Doar said.

Some people also ask why Extreme Risk Protection Orders are needed in domestic violence cases, when people can already apply for an order for protection through the Minnesota court system. But Carita said “the speed with which ERPO can be used and the precision in removing firearms from those situations early on in the case helps make the situation safer for victims of domestic violence.”

Most of the petitions for the orders have been filed outside the metro area. Ramsey County has applied for three, Hennepin County for 24, Dakota County for nine, and Washington and Anoka counties for four each, according to the Judicial Branch.

Thursday’s training, hosted by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, brought together law enforcement, prosecutors, victim advocates and people who work in the mental health field. There will be future training, including with school staff, Choi said.