Nancy Haas Honored By The Minnesota County Attorneys Association

Legislative Counsel Nancy Haas was presented with the MCAA Public Service Award at the Minnesota County Attorneys Association’s Annual Meeting on December 1, 2021. This award honors an individual who, in their public service, has demonstrated the values of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association.

Nancy has been MCAA’s legislative counsel for many years and has been a well-respected voice for the Association at the Legislature. Various bills regarding Forfeiture reform have been brought to the legislature in prior sessions. These bills would have eliminated civil asset forfeiture and mandated only criminal forfeiture. The MCAA, with Nancy’s leadership, was able to successfully oppose these bills. Before the 2020 legislative session, Nancy came up with the novel idea of bringing together all stakeholders to engage in a process involving a mediator to work on Forfeiture Reform Legislation. Her efforts led to extensive negotiations between defense attorneys and justice reform advocates, prosecutors and law enforcement stakeholders in Minnesota. The negotiations took place over several months in 2019 and 2020 and resulted in the Forfeiture Reform Legislation that was enacted in 2021. This lengthy and arduous process and the resulting legislation would not have occurred without Nancy’s thoughtful creativity.