About Us

The Washington County Attorney's Office employees work diligently together toward our goal of making the Washington County Attorney's Office one of the finest in Minnesota. 

Mission Statement

We promote justice and public safety through vigorously prosecuting crime, protecting those in need and providing quality legal representation for Washington County.

Vision

Our vision is to make Washington County a safe and just place to live and work.

County Attorney's Biography

Kevin Magnuson was appointed Washington County Attorney by the Washington County Board on June 7, 2022 to complete the term of Pete Orput.

Kevin Magnuson grew up in Lake Elmo, Minnesota and graduated from Minnehaha Academy in 1985.  He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wheaton College in 1990.  During that time, he studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and took a six-month bicycle trip through Western Europe and communist Eastern Europe.  After graduating from college, he served as an officer in the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany.  He was medically retired from the army after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and he stayed in Europe for graduate studies, first at Philipps-Universität Marburg in Germany and later at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium, where he received a licentiate (master’s degree) in philosophy in 1996.

Magnuson returned to the States to study law at the University of Minnesota but was also able to return to the University of Leuven to take classes in the law of the European Union.  After graduating from the U of M law school in 1999, he clerked at the European Commission, Directorate General for Competition, in Brussels.  He then returned to the Twin Cities to practice law in the area of complex civil litigation for eight years at the law firms of Briggs and Morgan, and Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi, and then for ten years at the criminal defense firm of Kelley, Wolter & Scott.

His experience prior to joining the Washington County Attorney’s Office included white collar criminal defense, federal and state civil and criminal investigations, and attorney ethics and professional responsibility disciplinary review.  Magnuson worked closely with the court-appointed receiver and bankruptcy trustee to search and liquidate assets for the victims and creditors of Tom Petters’ $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme, one of the largest and most complex Ponzi schemes in US history.  

In addition to criminal law, Magnuson’s private practice experience included US and European antitrust law, securities fraud, business litigation, election and campaign finance law, and appellate advocacy.  He has handled cases at every level of the state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.  Throughout his legal career he has devoted thousands of hours to pro bono legal work for underserved clients.

After 20 years of practicing law, Magnuson joined the Washington County Attorney’s Office in 2019 and has handled complex civil and criminal matters, such as fraud and vulnerable adult cases, attorney ethics, redistricting, election law, multi-county joint powers boards, and advising the county board and administration.  He is active in several nonprofit and charitable organizations.

He lives in his Lake Elmo childhood home with his wife, Lindsay, and two young children.