Orput To Retire After 12 Years As Washington County Attorney

WASHINGTON COUNTY, MN — Washington County Attorney Pete Orput will not seek a fourth term during the 2022 election and will retire at the end of the year, his office announced Friday.

Orput was first elected in 2010 and plans to finish out his third term before leaving office Dec. 31.

He has 40 years of experience in public service, including stints as assistant Hennepin County attorney, general counsel for the Minnesota Department of Corrections and deputy attorney general in charge of the Minnesota Attorney General’s public prosecution section, according to a news release.

Orput served on the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission from 2016-2020 and is the vice president of the National District Attorneys Association, the release states. He also serves as legal counsel to the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association.

The 66-year-old served in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked as a high school history teacher before his career in law, the release states.

Orput said serving Washington County residents “has been the highlight of my career,” adding he’s “incredibly proud” of his work as county attorney.

“We’ve markedly improved the operations of the county attorney’s office. We’ve established a veteran’s court. We’ve addressed the scourge of opioid addictions. And we’ve locked up sex traffickers and murderers,” Orput said in a statement. “Most importantly, we’ve helped victims of crime.”

Orput revealed in 2020 that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

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