April 4, 2022

DFL Party Veterans Caucus Statement on Pete Orput’s Death

The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s Veterans Caucus released the following statement regarding Washington County Attorney Pete Orput’s death on April 4, 2022:

“It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our friend, Pete Orput, and express our deepest condolences to his family.

“In January, the DFL Veterans Caucus learned of Orput’s upcoming retirement and our caucus wrote a letter to honor him. DFL Veterans Caucus leaders Donald Slaten and Tom Dimond paid a visit to the office of Pete Orput to hand deliver the letter, thank him for his service in the office, and celebrate his steadfast support of veterans.”

The letter read:

“Thank you for your support of veterans over the course of your career, especially in your most recent role as Washington County Attorney, but also in Hennepin County, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, and the Minnesota Department of Corrections. We also thank you for your prior service as a Marine who completed a tour of duty in Vietnam. As much as we value and cherish our allies, there’s no better representation than to have one of our own in decision making roles. On a personal level, we know you to be a principled individual with a strong character. We have been proud of your achievements as one of our endorsed candidates and have so much gratitude for your more than 40 years of public service. You tackled serious societal issues such as opioid addiction and sex trafficking, playing a key role in the creation of the Minnesota Human Trafficking Task Force. You got perpetrators of murder and other violent crimes off the streets.

You were a pioneer in establishing Veterans Courts in both Hennepin and Washington Counties. Existing Veterans Courts were held up as models in the process of passing a statewide Veterans Restorative Justice Act in the 2021 legislative session because of the positive outcomes achieved for graduates in these programs you helped establish. You were instrumental in getting justice-involved veterans back on track as productive members of society.”

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