Wednesday · March 25, 2026

Gov. Walz Signs Executive Order 26-05, Establishing the Minnesota Truth Council on Operation Metro Surge and Operation PARRIS

confirmed Importance 7/10 ~2 min read 3 sources 1 actor

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed Executive Order 26-05 on March 25, 2026 (filed the same day by Secretary of State Steve Simon), establishing the “Governor’s Council on Recording the Truth of Operation Metro Surge and Operation PARRIS” — publicly known as the Minnesota Truth Council. The order invokes general gubernatorial authority (“by the authority vested in me by the Constitution and applicable statutes”), not a legislative statute or private/NGO charter, and ties the order’s duration to Minnesota Statutes 2025, section 4.035, subdivision 3.

The order names retired Hennepin County District Court Chief Judge Peter Cahill as chair (gubernatorial appointment) and a representative of The Advocates for Human Rights (AHR) — Jennifer Prestholdt — as vice-chair (AHR’s own appointment), alongside an ACLU of Minnesota seat, up to 12 further gubernatorial appointees, and non-voting ex-officio seats for the Governor’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The state separately contracted with AHR to help staff public meetings and draft the report.

The order sets two statutory deadlines: a preliminary report of findings and recommendations due October 31, 2026, and a final report due December 1, 2026, delivered to the Governor, the majority and minority leaders of the Minnesota legislature, and Minnesota’s congressional delegation. The Council “does not have a law enforcement role” and is explicitly barred from reporting on the shootings of Renee Good, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, or Alex Pretti — those are reserved for existing investigative/prosecutorial channels — with the order directing the Council instead to “refer potential violations of law to entities responsible for investigating and enforcing such violations.”

This is the founding act behind the Council’s later public meetings (Aug. 26, Sept. 9, Sept. 17, and Sept. 29, 2026) and the conclusion of its public testimony phase reported by the Minnesota Reformer (2026-09-29–minnesota-truth-council-concludes-public-testimony-metro-surge). It sits alongside, rather than inside, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s own Transparency and Accountability Project (2026-03-02–minnesota-probe-metro-surge-bovino-tap-portal) and the state’s criminal charge against a federal immigration agent (2026-04-16–moriarty-charges-ice-agent-morgan-assault-minnesota) as a second, parallel track of state-level accountability.

Research Gaps

  • Confirm the named ACLU of Minnesota Council seat appointee against a primary ACLU-MN source.
  • Track the Council’s preliminary report (due Oct. 31, 2026) and final report (due Dec. 1, 2026) as they are published.

Sources & Citations

[1] Executive Order 26-05: Establishing a Council to Document the Impacts of Operation Metro Surge and Operation PARRIS on Minnesotans — Office of Governor Tim Walz · Mar 25, 2026 Tier 1
[2] Minnesota Truth Council to document impact of ICE surge — JURIST · Mar 28, 2026 Tier 2
[3] Governor Walz Establishes a Council to Document the Impacts of Operation Metro Surge — The Advocates for Human Rights · Mar 27, 2026 Tier 2
Tiers Tier 1 court records & gov docs · Tier 2 established outlets · Tier 3 regional & specialty press · Tier 4 opinion or single-source. Methodology →
Cite this entry
The Cascade Ledger. “Gov. Walz Signs Executive Order 26-05, Establishing the Minnesota Truth Council on Operation Metro Surge and Operation PARRIS.” The Capture Cascade Timeline, March 25, 2026. https://capturecascade.org/event/2026-03-25--walz-executive-order-establishes-minnesota-truth-council/