Ellison names Mitchell as deputy attorney general

Attorney General Keith Ellison has named Dana Mitchell as deputy attorney general, the Attorney General’s office said in a news release.

Mitchell will step into the role left by Deputy Attorney General Luz María Frías, who is retiring on Sept. 29 after a 30-year career in the law, public service, and community service, including the last three years with the Attorney General’s Office. Mitchell will oversee the Government Support Section of the Office, which provides legal support to a wide range of Minnesota agencies, boards, and commissions.

“Dana, a Minnesotan with deep roots here, is deeply committed to the people of our state,” Ellison said in a statement. “She is smart, capable, and an excellent lawyer, of course, and she is much more: she is someone who works relationally, is an active member of community, understands the importance of representing State agencies well, and applies an equity lens to everything that we do.”

Mitchell currently serves as the manager of the Public Safety Division of the Attorney General’s Office, which she joined in April 2023. In her current role, she manages a body of work related to implied consents, driver’s licenses, forfeitures, titles, appellate advocacy, citizen inquires, and representation to state agencies and boards.

Immediately before joining the Attorney General’s Office, Mitchell served as an assistant Ramsey County attorney for many years, working in the areas of employment law, juvenile prosecution, and human services, among others. She has also worked as a public defender, qualified neutral, and mediator, as well as a staff attorney for a federally appointed court monitor, which resulted in a $1.25 billion settlement for Black farmers. She is a former law clerk with the Office of the Counsel to the President at the White House.

Mitchell is the current president of Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers. As president, she worked to pass a $700,000 state appropriation to support a pathway to law school for Minnesota college students. She served this year as the Minnesota co-chair of the 98th Annual Conference of the National Bar Association, which is the nation’s oldest and largest national network of predominantly African American attorneys.

Mitchell graduated with a joint J.D./M.S.W. degree from the University of Minnesota Law School and School of Social Work. She was a Bush Fellow at the University of Minnesota School of Social Work. She has also been an adjunct professor at Mitchell–Hamline School of Law and currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.

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