Crysta Parkin, candidate for Dodge County Attorney
Here Crysta introduces herself here in her own words.
My parents moved to Mantorville when I was 3 years old (1980) after my dad accepted a teaching position at Kasson-Mantorville High School. I grew up in Mantorville and graduated from Kasson-Mantorville High School in 1995.
My parents – Doug and Linda Wunderlich – were both teachers. My dad taught science and math. He also served on the Mantorville Fire Department for almost 30 years. My mom was a substitute teacher and very involved with music – teaching piano lessons as well as leading music programs at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Kasson. I have one brother who resides in Yakima, Washington. My husband grew up in Byron and is an electrician at A&A Electric in Kasson. Most of his extended family resides in Dodge County.
I graduated from Valparaiso University in December 1998 with an individualized major in public relations and political science.
I then obtained a masters degree in public policy (specifically policy affecting children and families) from the University of Minnesota Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs in May 2001. During my masters degree program, I worked at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office as a planning analyst with their Delinquents Under 10 / Early Intervention Program. This sparked my interest in the law, and I had the opportunity to take some classes at the University of Minnesota’s Law School but ultimately chose not to attend law school at the time.
After working at Olmsted County Community Services for approximately 3 years, I started law school at Hamline University School of Law. During law school I participated in Hamline’s Child Advocacy Clinic and then was selected to be the Clinic’s student director for my final year of law school, supervising the clinic students as well as carrying a caseload. In May 2007, I graduated from Hamline University School of Law. I passed the Minnesota Bar Exam and was sworn in to the Minnesota Bar in October 2007.
As stated previously, I worked at the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office as a planning analyst with their Delinquents Under 10 / Early Intervention Program from March 2000 – May 2001 during my masters degree program.
I then worked as a program evaluator for Olmsted County from 2001 – 2004. I produced annual reports to present to the Social Services Advisory Board and Olmsted County Board in collaboration with program managers. I worked with programs serving children and adolescents including youth in foster care, juvenile probation, the former Many Rivers programs (juvenile detention center and juvenile sex offender program), and adolescent behavioral health.
During law school, I worked in the Ramsey County Elections Department during the fall months of 2005 and 2006 as an election worker. In addition to working as the Child Advocacy Clinic Student Director, I was a research assistant for two professors and worked as a law clerk for a small law office in Fridley.
In August 2007, following the Bar Exam, I began working as a family law attorney at Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS) in Rochester. At SMRLS, I represented clients in family law matters across southeastern Minnesota, but worked primarily in Dodge, Rice, and Olmsted counties. I partnered with local advocacy organizations to represent survivors of domestic abuse and sexual assault in a wide variety of court proceedings. In April 2010, I was promoted to Lead Family Law attorney for the Southeast Region and supervised a team of attorneys and paralegals in addition to carrying a caseload. During my time at SMRLS I had the opportunity to assist in authoring 2 amicus briefs to the Minnesota Supreme Court, authored several Minnesota Court of Appeals briefs, and argued multiple times before panels of the Minnesota Court of Appeals achieving successful results for our clients.
I am currently an Assistant Dodge County Attorney. I have been at the Dodge County Attorney’s Office for almost 11 years (November 2015 – present).
I handle all civil litigation for the county including CHIPS, paternity, child support, guardianship and conservatorship, civil commitment, and civil forfeiture matters. I review, edit and sign pleadings and draft proposed orders. I consult with and advise county staff on legal matters. I participate as a member of the Family Dependency Treatment / Adult Drug Court team during weekly staffing and court sessions. I provide legal advice to Minnesota Prairie County Alliance during daily MDT (multi-disciplinary team) child protection report screening, child & family services court consults, CornerHouse interviews, and adult MDT screening. I manage the Dodge County Attendance Review Board (ARB) process for truant students, including facilitating ARB meetings, following up with school personnel, and communicating with students and their families who appear before the ARB.
I have helped with criminal coverage throughout my 10+ years at Dodge County when we were between criminal attorneys. During 2 smaller gaps of time in 2019 (approximately 3 months) and 2023 (approximately 2 months), I handled both my civil caseload and the criminal caseload. I have additionally provided coverage when other attorneys have been out of the office due to illness, vacations, trainings, etc. I have consulted with law enforcement on cases, drafted and signed complaints, handled bail and sentencing hearings as well as a court trial, negotiated plea agreements, and reviewed Riverside requests (applications for judicial determination of probable cause to detain individuals) on the weekends.
I established the Dodge County Attendance Review Board (ARB). This year is the 11th year it has been in place and over the first 10 years we have had 224 referrals to the ARB and reduced the number of truancy petitions filed in Dodge County.
I have been active in the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association and presented multiple trainings on child support, child protection, and ethics.
I was appointed to the Minnesota Guardian ad Litem Board in January 2017 and served until December 2025. I was chair of the Board from 2018 until December 2024.
I am a current member of the 3rd Judicial District Committee for Equity and Justice.
Experience – I have almost 2 decades of legal experience, and over a decade of experience in the Dodge County Attorney’s Office. In that time, I have touched almost every type of work our office does and have extensive experience advocating for victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault.
Connections – I have worked not only in Dodge County, but in our neighboring counties. I have worked with local advocacy organizations, our local schools, human services, law enforcement, and other county attorney offices. I participate in our local bar association, am an active member of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association and serve on the 3rd Judicial District Committee for Equity and Justice.
Leadership – I led the creation of our Attendance Review Board and have facilitated it with our local schools for over 10 years. I was appointed to the state Guardian ad Litem Board and served as chair for 8 years. During the time I chaired the state GAL Board we successfully advocated for increased pay and staffing levels for the program.
2027 will be the first year the office has had a full-time elected county attorney. The needs of the office under our new structure must be assessed – will a full-time elected plus two full-time assistants and two paralegals be sufficient for our needs, or is any additional staffing needed? Will caseload responsibilities need to be shifted amongst staff?
Beyond that, I will ensure that our staff is able to attend training so that we can serve the citizens of Dodge County and work effectively with other departments and community partners. I intend to participate and will encourage other staff to participate in the Minnesota County Attorneys Association so that our county’s voice is heard when new legislation affecting our duties and community is being considered.
I have lived in or around Dodge County for most of my life. My family lives here. I graduated from school here.
I have almost 20 years of experience as a lawyer in southeastern Minnesota including almost 11 years in the Dodge County Attorney’s Office. I have experience as a supervisor and served on a statewide board responsible for overseeing a program budget.
I come into contact with people experiencing significant challenges in their life – primarily mental illness or substance use disorders. I am inspired by the individuals who take advantage of services we offer, make changes in their lives, and overcome those challenges. This is particularly true of people who participate in our treatment court. I am so proud of seeing parents who have completed our family treatment court in the community, working, raising their kids, going back to school, buying homes, etc.
Cases aren’t just numbers. Every case is a family or individual whose lives we impact. The majority of people we serve are Dodge County residents and will continue to reside in Dodge County. The more lives we can positively impact through our work, the better off our community will be.
Kailee Thompson, candidate for Dodge County Attorney
Here Kailee introduces herself here in her own words.
I am originally from Forest Lake, Minnesota. I attended Hill-Murray School in Maplewood, Minnesota for Middle and High School, which meant bouncing around the Twin Cities’ suburbs to be closer to school, but my family ultimately landed back in Forest Lake.
I have the best mom and dad who met working at the old Ford assembly plant in St. Paul before it shut down. I am the youngest of six siblings - one full brother, Brandon; two half-sisters and two half-brothers. I also have five nieces and nephews. I grew up with a hockey family, spending most days at the hockey rink, whether it was watching my siblings or playing. My parents decided to become snowbirds a few years back and moved to South Carolina and Brandon followed them shortly after. I have been with my significant other, Cody, for 4.5 years. We met on the ice at a hockey tournament in Rochester. Cody has a 16-year-old son that attends Kasson-Mantorville High School. The three of us love to rock climb and travel together. The boys ski/snowboard and fish any chance they get. And last, but certainly not least, I have the fluffiest pup, Teddy and a Bengal cat, Fred.
After high school, I attended Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee for two years. During Spring semester 2016, I studied for six months in Sydney, Australia. Upon my return home, I transferred to the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities for my junior and senior year of undergrad, where I graduated in Spring of 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Sociology. I started law school Fall of 2018 at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul (formerly William Mitchell Law School). I graduated with my J.D. in January 2021 and took the Bar Exam in February of 2021. During my time At Mitchell Hamline, I served as president of the Criminal Law Society beginning Fall 2019 until Covid-19 hit in 2020. I was also a fellow for World Without Genocide where I gave presentations on the International Criminal Court. During the summer of 2019, I studied with Creighton School of Law in Nuremberg, Germany, where I studied International Criminal Law and the impact of the Nuremberg Trials on international courts.
I started working when I was 16 years old at Donald’s Uniforms in St. Paul. I held a variety of positions throughout college, but my first legal job was as a legal intern at Johnson Brother’s Liquor Company. I worked as a legal intern there for several years during my summers home and while attending the U of M. During my first year of law school, I accepted a position as a student attorney with the Dakota County Attorney’s Office in their child support division and accepted a second job as a law clerk for private criminal defense attorney, Rich Ohlenberg. I then left the Dakota County Attorney’s Office and joined the First Judicial District Public Defender’s Office. I remained with Attorney Ohlenberg and the public defender’s office until completing the Bar Exam. Shortly after taking the Bar Exam, I accepted position as a law clerk for the Honorable Robert Friday in St. Louis County – Virginia, Minnesota and I moved to Duluth, MN. I drafted orders, assisted the judge with trials, researched complex legal issues, and was part of the first case in Minnesota to use reverse DNA testing to identify a suspect in a cold case murder. While clerking, I officially became licensed to practice law and was ready to start my career in a different role in the courtroom - as an attorney. I accepted a position as an Associate Attorney at Kans Law Firm, a criminal defense firm. While there, many of my cases were DWIs. I had roughly 200 cases that I handled myself.
I am currently an Assistant Dodge County Attorney at the Dodge County Attorney’s Office handling the criminal case load. I have held this position for 3.5 years.
I prosecute all levels of criminal cases including petty misdemeanors (traffic), juveniles, misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors, and felonies. This includes charging cases referred by law enforcement agencies, appearing in court, responding to legal challenges, and going to trial. I communicate with victims of crimes and work with victim services, gather restitution requests, present evidence, negotiate appropriate plea deals, handle competency hearings, and draft motions when necessary. On the weekends, I am on call to sign necessary documents when someone is arrested to comply with the law and the defendant’s constitutional rights. Additionally, I lead the Dodge County Task Force meeting, which brings together agency partners quarterly, including law enforcement, social services, probation, the courts/court administration, commissioners, school officials, drug court, and more. The goal is to update each other on news within each agency or address concerns that may have come up. It also is an opportunity to learn what needs exist in the community and how we can address those needs. I serve on the Dodge County Safety Committee as the County Attorney’s Office representative. Every day is a different day that brings on new challenges.
In my 3.5 years, I have increased the number of trials within Dodge County. I do not simply give plea deals I do not believe in simply to avoid trial. I also helped reframe victim services, which created an individual advocate for criminal sexual conduct and similar cases and more closely aligns with Minnesota’s statutes. I also lead the Dodge County Task Force. Task force is where I first introduced “Big Ideas,” a mobile learning lab that uses VR technology to teach trade skills. In fall 2025, students from the four high schools in the county got to participate, as well as probationers/drug court participants. Employers within the county also took part, setting up booths to answer questions about the company, career, and job openings.
While I am also proud of the trials I have won, Ido not mention specific cases out of respect for the victims.
Criminal cases are the majority of cases in Dodge County. Being knowledgeable in how to handle these matters, whether a petty traffic ticket or a major felony, at all stages of the case, is essential. I also have strong relationships with agency partners, which has created a level of trust. I am not afraid of hard work and finding a solution when a problem presents itself. Beyond just what the work entails, I am very personable. I like meeting people and learning about others. Overall, I work hard, I am tough, but I am also a person you can chat with when we run into each other on the street.
I want to continue to search for and bring more resources to the community that foster success for residents of Dodge. By relying on resources in surrounding, larger counties, we are creating an additional barrier for juveniles, families, and the general public. In the same regard, I want to create more transparency between the criminal justice system and the community. While there are many changes I would like to make in the criminal justice system, some of the decisions I make are rooted in law and require changes at a legislative level, which is possible with public support.
It is not the number of years you serve, but what you do in the years you have. I believe during my time in Dodge, I have made a positive impact beyond just the courtroom. While I may not be from the area, I have engrained myself in the community and built relationships that are important to the work. If I can do all what I have already mentioned in just 3.5 years as the criminal prosecutor, imagine what I can do in the future as County Attorney. I find solutions, lead when required, and learn where necessary.
I am not running for County Attorney because it is a step up on my career ladder. I am running because I love this community. I have found a home here and take pride in the work I do every single day. Dodge County is so unique in ways that people do not realize. My job is not an assembly line, doing the same thing every single day or treating each case the same. Most people who come through the court system that live in this community will also return to the community, whether immediately, or after treatment, or after a jail/prison stay. So, I must take the steps necessary to ensure that when the person reenters the community, parameters are in place for them to be a successful and contributing member for the safety of others around them. This is why it is important to have resources available that address the unique problems of Dodge, rather than getting grouped in with larger surrounding counties. I also get to be a voice for victims. Victims are meeting me at probably one of the worst times in his/her life, having experienced something they wished they had not. That is something I do not take lightly. I take pride in the little details of the job that make a big difference.
