Minnesota DNR sues Kittson County sheriff for issuance of elk permit
St. Paul — The Minnesota DNR filed a lawsuit on Thursday, August 7 against both the Kittson County Sheriff’s Department and Kittson County Sheriff Matt Vig for illegally issuing an elk tag to a farmer who shot an elk in that northwestern Minnesota county in late January 2025, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit is more of a formal declaration that the department and sheriff, as the DNR claims, overstepped its legal ability and authority to issue any kind of permit or possession tag for an elk.
On Jan. 31, 2025, the lawsuit states, Carl Christopherson called Vig and told him he’d shot an elk on (Christopherson’s) property as a herd of them were pillaging his hay and beet pulp. According to Sheriff Vig’s incident report, Vig told Christopherson he could take possession of the elk – to not waste the meat – and issued an elk possession tag to him Feb. 3.
Prior to Christopherson killing the elk, the lawsuit alleges Vig told the farmer that shooting the elk might be an option to protect his property.
According to the DNR’s lawsuit, neither Christopherson nor Vig reported this incident to the DNR.
It wasn’t until early April that the DNR learned of the incident after the agency received a report about the killing of the elk and the alleged illegal issuance of the permit to possess the elk.
The lawsuit is a writ of quo warranto suit. This kind of lawsuit aims to prohibit a government official from engaging in actions it has no official authority to take.
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The lawsuit aims to accomplish a few things, according to the DNR. The first is to declare that the sheriff and sheriff’s office have no authority to issue elk tags or permits and the sheriff cannot legally exercise issuing. And the lawsuit instructs the sheriff and Kittson County Sheriff’s Office that they cannot issue these kinds of permits in the future.
The state’s elk herd totaled around 233 animals, according to the DNR’s 2025 survey. Filing a lawsuit such as this is important because it is the agency’s responsibility to manage the elk herd at the state level, according to DNR Communications Director Gail Nosek.
The DNR issued a statement in response to this incident and responding lawsuit.
“The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources takes its responsibilities to manage and conserve wildlife seriously. In April 2025, the DNR learned that the Kittson County sheriff created and issued a possession permit to a farmer who had illegally taken an elk following concerns about the elk’s impact on his crops. With very limited exceptions that are not applicable in this case, the DNR is the only entity in the state with the authority to issue possession, take, or hunting permits for wildlife.
“The elk-possession permit issued by the sheriff was not authorized or issued by the DNR and therefore is not a legal permit. The DNR has filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the Kittson County sheriff to prohibit such action in the future,” according to the statement.
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7 thoughts on “Minnesota DNR sues Kittson County sheriff for issuance of elk permit”
Seems fair actually. This isn’t a road kill. Probably some nepotism at play here as well.
I think the dnr of Mn has way to much power over local law enforcement. Who decides whats best for our citizens at the moment. To much power dnr
Let the locals handle it.
The farmer should have contacted the DNR before shooting the Elk. And the sheriff’s department should have notified the DNR as soon as the farmer called them.
Exactly!
Farmer constantly called the DNR who did nothing. The elk were in his farmyard damaging property.
I’m not sold on the lawsuit either way, as being necessary or not.
At the very least, I’d expect DNR to have contacted the Sheriffs Departments about such permits, either state-wide or at least wherever there might be a similar wildlife issue (elk, bear, rare species, migratory or protected birds, etc). Nobody can know all the laws, not even law enforcement people, and it’s better to inform ahead of time, than to write citations after.
But also the Sheriff’s Dept or deputy could have made a simple phone call to DNR to inquire, before telling the landowner he can shoot it. Phones and emails work in both directions.
My wife found a long-eared owl by the side of the road, killed by collision with some car. She thought it was too pretty to waste so she brought it home. I recognized the species, which requires a permit for possession. I found a cooperative warden and explained the story, including that she didn’t know what it was and that it would have been wasted by the next snowplow. He wrote a permit, I had it mounted, and it is now “living” in the office of a local conservation organization. It even has a name, Leo (Long Eared Owl). It’s educational, visitors really like it especially the kids, and it wasn’t wasted.
There are times citations need to be written. Other times they don’t. I’m not sure in the Kittson County case. But I do hope law enforcement are talking with each other.
First off. I’m a huge hunter and fishermen and also farm here in MN. I hunt and fish all over the United States as well. And can tell you that our dnr programs are crap compared most other states. We dont know all the facts between the county and the farmer. Maybe something went on there maybe not. What I will say is the MN dnr needs to be completely overhauled. [not the officers!] The people that sit at desks and get to make the decisions that have no clue. The only thing that matters to them is lic sales and power. Now their wasting tax money on the lawsuit to show the county that the dnr’s junk is bigger than the county’s junk. If the elk was causing damage the farmer had every right to shoot the elk. Who cares who issued the tag!