Duane Charles Hippe, Jr. v. Dakota County Sheriff Joe Leko

Court of Appeals of Minnesota·Decided June 1, 2026·No. a251652·Published

Opinion

STATE OF MINNESOTA

IN COURT OF APPEALS

A25-1652

Duane Charles Hippe, Jr., Respondent,

vs.

Dakota County Sheriff Joe Leko, Appellant.

Filed June 1, 2026

Reversed

Ede, Judge

Dakota County District Court File No. 19HA-CV-25-3297

Nicholas R. Leverson, Leverson Budke, P.A., Eagan, Minnesota (for respondent)

Kathryn M. Keena, Dakota County Attorney, William M. Topka, Assistant County Attorney, Hastings, Minnesota (for appellant)

Considered and decided by Bentley, Presiding Judge; Ede, Judge; and Beane, Judge.

SYLLABUS

A felony conviction that is a “crime of violence” under Minnesota Statutes section 624.712, subdivision 5 (2024), renders the convicted person ineligible to possess a firearm pursuant to section 624.713, subdivision 1(2) (2024), notwithstanding that the conviction is deemed to be for a gross misdemeanor per section 609.13, subdivision 1(1) (2016).

OPINION

EDE, Judge In this appeal following entry of judgment on a district court’s order issuing a writ of mandamus that directs appellant sheriff to provide respondent a permit to carry a pistol, appellant challenges the court’s determination that respondent is eligible for relief under the applicable statutes. Because respondent is ineligible to possess a firearm due to his felony conviction that is a “crime of violence” under Minnesota law, we conclude that the district court erred in issuing the writ of mandamus. We therefore reverse.

FACTS

In 2018, respondent Duane Charles Hippe Jr. pleaded guilty to and was convicted of threats of violence, in violation of Minnesota Statutes section 609.713, subdivision 1 (2016). 1 At sentencing, the district court durationally departed downward and sentenced Hippe to 365 days’ imprisonment, with 361 days stayed for two years, four days in custody, and credit for four days served. 2 This conviction was expunged in January 2025.

In February 2025, Hippe applied to appellant Dakota County Sheriff Joe Leko (the sheriff) for a permit to carry a pistol. The sheriff responded to Hippe via letter stating that

1 The offense date was May 18, 2018.

2 Under Minnesota Statutes section 609.0342(b) (Supp. 2023), “[a]ny sentence of imprisonment for . . . 365 days imposed or executed before July 1, 2023, shall be deemed to be a sentence of imprisonment for 364 days.” The statute “applies . . . retroactively to offenders who received a gross misdemeanor sentence” before this law was enacted. 2023 Minn. Laws ch. 52, art. 6, § 6, at 918.

the sheriff had denied Hippe’s application based on Hippe’s 2018 conviction of threats of violence. In the letter, the sheriff explained that, “[a]lthough this conviction was deemed a gross misdemeanor at sentencing, it does not remove the fact that there is a felony conviction for a crime of violence.” Moreover, the sheriff stated as follows:

This crime is listed as a “crime of violence” as described in Minnesota . . . Statute[s] [section] 624.713. Pursuant to Minnesota . . . Statute[s] [section] 624.713[,] subdivision 1(2), a person who has been convicted or adjudicated delinquent in Minnesota, or elsewhere, of a crime of violence is deemed ineligible to possess ammunition or firearms for the remainder of their lifetime and is ineligible to receive a permit to carry.

Hippe requested reconsideration of the sheriff’s decision and provided the sheriff a copy of the district court’s expungement order. The sheriff responded to Hippe with a second letter explaining that Hippe’s application “remain[ed] denied.” The sheriff noted that the district court’s expungement order

state[d] in paragraph 7, “The petitioner shall continue to be prohibited from shipping, transporting, possessing, or receiving a firearm for the remainder of the petitioner’s lifetime if the conviction was for a crime of violence and an order was not issued under Minnesota Statute[s]

[section] 609.165, subdivision 1d.”

In addition, the sheriff again cited Minnesota Statutes section 624.713, subdivision 1(2) (2024), and stated that “[t]he Sheriff’s Office does not have discretion to supersede statutory disqualifiers for firearms possession.”

Hippe petitioned the district court under Minnesota Statutes section 624.714, subdivision 12(a) (2024), requesting that the court issue a writ of mandamus directing the sheriff to provide him a permit to carry a pistol. The sheriff filed a response asking that the

district court deny Hippe’s petition. The district court held a hearing on Hippe’s petition, during which Hippe asserted that he was not convicted of felony threats of violence in 2018 because the district court had instead convicted him of a gross misdemeanor. The sheriff countered that, although the district court had durationally departed downward in sentencing Hippe and the conviction was deemed a gross misdemeanor, for purposes of Minnesota’s firearm-possession statutes, Hippe was convicted of a felony.

The district court granted Hippe’s petition for a writ of mandamus and entered judgment directing the sheriff to issue Hippe a permit to carry a pistol under Minnesota Statutes section 624.714 (2024). 3 In an attached memorandum, the district court explained its reasoning: “To hold that [Hippe] was convicted of a felony . . . would be to subvert the [district] court’s intent not to convict [Hippe] of a felony by granting a downward durational departure after accepting [Hippe’s] guilty plea.”

The sheriff appeals. 4 ISSUE

Did the district court err in issuing the writ of mandamus based on its determination that Hippe is not prohibited from possessing a firearm under Minnesota Statutes section 624.713, subdivision 1(2)?

3 The district court also “awarded [Hippe] reasonable costs and attorney[] fees in the amount of $2,000.00.” See Minn. Stat. § 624.714, subd. 12(d) (“If the court grants a petition brought under paragraph (a), the court must award the applicant or permit holder reasonable costs and expenses including attorney fees.”). 4 The district court stayed enforcement of the judgment during the pendency of this appeal.

ANALYSIS

In challenging the district court’s decision to issue the writ of mandamus, the sheriff contends that Hippe is prohibited from possessing a firearm because he was convicted of a felony “crime of violence,” regardless of the sentence imposed. Hippe responds that he was never convicted of a felony “crime of violence” because “he received a downward durational departure and was sentenced to, and thereby convicted of, a gross misdemeanor.” We agree with the sheriff.

Our analysis begins with (A) the standard of review and applicable law before turning to (B) our consideration of whether the district court erred in issuing the writ of mandamus based on its determination that Hippe is not prohibited from possessing a firearm under Minnesota Statutes section 624.713, subdivision 1(2).

A. Standard of Review and Applicable Law Appellate courts “review de novo the decision on a writ of mandamus when the district court based that decision solely on a legal determination.” Tapia v. Leslie, 950 N.W.2d. 59, 63 (Minn. 2020). And courts “review questions of statutory interpretation de novo, . . . interpret[ing] statutory language to ascertain and effectuate the Legislature’s intent.” Id. at 61 (quotation and citation omitted); see also Minn. Stat. § 645.16 (2024) (“The object of all interpretation and construction of laws is to ascertain and effectuate the intention of the legislature.”). To do so, courts first “determin[e] whether the statute, on its face, is ambiguous.” Tapia, 950 N.W.2d at 61. “A statute is ambiguous if it is subject to more than one reasonable interpretation.” Id. “If the Legislature’s intent is apparent from

the plain and unambiguous language of the statute, [courts] do not engage in any further statutory construction.” Id.

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