Jefferson Center (Minneapolis, Minn.).

The Jefferson Center started in 1974 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Ned Crosby, political scientist and community activist, played a prominent role in founding the Jefferson Center. When it began the Jefferson Center was called the Jefferson Center for New Democratic Processes and governed by a board of directors and a citizen's oversight panel.

The Center's purpose was to get the average citizen more involved in state and national politics, and to further inform public discourse through that involvement. The juries were developed by the Jefferson Center to help advance this purpose. Citizen juries generally consisted of 18-24 randomly selected U.S. citizens who functioned as a demographically representative sample of the U.S. population.

Meeting usually over the course of four to five days, juries examined prominent issues such as physician-assisted suicide, school clinics, the federal budget, health care, or political candidates. During moderated hearings consisting of discussions, witness testimony and dialogue with witnesses, jurors analyzed the issues in each case and presented their conclusions as verdicts. Jurors and witnesses were compensated for their time.

Conducting a citizens jury on political candidates and elections proved to be the Center's most influential projects and this activity gained national attention in the early to mid-1990s. This activity, however, threatened the status of the Center as a non=profit organization. Non-profits are not allowed to endorse political candidates. Of specific concern to the IRS were the payment of candidate advocates who participated as expert witnesses, their influence on verdicts issued by the juries, and the public perception that the verdicts endorsed one political candidate over another.

In 1993 the Internal Revenue Service informed the Jefferson Center that it would revoke its 501(c)(3) status, retroactive to 1990. The Jefferson Center fought the IRS for three years. In 1996 the IRS agreed to take no action against the Jefferson Center as long as it did not conduct Citizen Juries on political candidates and/or elections.

In 2002 the Jefferson Center closed its office and let its staff go, reducing the board of directors to three. In 2009 the board of directors increased to six. As of 2011 the Jefferson Center is based in Minneapolis with its 501(c)(4) partner, Promoting Healthy Democracy, and has a small staff. Ned Crosby has continued to serve on the board of directors.

• 1974: National Health Care Plan Citizens Jury
• 1976: Presidential Election Citizens Jury
• 1981: Presbytery Project on Peacemaking Citizens Jury
• 1984: Agricultural Impacts on Water Quality Citizens Jury
• 1986: Organ Transplants Citizens Jury
• 1988: School-Based Clinics Policy Jury
• 1989: St. Paul Mayoral Election Citizens Jury
• 1990: Minnesota Gubernatorial Election Citizens Jury
• 1990: Arts in the Schools Citizens Jury
• 1991: Low Income Housing Citizens Jury
• 1991: Hennepin County: Minnesota Budget Priorities Citizens Jury
• 1992: Pennsylvania U.S. Senatorial Election Citizens Jury
• 1993: America's Tough Choices: The Federal Budget Citizens Jury
• 1993: America's Tough Choices: Health Care Reform Citizens Jury
• 1994: At-Risk Children: Yale University Citizens Jury on Campus
• 1994: Tim Penny Congressional Citizens Jury on Welfare Reform
• 1994: Pennsylvania Gubernatorial Election Citizens Jury
• 1995: Traffic Congestion Pricing Citizens Jury
• 1995: Hog Farming: Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges Citizens Jury on Campus
• 1996: State and Local Fiscal Matters: Can we afford the future? Citizens Jury
• 1996: Comparing Environmental Risks Citizens Jury
• 1997: Minnesota's Electricity Future Citizens Jury
• 1997: Issues in K-12 Education: Can we afford the future? Citizens Jury
• 1997: Dakota County's Comprehensive Land Use Plan: How should we grow? Citizens Jury
• 1998: Orono (Minnesota) Public Schools: Now and Into the Future Citizens Jury
• 1998: River Falls Citizens Panel on Electoral Reforms
• 1998: Physician-Assisted Suicide Citizens Jury
• 1999: Citizens Jury on Minnesota Property Tax Reform
• 1999: Citizens Jury on Chatfield (Minnesota) School District
• 2001: Citizens Jury on Citizens Initiative Review
• 2001: Citizens Jury on Metro Solid Waste
• 2002: Citizens Jury on Global Climate Change
• 2005: Citizens Jury on Community Engagement and Deliberative Democracy
• 2009: Citizens Jury on Election Recounts

From the guide to the Jefferson Center records., 1982-2003., (Minnesota Historical Society)