Freeman, Mike (Michael)

Michael O. ("Mike") Freeman was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 7, 1948, one of two children of Orville Freeman and his wife Jane. Orville Freeman served as governor of Minnesota (1955-1961) and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture (1961-1969).

Mike Freeman earned a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University in 1970, and a law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1974. He was a law clerk for United States District Court Judge Earl Larson (1974-1975) and for United States 8th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Gerald W. Heaney (1975-1976). He was an active trial attorney with the Popham Haik law firm, Minneapolis (1979-1991), and was designated a civil trial specialist by the Minnesota State Bar Association in 1988, 1994, and 1997. Freeman argued Dickerson v. Minnesota before the United States Supreme Court in March 1993.

Freeman, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1982, representing Richfield and eastern Bloomington (District 40); he was re-elected in 1986. As a state senator Freeman was vice-chair of the Senate Finance Committee (1987-1990) and vice-chair of the Senate Economic Development and Commerce Committee (1983-1986). He was the chief author of the Hunger Reduction Act, the MEED Jobs Bill, the Minnesota Anti-Racketeering Act (RICO), and the revision of Minnesota Criminal Forfeiture Statutes (1988). He also chaired the Senate Conference Committees on Capital Bonding that financed new college buildings, environmental projects and expanded roads and bridges. He chaired the Hennepin County legislative delegation (1989-1990).

Freeman was elected Hennepin County Attorney in 1990, and served from 1991 through 1998. As county attorney he was particularly interested in a variety of crime fighting tools, including the expanded use of DNA, aggressive prosecution in rape cases, increases in witness protection, and expanded use of the nuisance law. He also worked to combat Minneapolis street gangs, and oversaw a handgun buy-back program which sought to take guns off the streets of Minneapolis. He ran unsuccessfully for governor of Minnesota in 1994 and in 1998.

Mike Freeman and his wife, Teresa Mathison Freeman, had three children: Katie, Beth, and Matthew. They made their home in Richfield, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, where Terry was an educator and a member of the local school board.

From the guide to the Michael O. Freeman Papers., 1957-1998 (bulk 1985-1998)., (Minnesota Historical Society)