Legal Question in Criminal Law in Minnesota

Re: can I take the county to court

There is too much here to address in a brief message. But I will try to give you a few ideas to help you along your way.

You wrote that you accepted a "suspension for prosecution." You may want to clarify exactly what disposition you ended up with. What you wrote sounds similar to an "agreement to suspend prosecution," sometimes also called a "continuance for dismissal" --- where the prosecutor agrees to continue the case on the court calendar for some period of time, for dismissal at a certain date, conditioned upon your waiver of right to speedy trial, and perhaps other conditions as well. You should be able to get a copy of the computer record of your case at the courthouse, as well as copies of documents in the court's paper file on your case. You may want to get copies of documents relating to the result of your case (so far). If you did get a continuance for dismissal, that is good in the sense that normally you are not required to plead guilty, and so there is no trial, no conviction. That makes it easier to get a public records "expungement" court order of some sort, after the charge(s) are ultimately dismissed (assuming they will be). It would be important to know, also, whether this was in juvenile court.

I would say that a continuance for dismissal is not a bad outcome, since -- as long as you meet whatever conditions you agreed to -- it will be a dismissal of all charges in the end, no conviction. Therefore, while you may have a legal right to sue the county (I don't know, consult with a personal injury/civil rights lawyer), the damages might not be bad enough to warrant the expense of a lawsuit -- though that would be your judgment call, and that of any attorney helping you with it. Know that the passage of time will destroy you legal rights in this regard. Therefore if you have any interest in making such a claim, you should consult with a lawyer who does civil litigation like this -- very soon.

As for getting the laws changed, I would suggest researching this topic at the library and on the internet. Also, talk to your political party, and your political representatives. Advocacy groups are also out there to help advocate for changes in the laws. You try those ideas, to start.