The police chief in St. Paul, Minn., has filed a sexual harassment complaint against the city’s mayor asserting that she behaved inappropriately toward him and other members of the police force during her first months on the job.
Chief Axel Henry, who has led the St. Paul Police Department since 2022, told top city officials in March about a series of incidents involving Mayor Kaohly Her, according to records reviewed by The Times. The records provide few details of the incidents.
The city has hired an outside law firm to conduct an investigation into the mayor’s conduct, the records show.
Mayor Her, who became the first woman to serve as St. Paul’s mayor when she took office in January, declined a request for an interview.
Matt Wagenius, a spokesman for the mayor, said in an emailed statement, that he could not answer questions about an ongoing investigation. “The mayor has deep respect for city employees and regrets any unintended impact her actions may have had,” he said.
Chief Henry also declined a request for an interview.
“Chief Henry will do everything to ensure that appropriate conduct is modeled and followed in the St. Paul Police Department,” Chris Madel, a lawyer representing the police chief, said.
It was uncertain how the investigation, which had not previously been disclosed publicly, was affecting business at City Hall. The inquiry was unfolding as St. Paul, a focus of a federal immigration crackdown earlier in the year, faces significant challenges, including a projected $26 million deficit as well as highly debated efforts to clear a large homeless encampment.
In an April 1 letter, Mr. Madel notified Irene Kao, the city attorney for St. Paul, that Chief Henry planned “to step forward as a formal complainant against the mayor after becoming aware that the mayor’s conduct has extended beyond isolated incidents and has included sexual harassment of subordinate city employees, including members of the Saint Paul Police Department.”
The independent review is being conducted by Cally Kjellberg-Nelson, an employment law expert at the law firm Resolute Law, according to records obtained by The Times. Ms. Kjellberg-Nelson did not immediately respond to an email seeking information about the status of her inquiry.
Mr. Wagenius said he did not know when the review would be completed. Asked whether its findings would be shared with the public, he added: “We will honor all applicable laws when making the determination on the report.”
Mr. Madel’s letter included a screenshot of a text message, which Mr. Madel said the mayor had sent to a city employee. It included an image, along with a message that read, “When she wraps you up in her blanket after you gave her a good weinering,” followed by two crying laughter emojis.
Chief Henry, a St. Paul native who rose through the ranks since joining the department in 1998, has kept a relatively low profile since former Mayor Melvin Carter appointed him to lead the department in November 2022 for a six-year term.
During his tenure, St. Paul has seen a drop in violent crime, which Chief Henry has attributed in part to an initiative to aggressively investigate nonfatal shootings.
At times, the department has faced criticism. Last year, City Council members and residents objected after officers used chemical irritants and projectiles against protesters during an immigration arrest.
Ms. Her, the daughter of Hmong refugees from Laos, spent part of her childhood in a refugee camp before moving to the United States in the 1970s.
She represented a St. Paul district in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2019 to 2025. A moderate Democrat who worked in finance and nonprofits earlier in her career, Ms. Her served as policy director for the city of St. Paul during Mr. Carter’s first mayoral term.
She surprised the city’s political establishment by launching a run for mayor last August, leaving her only three months to campaign against her former ally, Mr. Carter, who was well established. She made history as the city’s first female mayor and as the first Asian person elected to the role.
Ms. Her campaigned aggressively and found broad support for her message that the city’s problems required a more assertive, responsive and business-savvy leader. She promised to revitalize the downtown district, make it easier for businesses to thrive, lower housing costs and to redouble efforts to protect undocumented residents from the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Alain Delaquérière contributed research.
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