On Tuesday, March 17, 2020, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners met in a special meeting where, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes § 12.29, a Local Emergency was declared and several actions were discussed and unanimously adopted to establish the county's response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Through Resolution No. 20-0118 R1 the County Board, among other actions, delegated authority to the County Administrator of up to $2.5 million to purchase and contract for all necessary goods, materials, supplies, equipment, and contracted services as part of the Hennepin County’s COVID-19 response.

Through Resolution No. 20-0120 the County Board authorized the County Administrator to negotiate lease(s) to provide alternative living spaces for county-dependent individuals during the period March 17, 2020 through December 31, 2020, in an amount not to exceed $3,000,000.

Effective March 19, 2020, Hennepin County Administrator David Hough mandated that all county employees who were able to work from home do so.

On March 25, 2020, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued emergency executive order 20-20 ordering all persons currently living within the State of Minnesota to stay at home or in their place of residence except to engage in the Activities and Critical Sector work, through Friday, April 10, 2020 at 5PM.

The extended response to the COVID-19 pandemic will require additional funds be made available.

Current Request: The current request seeks delegation of up to $3.0 million for COVID-19 response to the County Administrator which includes; $2 million for additional purchase and contract of all necessary goods, materials, supplies, equipment, and contracted services; and $1 million to negotiate lease(s) to provide increased capacity of alternative living spaces for county-dependent individuals.