| Mike Opat is a member of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners, the governing body for the largest county in Minnesota, with more than one million residents, and an annual budget of $1.7 billion. The County Board approves the county budget and property tax levy, establishes policies for delivery of services, approves contracts, oversees operations and appoints key staff members.
Hennepin is one of only 14 counties nationwide to earn triple-A credit ratings – the highest possible – from all three national rating agencies; a rating Hennepin has maintained for 25 years. County services include:
- Hennepin County Medical Center, a Level 1 Trauma Center and one of the nation’s premier public training and teaching hospitals, which treats 400,000 patients a year and has been on U.S. News and World Report’s annual list of best hospitals in the nation for three years running
- A correctional system which oversees 32,000 people in the jail, workhouse, Juvenile Justice Center and adult and juvenile probation programs
- A transportation system including 571 miles of roads and 163 bridges
- An award-winning system of 26 libraries which serves 5 million visitors a year and is ranked among the top five library systems in the nation.
Commissioner Opat was elected to the board for the first time in 1992 and has served from 1993 to the present, serving as Board Chair from 2001 through 2003. He represents a district of approximately 160,000 people, which includes parts of North Minneapolis and several northwest Minneapolis suburbs. Before being elected to the board, Opat worked for 10 years as a corrections officer and supervisor at the county Adult Corrections Facility. In 1987 he was named Minnesota Correctional Officer of the Year. His correctional background helped him develop such programs as the Productive Day Initiative, which requires inmates to be productive – working or studying – seven hours a day.
Commissioner Opat has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Public Policy degree from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. Commissioner Opat is currently chair of Hennepin County’s Budget and Capital Investment Committee and chair of the HCMC Governing Board Committee. He also serves on the Audit Committee, HCMC Executive Council and the Joint Committee on Community Corrections. He is a member of numerous private associations, including the American Council of Young Political Leaders, the German Marshall Fund of the United States and is an honorary board member of ARC Hennepin/Carver.
Commissioner Opat lives with his wife Kim and sons Lucas and Thomas and daughter Tessa in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. To learn more about Commissioner Opat click here.
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