It will be the end of an era in Sherburne County Wednesday when Sherburne County Attorney Kathleen Heaney retires.

Heaney announced her retirement last month at the board of commissioners meeting. Her last day is April 30 after serving the county for 30 years, the last 22 years as county attorney.

“It felt like it was the right time both personally and professionally,” she says. “It’s time to go to the next phase.”

Heaney started with the county in 1989 in the old county building in Elk River. She was hired by then County Attorney John Macgibbon.

She can still remember her first assignments.

“I was tasked with looking at a 20-year contract for the refuse-derived fuel facility. It was an agreement between us, Hennepin County, Anoka County  and Tri-County Solid Waste.”

Her next assignment was looking at a number of open cases in child support.

“They asked me to work through all of those cases and bring everything up to date,” she says.

Heaney has worked in the private sector but says her heart lies with public sector work. That commitment to public service was influenced when she was a young child by former Governor Harold Levander.

“I had worked for him mowing lawns, fixing fences and cleaning gardens,” she says. “He was a very kind man and he was a person who had a true public servant’s heart. In sixth  grade I decided I was going to be an attorney.”

Heaney did her undergraduate work at Gustavus Adolphus College and got a degree in business economics. She went to law school at William Mitchell College of Law and got her degree in 1985.

After working in private sector, she started with the county in 1989. She worked in private sector again between 2001 and 2003 before coming back to the county and has served as county attorney ever since.

The office has grown over the years and has more responsibilities than ever before.

“There’s a lot that goes on besides contracts. We handle child support, paternity, guardianships, conservatorships, work with all the different departments - elections, planning and zoning, board of adjustment property acquisitions, parks, ordinances, the recent cannabis ordinances and agreements,” she says. “In addition to criminal prosecutions, we handle all of the felonies, half the gross misdemeanors and misdemeanors in the county. At my last count we were over 1,900 active cases in my office, and that’s just on the criminal side.”

Heaney says the nature of what the county attorney’s office does has changed over the years.

“I think people’s expectations are different because of the internet and instant answers. People want things turned around more quickly,” she says. “When I started we didn’t talk about cybersecurity. Now we do. So we’re always trying to move our practice forward with the change in technology and advances in testing for drugs. It’s constant evolution.”

Heaney says once she retires, she’ll still be part of the community and will likely be bumping into former staff, chatting with folks and having lunch once in awhile.

But right now, she doesn’t have any immediate plans.

“I’ll spend more time with family and friends, but I don’t have any grandiose plans. I’m not going on any major trips,” she says. “I have a bucket list, but right now I just want to catch up with myself and get a few things done that have been put to the wayside.”

And she’s sure she won’t be getting any late night calls from the office for assistance.

“We have a very capable staff. They’re very talented. I’ve been blessed to be able to work with them,” she says. “That’s part of the reason I feel comfortable retiring - because I know that they’ll do a great job.”

“It’s been a privilege.”