Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell, a Democrat, plans to resign from her position next month after she was convicted of breaking into her estranged stepmother’s home.

The news of her resignation came Monday from Mitchell’s attorney, who said the lawmaker will step down from her role Aug. 4. 

Mitchell, 51, is taking the extra time to get health insurance for her son and finish up some outstanding legislative duties, her lawyer said.

Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said he will call a special election to fill Mitchell’s seat in the St. Paul suburbs before February, when the legislature reconvenes.

Minnesota Democrats hold a one-seat majority in the Senate.

Republican leaders were upset that Mitchell was allowed to keep serving as a lawmaker while the case played out, and were further aggravated by the delay in her resignation.

“Senator Mitchell was convicted of two felonies; she doesn’t get to give the Senate two weeks’ notice. Democrats shielded Mitchell for 15 months to protect their political power, but a jury needed just three hours to confirm what was already clear: she shouldn’t be a senator,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson said in a statement.

A jury found the lawmaker guilty Friday of first-degree burglary for the April 2024 break-in at the home that her late father shared with her stepmother, Carol Mitchell.

Around 4:45 a.m. that morning, police said the stepmother called police about an intruder in the house. Officers arrived and found Mitchell inside the home.

Police bodycam footage from her arrest showed her admitting to climbing through a window, and telling her stepmother that “I was just trying to get a couple of my dad’s things because you wouldn’t talk to me anymore.”

Her father had died a month before her arrest.

But while testifying at her trial, Mitchell changed her story. She said she wasn’t trying to take anything and entered the home to do a welfare check on her stepmother.

After a short deliberation, the jury convicted Mitchell of the burglary charge and possessing burglary tools. 

Mitchell, a former meteorologist and lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard, faces a mandatory minimum of six months behind bars for the conviction.

— This article is based in part on wire service reports.

• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.