Norman gets 90 days home monitoring, 5 years probation

Emphasizing a need for public trust, Mower County District Court Judge Fred Wellmann sentenced former Albert Lea City Manager Jim Norman Thursday to 90 days electronic home monitoring and five years probation for using a city-issued credit card for personal purchases.

“Public trust is very important to our society, our way of life in this country,” Wellmann said, noting that the crimes violated trust.

Norman was found guilty by a jury in May of permitting false claims against government by a public officer, theft with the intent to exercise temporary control and misconduct by a public officer.

He was ordered to serve 100 hours of community service and must get a mental health evaluation.

In the hallway after the sentencing, Norman said he was disappointed with the sentence and noted he “can’t seem to catch a break.”

The convictions involved charging $2,300 of personal purchases during his first few months as city manager. He said he thought the issue could have been cleared up with a simple explanation and noted that the Albert Lea City Council also asked that the charges be dropped.

He declined to comment on a possible appeal.

Wellmann let Norman choose his sentence — 45 days in jail, with the possibility of getting out after 30 days with good time, or 90 days of electronic home monitoring at his own expense. Prosecuting Attorney Brenda Miller of the Waseca County Attorney’s Office, who has been handling the case, pushed for jail time.

Norman, making a brief explanation that he would like to try to keep his marriage together, chose the home monitoring. He has one week to get the monitoring in place.