Kyle T. Manderfeld
Attorney, Barna, Guzy & Steffen LLP — Entered Plaintiff’s HRO matter May 12, 2025, the same day the federal claim was docketed.
Pattern of Conduct
Manderfeld worked for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office from 2022 until June 2024, directly overlapping with the period when Plaintiff’s filings were obstructed and unsigned orders began circulating. He joined Barna, Guzy & Steffen in November 2024, five months before entering Plaintiff’s HRO matter.
On May 12, 2025 — the same day Plaintiff’s federal civil rights complaint was docketed — he appeared in the HRO case as counsel for Lee. His immediate alignment with existing misconduct positioned him as the private-sector continuation of county obstruction.
Evidence Laundering and Procedural Irregularities
Manderfeld’s role was not neutral advocacy but the deliberate advancement of altered records. He laundered the Rueger alterations into the state record under Judge Starr, then passed the same corrupted framework to Bacon, and ultimately into the federal record.
“Step 2 in the evidence-laundering chain — carrying unlawful Ramsey County alterations into private practice.”
He circulated estoppel arguments on Bacon’s behalf while ignoring the altered and unsigned orders on which they depended. By validating these defects rather than exposing them, he entrenched Ramsey County’s unlawful activities and extended them into the federal arena.
Litigation Strategy
Manderfeld’s strategy emphasized technical defenses over substantive correction. His filings leaned on estoppel to suppress Plaintiff’s claims while bypassing the core issue of document tampering and altered judicial orders. This posture aligned his private practice with the county’s misconduct, effectively laundering administrative fraud into adversarial litigation.
By refusing to correct the record, and by recirculating false premises, he positioned himself as an essential conduit between county irregularities and private defense counsel’s tactics.
Why It Matters
Manderfeld’s involvement is pivotal: he is the bridge between Ramsey County’s administrative misconduct and its persistence in state and federal litigation. Without his willing participation, the altered records risked exposure; with it, they were instead normalized and weaponized against Plaintiff.
His conduct demonstrates how the revolving door between public employment and private defense can be exploited to carry forward unlawful acts, shielding institutions from accountability and compounding harm to pro se litigants.