12 March 2021
The family’s civil case ended in a US$27 million settlement
Minneapolis approved a US$27 million settlement with George Floyd’s family before the criminal trial reached its verdict. The council motion allocated US$500,000 of that amount to benefit the community around 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, where Floyd was killed. This resolved the family’s civil claim against the city and the officers; it did not determine the outcome of the criminal prosecution. Those were separate proceedings, with different questions before the court. For the family, the agreement provided a financial remedy for the loss. The question of criminal responsibility still had to be decided.
20 April 2021
A jury convicted Chauvin of murder
The jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death. The verdict established criminal responsibility for the killing, nearly a year after the video of Floyd’s restraint prompted demands for accountability. A conviction, however, was only one part of the aftermath. The court still had to impose a sentence, the other officers faced their own proceedings, and the city’s policing practices would become the subject of a separate reform process.
25 June 2021
The state court imposed a 22½-year prison sentence
Chauvin was sentenced to 22½ years in state prison. That was the punishment imposed in the Minnesota prosecution, distinct from the family’s civil settlement and from the federal civil-rights case that followed. The sentence gave the state murder conviction a concrete consequence. It did not resolve every legal issue arising from Floyd’s death or establish that the police department had changed how its officers worked.
24 February 2022
The other three officers were convicted in federal court
A federal jury convicted Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane of violating Floyd’s civil rights by deliberately failing to provide medical aid. Thao and Kueng were also convicted for failing to intervene in Chauvin’s excessive force. These were civil-rights convictions: the officers were not all found guilty of the same offence.
7 July 2022
Chauvin also received a federal prison sentence
Chauvin received a 252-month federal sentence—21 years—with credit for time served. In his guilty plea, he admitted that his unreasonable force and failure to provide medical aid caused Floyd’s death. The federal punishment was separate from the Minnesota murder sentence, but the sentences run concurrently. They cannot simply be added together to describe his time in prison.
Federal sentence · Justice Department · 7 July 2022 · Concurrent sentences and appeal · MPR News · 1 July 2026
31 March 2023
Minneapolis agreed to enforceable police reforms
The City Council and mayor approved terms of a court-enforceable agreement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. The state investigation had found a pattern of discriminatory policing. The agreement addressed use of force, stops and searches, training, supervision and misconduct investigations, with an independent evaluator to assess progress. This shifted the question from the conduct of individual officers to the department’s everyday practices. Agreeing to the requirements was a starting point: changing policies, training staff and demonstrating sustained compliance would take further work.
27 May 2025
The proposed federal reform agreement fell away
A federal judge dismissed the Justice Department’s case against Minneapolis with prejudice after the department sought dismissal. The court also denied the request to approve the proposed federal settlement as moot. The proposed federal consent decree therefore did not become an approved court order. That outcome did not cancel the separate agreement with Minnesota’s human-rights department. Minneapolis’s reform work continued under the state arrangement, even as the additional federal oversight route ended.
State reform agreement · City of Minneapolis · Federal case dismissal · court order · 27 May 2025
15 June 2026 · report published
New training was in place, but compliance was unfinished
The city’s account of the fourth independent progress report described uneven implementation. Revised use-of-force policies had taken effect on 1 January 2026, and department-wide training had been completed. But the report also identified gaps in internal-affairs investigations and delays in implementing a case-management system. Its review period ran from October 2025 through March 2026. The practical distinction matters: completing a policy or training programme does not, by itself, demonstrate that the department consistently follows it. The report recorded progress alongside unfinished requirements, rather than an end to reform oversight.
Fourth reform progress report · City of Minneapolis · 15 June 2026
18 August 2026
Chauvin sought another review of his state conviction
MPR News reported that Chauvin had filed a third petition for post-conviction relief. It followed earlier unsuccessful efforts to overturn the state conviction. The new filing made further procedural arguments; a request to set aside a conviction is not a ruling that the conviction was wrong. The established murder conviction and prison sentences remain distinct from the relief he is seeking. For Minneapolis, the broader question also remains open: whether the reforms prompted by Floyd’s killing will produce sustained changes in policing.
The evidence
Sources for this update
- 01Prosecution chronology · Minnesota Attorney General
- 02Settlement approval · MPR News · 12 March 2021
- 03Federal sentence · Justice Department · 7 July 2022
- 04State reform agreement · City of Minneapolis
- 05Federal case dismissal · court order · 27 May 2025
- 06Fourth reform progress report · City of Minneapolis · 15 June 2026
- 07Further conviction challenge · MPR News · 18 August 2026
- 08Concurrent sentences and appeal · MPR News · 1 July 2026
Where the story stands
The story continues when the evidence does.
The criminal convictions and family settlement provide established outcomes. The reform agreement has not reached full compliance, so the question of sustained changes in Minneapolis policing remains open.