St. Patrick's Tavern & Restaurant in New Prague has agreed to pay a $15,000 fine and comply with future COVID-related restrictions as part of a settlement with the Minnesota attorney general's office to resolve past noncompliance.

Attorney General Keith Ellison's office sued the bar along Hwy. 13 in Scott County on Dec. 21, after investigators on multiple visits found St. Patrick's continued serving food and drinks to customers indoors, despite state orders at the time prohibiting that to slow virus spread.

As the number of new daily cases of COVID-19 reached all-time highs in Minnesota late last year, Gov. Tim Walz issued an order that prohibited restaurants from serving food and drinks indoors, starting Nov. 20. The prohibition lasted until Jan. 10.

A news release from Ellison's office said that even after a representative of the office called the bar in early December and explained the order, the business remained open, hosting several hundred customers on Dec. 18 and 19 in open defiance of the orders.

The agreement to settle the case with St. Patrick's Tavern and Restaurant is the sixth settlement from the attorney general's office relating to violations of Walz' executive orders closing businesses to limit the spread of COVID-19.

Joe Carlson • 612-673-4779