Minnesota South
Al-Anon/Alateen Area

Al-Anon/Alateen Areas

Al‑Anon and Alateen in the United States and Canada is made up of 67 Areas. In the US, most Areas consist of a whole state. Minnesota is one of six states that are divided into two Areas, Minnesota South and Minnesota North. The boundary consists of the north borders of Washington, Anoka, Wright, Meeker, Kandiyohi, Swift and Big Stone counties. Most of the groups in the Twin Cities metropolitan area are in the Minnesota South Area, although a few are in the Minnesota North Area or the Wisconsin Area.

Areas, including Minnesota South, have regularly scheduled Assemblies (April and October for Minnesota South) attended by Group Representatives (GRs) from groups in the area as well as any Al‑Anon or Alateen members who wish to attend.

The primary source of information on Minnesota South Area is its web site www.minnesotasouth-al-anon.org. You can find information there on a variety of Al‑Anon/Alateen topics, including a schedule of meetings across the Area and a calendar of upcoming events.

Every attempt is made to synchronize the meeting listings on this web site with the information on the Area web site. If you find any discrepancies, please let us know.

This page is not intended to replace the Minnesota South Area web site. The links are provided for the convenience of members.

Al-Anon/Alateen Districts

Al‑Anon/Alateen Areas are divided into Districts, each containing one or more Al‑Anon and/or Alateen groups. Each district should have a District Representative (DR) as well as other District officers, but not all do. Most districts have regularly scheduled district meetings to which every group in the district is entitled to send its GR.

Minnesota South Area is divided into 21 Districts. Previous to redistricting accomplished at the March 2015 Area Assembly, there were 44 districts, although many were not organized and existed only on paper, lacking even a DR. There were even a couple of districts with no groups. Before the redistricting, multiple districts (for example Districts 31 – 33) functioned as a single district. The March 2015 redistricting made such combinations single districts.

The maps show the new district boundaries which were adopted by the Minnesota South Area Assembly in March 2015. The definition of new districts was in terms of the previous districts. The details of these boundaries are based on a document which describes the boundaries of the previous 44 districts.

The Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual

Although it is no longer true that every group receives a free copy of the Al‑Anon/Alateen Service Manual (P24-27) whenever it is revised, the latest revision (for 2018–2021) is available on line. It is the ultimate reference about Al‑Anon and Alateen service. If you have a service-related question, the answer is probably in the Service Manual.

Part 1 of the Service Manual, Al‑Anon and Alateen Groups at Work (published separately as P24), is a good introduction to Al‑Anon as an organization. Some of the information it contains explains how to start a group, what happens in a group, and the structure of the Al‑Anon/Alateen fellowship. In particular, it provides basic information about Districts, Areas, Intergroups or Information Services, and the World Service Conference.

Part 2, Digest of Al‑Anon/Alateen Policies summarizes policies and procedures that are respected throughout Al‑Anon and Alateen.

Part 3, the World Service Handbook, describes Al‑Anon service in more detail, including the way it is usually structured, service positions that should be filled, and what their responsibilities are.

Part 4, Al‑Anon’s Twelve Concepts of Service, introduces and discusses basic Al‑Anon principles needed for effective, harmonious service.

Minnesota South Area Policies

Over the decades since the founding of Al‑Anon in 1951, a number of policies have been put in place as guidelines as to what things are OK for a group, District or Area to do. These are detailed in part 2 of the Al‑Anon/Alateen Service Manual described above.  Many Areas have developed their own local policies that supplement these, and  Minnesota South Area is no exception. These policies are gathered into a booklet, a web-readable version of which is posted here. Here is its table of contents:

The previous version of the policy folder, dated 1/18/15, is also available here.