ST. PAUL, Minn. - The family of Dru Sjodin, the University of North Dakota student who was found dead months after she disappeared a year ago, has notified the state of Minnesota it is a probable target of a wrongful death lawsuit.

In a six-page letter dated Friday, the Sjodin family attorney said the state has some responsibility for Sjodin's death. The attorney, Timothy Murphy, said the family intends to seek more than $1 million in damages.

In a point-by-point chronology, Murphy describes how Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., Sjodin's suspected abductor, was a continued threat to public safety when he was released from prison in May 2003. Murphy suggests budget pressures might have led to the decision not to keep Rodriguez confined longer through a civil commitment procedure.

"The loss of Ms. Sjodin, and the catastrophic effect that her loss has had on the heirs and next-of-kin, cannot be measured in terms of monetary compensation," Murphy wrote in the letter to Attorney General Mike Hatch.

Murphy didn't return a call for further comment.

Parties that want to bring wrongful death lawsuits have a year to notify the potential defendants. They have another two years to actually file the lawsuit.

Rodriguez, 51, of Crookston, Minn., has pleaded not guilty to a charge of kidnapping resulting in the death of Sjodin.

He remains jailed in Fargo, N.D., pending a March 2006 trial.

Sjodin, of Pequot Lakes, was a senior graphics arts major at UND. She was last seen leaving her job in a Grand Forks mall on Nov. 22, 2003. Her body was found in April in a ravine near Crookston, where Rodriguez had been living with his mother.

Rodriguez, a convicted rapist, was released from prison last year after serving 23 years for stabbing a woman and trying to abduct her off the street.

Murphy said Rodriguez exhibited behavior that raised concerns about his release. Murphy pointed out that Rodriguez refused to undergo sex offender treatment while in prison.

A Department of Corrections psychologist decided against recommending the civil commitment. Murphy noted that referrals for civil commitments had fallen off significantly in the years leading up to Rodriguez's release.

Murphy's letter said government lawyers didn't do enough to "make sure that Rodriguez was committed as a person who always had been and was still a grave danger to the community as a violent sexual predator."

Gov. Tim Pawlenty responded to the lawsuit with a prepared statement.

"My heart continues to go out to the family of Dru Sjodin. We empathize with the unimaginable loss and trauma they have experienced. I personally agree with the family that Alfonso Rodriguez should not have been released," Pawlenty said. "I hope to work with the family to resolve this in a manner that is fair, appropriate and prompt."

Hatch spokeswoman Leslie Sandberg said the attorney general is "sympathetic" to Sjodin's family.

"We have expressed concern about the way the Minnesota sex offender program has been administered," she said. "So we are not surprised about the notice-of-claim filing."