St. Paul, Minn. ? Gov. Jesse Ventura shut down the governor’s mansion Tuesday, laid off most of the staff and declared it unavailable for all but limited official functions.

Ventura blamed a budget dispute for the move, saying state lawmakers left him no choice but to close the residence when they cut his spending and reduced his security budget.

The Minnesota governor's mansion is shown in St. Paul, Minn. Gov. Jesse Ventura on Tuesday closed the mansion because of budget cuts imposed by lawmakers.

Lawmakers said they may seek an injunction to force the mansion to reopen.

“Hopefully the governor will realize that the mansion is the people’s house and he shouldn’t just close it because he’s mad at some legislators,” said Rep. Matt Entenza, whose district includes the mansion.

Atty. Gen. Mike Hatch issued an opinion that says state law requires that the 92-year-old mansion be kept open and available for ceremonial purposes. Ventura called that just an opinion and went ahead with the closing.

Ventura and his wife, Terry, used the mansion frequently in his first years in office, but they now spend most nights at their ranch in Maple Grove.

Ventura said the mansion would be maintained as required by law, but Entenza took issue with the governor’s definition. “When you fire the staff and haul out the furniture, you’re not maintaining it as the law requires,” he said.

Trying to close a deficit of more than $2 billion, lawmakers recently enacted a budget over Ventura’s veto that cuts $1.3 million from his $9.3 million office and security budgets. Ventura’s aides said it would take $375,000 to run the mansion through the end of June 2003.