Omnibus law funds public safety and judiciary, sets gun-control measures

The state’s public safety, judiciary, and corrections departments and agencies will receive $3.56 billion in the 2024-25 biennium. The same budget law also contains dozens of policy updates and changes, including two high-profile gun-control measures.

Rep. Kelly Moller (DFL-Shoreview) and Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park) sponsor the law that takes effect July 1, 2023, unless otherwise noted.

HF2890/SF2909*/CH52

Money

The public safety and judiciary finance and policy law includes funding for the Department of Public Safety, Department of Corrections, Minnesota courts, civil legal services, Guardian ad Litem Board, Uniform Laws Commission, Board on Judicial Standards, Board of Public Defense, Department of Human Rights, and Peace Officers Standards and Training Board. (Art. 1-2)

The funding includes $880 million in net General Fund increases during the 2024-25 biennium. Total appropriations by department, agency, commission, or board are:

• $1.62 billion for the Department of Corrections;

• $882.4 million for the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, district courts, and tax court;

• $625.7 million for the Department of Public Safety;

• $319.2 million for the Public Defense Board, including 95.7 million for raises to public defenders and to hire 206 more of them;

• $67.1 million for Civil Legal Services, including $30.7 million for raises to its lawyers who represent low-income clients in civil cases;

• $49.9 million for the Guardian ad Litem Board;

• $16.5 million for the Department of Human Rights;

• $14.4 million for the State Competency Attainment Board;

• $3 million for the Sentencing Guidelines Commission;

• $2.2 million for the Board of Appellate Counsel for Parents;

• $1.3 million for the Board of Judicial Standards; and

• $230,000 for the Uniform Laws Commission.

District court judges will get 8% pay raises in fiscal year 2024 and 4% in fiscal year 2025. The compensation pool is increased so judicial employees could receive performance-based raises of 9% in fiscal year 2024 and 6% in fiscal year 2025.

Appropriations for divisions, offices, and boards within the Department of Public Safety are:

• $229.9 million for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension;

• $175.2 million for the Office of Justice Programs;

• $147.9 million for the Emergency Communication Networks Division;

• $34.3 million for the state fire marshal;

• $25.6 million for the Peace Officers Standards and Training Board;

• $14.4 million for the Firefighter Training and Education Board;

• $11.7 million for the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management;

• $7.9 million for alcohol and gambling enforcement;

• $4.3 million for administrative services; and

• $1.4 million for the Private Detective Board.

Budgets for several Department of Public Safety divisions are funded in the transportation finance and policy law, including $370.1 million for the state patrol, $148.9 million for driver and vehicle services, and $13.8 million for the Office of Traffic Safety.

The Office of Justice Programs will receive $175.2 million in the biennium, including:

• $22 million for crime victim/witness advocates in county and city prosecutorial offices;

• $10 million for crime victim services focused on underserved communities most impacted by violence;

• $8 million for youth restorative practice programs;

• $7.7 million for the state, instead of counties, to pay medical examination costs for criminal sexual conduct victims;

• $7.1 million for youth intervention grants;

• $5 million for Ramsey County juvenile placement homes;

• $5 million for Ramsey County violence prevention/wellness grants; and

• $5 million for recruiting and retaining peace officers.

Specific Department of Corrections appropriations include $1.09 billion for incarceration and prerelease services, $380.9 million for community supervision and post-release services, $147.9 million for operations, and $2.2 million for the Ombudsperson for Corrections. (Art. 1-2)

Guns

Effective Aug. 1, 2023, the law prohibits private transfers of pistols and semiautomatic military-style assault weapons without a firearms eligibility background check of the person receiving the firearm.

Requires chief law enforcement officers to deny an application for a transferee permit or report of transfer if there exists a substantial likelihood that the proposed transferee is a danger to self or the public when in possession of a firearm. The BCA is to receive $70,000 in fiscal year 2024 to purchase and integrate information technology hardware and software necessary to process additional firearms eligibility background checks.

The second gun-control provision is a so-called “red flag” law, which, effective Jan. 1, 2024, provides a way for family or household members, a chief law enforcement officer, a city or county attorney, or a guardian to petition a court for an “extreme risk protection order,” including on an emergency basis, that will prohibit the respondent from possessing firearms for up to one year.

A criminal penalty is established for “knowing any information in the petition to be materially false or with the intent to harass, abuse, or threaten.” Law enforcement officers and county attorneys who decide, in good faith, to not petition for a protective order are immune from criminal or civil liability. (Art. 1, Sec. 3; Art. 13, Secs. 1-3; Art. 14, Secs. 1-12)

No-knock warrants

The new law significantly curtails when a judge can issue a no-knock search warrant. It allows no-knock warrants only when the search cannot be executed while the premises is unoccupied and “the occupant or occupants of the dwelling will present an immediate threat of death or injury to the officers executing the warrant if the officers announce their presence or purpose prior to entering the dwelling.”

Before the change, judges could approve no-knock warrants under certain conditions, such as when the police can demonstrate they are unable to detain a suspect or collect evidence through a knock-and-announce warrant. (Art. 9, Secs. 5-7)

New offices

Funded at nearly $1.25 million each year, an Office for Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls is established within the Minnesota Office of Justice Programs. It is “dedicated to preventing and ending the targeting of Black women and girls.”

An Office of Restorative Practices is established to, in part, promote the use of restorative practices across multiple disciplines, including pretrial diversion programs and community violence prevention practices, and award grants to establish and support restorative practices initiatives. For establishment, $500,000 is allotted each year.

A Clemency Review Commission, funded at $986,000 each year, is created to screen petitions submitted to the Board of Pardons and make disposition recommendations on the petitions to the board.

The Statewide Office of Appellate Counsel and Training is established to provide training to all parent attorneys practicing in the state on topics relevant to their practice and establishing practice standards and training requirements for parent attorneys practicing in the state. It also includes hiring or contracting with attorneys to represent the parents in cases where a person appeals a district court’s decision on a child protection case.

A Supervised Release Board to review eligible cases and make release and final discharge decisions for inmates serving life sentences with the possibility of parole or supervised release, among other sentencing conditions. The board is to receive $40,000 per year in funding. (Art. 2, Secs. 3, 6; Art. 5, Secs. 26-27; Art. 8, Sec. 5; Art. 18, Sec. 1)

Policy provisions

Effective Aug. 1, 2023, the law establishes the Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act, which will require the Department of Corrections to develop a personalized rehabilitation plan for every inmate with at least a year left to serve, including substance abuse treatment programs, sexual offender treatment programming, medical and mental health services, and vocational, employment and career, educational, and other rehabilitative programs. If a program enrollee makes sufficient progress toward rehabilitation, their sentence could be reduced by up to 17%. Inmates serving life sentences will be ineligible for the program. (Art. 12, Secs. 1-15)

Also effective Aug. 1, 2023, a new process is created to simplify operation and payment of post-release community supervision (i.e., probation, parole) based on an agreement reached among all 87 Minnesota counties and the three entities providing such services: the Department of Corrections, county probation officers, and counties participating in the Community Corrections Act. (Art. 17, Secs. 1-xx)

Other policy provisions, effective Aug. 1, 2023, unless noted, include:

• simplifying how victims of identity theft or mistaken identity can expunge court records to clear their names;

• expanding who is authorized to perform civil marriages;

• requiring peace officers responding to emergency calls to carry at least two opiate antagonists (i.e., naloxone, naltrexone) to counteract a narcotics overdose;

• prohibiting peace officers from joining or supporting hate or extremist groups;

• allowing lawsuits seeking damages to continue after the person suing has died;

• creating a carjacking crime and establishing penalties;

• prohibiting law enforcement agencies from retaliating against, or penalizing a peace officer who intercedes against or reports another officer’s or employee’s use of excessive force;

• creating a crime of organized retail theft and establishing penalties;

• effective May 25, 2023, prohibiting the state from using private prisons;

• effective Jan. 1, 2024, restricting strip searches of detained juveniles and prohibiting the use of isolation to punish them;

• allowing people who receive government benefits, are homeless, or eligible for legal aid services to retrieve their possessions from an impounded vehicle free of charge;

• effective July 1, 2023, providing free phone calls for prisoners;

• expanding the definition of “killed in the line of duty” to include a public safety worker’s death by suicide following a PTSD diagnosis or within 45 days of witnessing a traumatic event such as a mass shooting;

• permitting a person filing a name change after a divorce to go back to their pre-divorce name without a criminal history check;

• establishing and funding the Gaagige-Mikwendaagoziwag reward account for information on missing and murdered indigenous relatives;

• granting people convicted of aiding and abetting felony murder the right to petition a court to vacate their conviction;

• expanding the type of public safety workers eligible to be reimbursed for purchasing soft body armor to include firefighters and EMTs;

• strengthening laws prohibiting surreptitious observation or photographing that invades a person’s privacy;

• effective Jan. 1, 2025, establishing an automatic expungement process for certain non-violent offenses, removing the requirement for a court process;

• permitting the prosecutor responsible for the prosecution of an individual convicted of a crime to commence a proceeding to lower that person’s sentence;

• expanding the crime of an assault motivated by bias to include bias against a person due to the person’s gender, gender identity, or gender expression;

• changing the first-degree possession offense to equate the possession of fentanyl with the possession of heroin;

• expanding by two the number of members on the Sentencing Guidelines Commission;

• beginning July 1, 2023, requiring the state, instead of counties, to pay for medical examination costs for criminal sexual conduct victims;

• establishing a mental health unit pilot program in county jails;

• requiring landlords to disclose all non-optional fees in lease agreements;

• encoding into statute the Interstate Compact for Juveniles;

• effective Aug. 1, 2024, requiring carbon monoxide alarms in hotel rooms;

• effective May 25, 2023, classifying as private data a tax return or a bank account statement of a person seeking to obtain a license from a city, municipality, or other political subdivision;

• effective Jan. 1. 2024, prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about their past pay history;

• prohibiting sentences of life without the possibility of parole for individuals who commit homicide before turning 18 and providing a possibility of release after 15, 20, or 30 years for all individuals who committed offenses as juveniles; and

• limiting the length of probation to five years for most felony offenses and making that change apply retroactively.

SF2909* / HF2890 / CH52