Public safety, judiciary law funds – and makes changes to – courts, cops, and corrections

The omnibus public safety and judiciary policy and finance law appropriates $3.5 billion in the 2026-27 biennium to fund the Corrections, Human Rights and Public Safety departments, Minnesota courts, civil legal services, Guardian ad Litem Board, Tax Court, Uniform Laws Commission, and the Judicial Standards, Public Defense and Peace Officers Standards and Training boards.

The wide-ranging law, effective July 1, 2025, unless noted, also makes several policy changes, including increasing penalties for assaulting a firefighter, extending the statute of limitations for first-degree arson from five to 10 years, authorizing county attorneys to use administrative subpoenas in wage theft investigations and making it a crime to knowingly cause or permit a child to inhale, be exposed to, have contact with, or ingest fentanyl.

Rep. Paul Novotny (R-Elk River) and Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park) are the sponsors.

HF2432*/SF1417/CH35

Judiciary appropriations

District Courts are funded with $792.8 million, including $5.4 million to increase the pay of forensic navigators who perform psychiatric or psychological examinations assessing civil commitment proceedings and criminal competency from $136 per hour to $165 per hour.

Other appropriations include $105.2 million for the Supreme Court, $31.2 million for the Court of Appeals and $4.7 million for the Tax Court.

The law includes a $4 million grant in fiscal year 2026 to the Judicial Branch to make documents and court information assessable electronically. Courts will be permitted to charge a reasonable fee to private attorneys for this improved access and to retain any money collected.

Other judiciary appropriations are:

• $335.2 million for the Board of Public Defense;

• $70.7 million for the Board of Civil Legal Aid;

• $53.5 million for the Guardian Ad Litem Board, including money to hire two guardian ad litem supervisors;

• $22.2 million for the Competency Attainment Board;

• $17.8 million for the Department of Human Rights;

• $10.7 million for the Cannabis Expungement Board;

• $2.4 million for the Office of Appellate Counsel and Training;

• $2.2 million for the Sentencing Guidelines Commission;

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

• $230,000 for the Uniform Laws Commission.

Department of Public Safety

The Department of Public Safety will receive $553.3 million in the 2026-27 biennium, including: $226.9 million for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, $151.2 million for Emergency Communications Networks, and $103.6 for the Office of Justice Programs.

Of the $23.4 million for the Peace Officer Standards and Training Board, $9.9 million is for the “Philando Castile Memorial Training Fund” that’ll support and strengthen law enforcement training and implement best practices.

Within Emergency Communications Network funding, $14 million is a one-time fiscal year 2026 transfer from the E911 fund for critical infrastructure maintenance of the ARMER public safety radio system.

Department of Corrections

The law funds the Department of Corrections with a $1.68 billion appropriation, including $1.15 billion for incarceration and pre-release services, $404.7 million for community supervision and post-release services, $118.3 million for administrative services, $2.3 million for the Ombudsperson for Corrections and $2 million for the Clemency Review Commission.

The law mandates a four-year phased closure of the Stillwater prison, and appropriates $1 million in fiscal year 2026 to fund a study on decommissioning the facility. The incarceration and pre-release services budget includes a $90.3 million department-wide operating adjustment in the 2026-27 biennium for expenses associated with the closure and $98 million in 2028-29.

Policy changes

Judiciary and civil and criminal law policy items in the law include:

• increasing electronic access to judicial court records;

• raising district court civil action filing fees by $25, with revenue going to fund crime victim services;

• decriminalizing possession of bong water. This section became effective May 24, 2025, and applies retroactively from Aug. 1, 2023;

• making it a crime to knowingly cause or permit a child to inhale, be exposed to, have contact with, or ingest fentanyl;

• increasing penalties for assaulting a firefighter;

• establishing consecutive or executed sentences for an incarcerated person who assaults a sheriff or deputy;

• Codifying presumptive prison sentences for first-degree sex trafficking;

• expanding the crime of destruction of public utilities to include streetlights, electric vehicle charging stations, traffic signals and electronic warning signs;

• protecting all correctional employees from the reporting of fictitious crimes, also known as swatting;

• expanding child pornography crimes to include computer-generated depictions indistinguishable from an actual minor;

• extending the statute of limitations for first-degree arson from five to 10 years;

• conforming the dates of conviction for individuals who received relief from a conviction for first- or second-degree murder and were instead sentenced to another felony;establishing the Statewide Office of Appellate Counsel and Training as an agency in the executive branch;

• permitting anyone age 21 or older to perform civil marriages;

• modifying the definition of “custodian” in orders of protection;

• modifying the ways a guardian can restrict who can contact an individual under guardianship or conservatorship; and

• effective Jan. 1, 2026, modifying how courts issue orders for protection against financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult. (Art. 1, Secs. 19-20; Art. 4, Secs. 1-12, 14-15; Art. 11, Secs. 1, 6, 12-13, 16).

Policy items for the Corrections and Public Safety departments include:

• requiring the state fire marshal to conduct or contract with a third party to conduct a comprehensive assessment of how firefighting services are provided in Minnesota;

• formally transferring the Commerce Department Fraud Bureau to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension;

• requiring certain criminal fines imposed by courts to be deposited into the Minnesota victims of crime account;

• requiring most law enforcement agencies to report recovered firearms to the federal eTrace system;

• establishing a task force on mandatory minimum sentences;

• requiring schools to report active shooter events and active shooter threats to the Minnesota Fusion Center;

• requiring local correctional facilities to provide inmates with the same medications prescribed to them prior to their incarceration;

• adding people with dementia, a traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer’s disease, or other cognitive impairments to the scope of the missing and endangered persons program;

• authorizing county attorneys to use administrative subpoenas in wage theft investigations;

• prohibiting courtroom disclosure of communications between a domestic assault victim and domestic abuse advocate without victim consent;

• expanding police use of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) without warrants;

• expanding police use of mobile tracking devices that can be attached to stolen and fleeing vehicles;

• allowing children’s advocacy centers to receive a portion of criminal fines imposed following a conviction for certain assault and criminal sexual conduct offenses;

• requiring the Department of Corrections or other custodial authority to make a good faith effort to notify the victim that the offender has submitted a letter of apology;

• requiring prisons to maintain an ample supply of opiate antagonists for a rapid response to opioid overdoses; and

• modifying earned incentive release credits and earned compliance credits for inmates. (Art. 2, Secs. 3, 14, 26; Art. 3, Secs. 20-21; Art. 5, Secs. 4, 6-7, 10, 12-13, 23-25; Art. 6, Sec. 1, 4; Art. 7, Secs. 1, 11-13)

In the area of data practices, government agencies will be able to cease working to fulfill data requests if a requester does not inspect or collect any data provided within five business days after being notified that requested information is available.

Additionally, the law modifies the types of parental information that may be made public in student directories distributed by schools; expands to all judicial officials the prohibition on releasing data contained in real property records to the public; and limits the release of data to a patient registry without the individual’s informed consent. (Art. 9, Secs. 1-3, 6-7, 13)

HF2432* / SF1417 / CH35