Desire to ‘make our communities feel safer’ is impetus for wide-ranging crime bill

A plethora of changes to public safety laws, including identifying new crimes and increasing penalties for existing crimes, could be coming.

“The bill’s themes are helping law enforcement make our communities feel safer from criminals, keeping violent and dangerous offenders off the street, and holding the criminal justice system accountable,” said Rep. Paul Novotny (R-Elk River), who sponsors HF7.

The bill is one of the top 10 Republican priorities for this session, said Novotny, who chairs the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee, and many of its provisions were specifically requested by law enforcement agencies and/or came from unsuccessful Republican-sponsored bills from previous sessions.

Approved, as amended, by the committee Wednesday, the bill next goes to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Criminal statues modified

Rep. Walter Hudson (R-Albertville) successfully amended the bill to modify state statute authorizing use of force — so-called Stand Your Ground — to allow a person legally authorized to use reasonable force against another person “regardless of whether a reasonable possibility of retreat to avoid the danger exists.”

The bill would establish a gross misdemeanor offense for obstructing traffic on a freeway or within the boundaries of airport property with the intent to disrupt that traffic.

Such disruptions can delay emergency responders, which puts the public and peace officers at risk, Novotny said.

A crime for driving or riding in a motor vehicle when the person knows that the vehicle was stolen would also be created.

Current law only allows law enforcement to arrest the driver of the stolen vehicle, said Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher. That’s insufficient, he said, and lets offenders evade contact with the criminal justice system that could lead to intervention programs to potentially reduce future offenses.

Other changes would increase penalties for individuals fleeing peace officers in a motor vehicle and violating certain traffic laws such as ignoring a stop sign or traffic light, a one-way sign, or driving on the wrong side of the road.

And the penalty for physically assaulting a peace officer would increase from a gross misdemeanor to a felony.

“Our peace officers have been subjected to an incredibly troubling increase in assaults,” said David Zimmer, policy fellow at Center of the American Experiment who served 33 years with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

He noted that in Minnesota from 2017 to 2024, there has been a 190% increase in assaults on officers and a 475% increase in firearm assaults against officers.