ST. PAUL, MN – Today, the Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee passed its comprehensive public safety bill, introduced by Senator Warren Limmer (R-Maple Grove). The bill provides critical funding to hold criminals accountable and keep Minnesota’s communities safe. It focuses on all aspects of the criminal justice system and courts, including youth intervention, criminal laws, sentencing guidelines, police, prosecutors, public defenders, judges, prisons, and probation.

“The number one purpose of government is the safety of its citizens. This bill sends a clear signal we stand with the public saying crime will not be tolerated in Minnesota,” Limmer said. “This bill will provide the necessary resources to support our law enforcement, provide accountability and transparency in the judicial system, and hold criminals accountable.”

There are three main objectives in the bill: provide support for law enforcement recruitment and retention; toughen penalties for criminal activity; and increase transparency and accountability in judicial and prosecutorial actions. 

“The ‘Defund the Police’ movement along with anti-police rhetoric has diminished and denigrated the law enforcement profession and too many criminals have been allowed to re-offend by prosecutors who aren’t prosecuting,” Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller (R- Winona) said. “Simply put, we need to provide more support to law enforcement professionals who keep our communities safe, and criminals need to be held accountable for their actions.”  

Support For Law Enforcement

Included in the bill are provisions to address the central issues currently facing Minnesota’s law enforcement officers: recruitment, retention, education and training, and equipment.

The bill includes two provisions already passed by the Senate this year. The first is funding to the Department of Public Safety to develop and conduct an advertising campaign to elevate the law enforcement profession. This campaign will highlight law enforcement as an honorable career and the good work officers do every day to keep our communities safe. The idea was brought forward by law enforcement professionals who are dealing with more openings than applicants across the state. The second provision contains funding for the award-winning Pathways to Policing Program to support non-traditional candidates for law enforcement who already have an associate’s degree in another discipline. 

To retain current law enforcement officers, the bill provides $3,000 in one-time bonuses to all licensed police officers and an additional incentive of $7,000 to officers nearing retirement who choose to continue serving.

Other notable provisions to support law enforcement officers include:

• SF 2846 (Chamberlain) Police Education Expenses Reimbursement: Tuition reimbursements for recently licensed peace officers and those currently in the pipeline to become officer.
• SF 4134 (Ingebrigtsen) Police Officer Skills Training Provider Grants: Enhance nine Minnesota State Colleges and Universities police officer​ skills training and provider programs to be used for technological needs, including body cameras, fleet training vehicles and a de-escalation simulation program.
• SF 2891 (Johnson) Use of Force Training Reimbursement: Paying for law enforcement to receive skills training on use of force changes adopted by the Legislature over the past two years.
• SF 3223 (Senjem) Meritorious LEO Bonus Pay: to provide for recognition for officers who go above and beyond the call of duty.
• SF 3073 (Gazelka) New LEO Hiring Bonuses: provides funding for local jurisdictions to offer hiring bonuses to new officers.
• SF 2892 (Duckworth), SF 3015 (Eichorn), SF 3357 (Osmek) Body Camera Grants: enacts a state grant program for law enforcement agencies to purchase body cameras and to pay for maintenance and storage of data, with an emphasis on agencies located outside of the seven-county metropolitan area that do not yet have them.

Holding criminals accountable for their crimes

Minnesota is experiencing a dangerous increase in violent crime across our state because criminals are not being held accountable for their crimes. To address this, the Public Safety Committee adopted several “tough on crime” bills into the comprehensive public safety bill that increase penalties for repeat offenders, carjackers, and violent crimes involving firearms. There is also enhanced support for the Violent Crime Enforcement Teams (VCET), which have been successful at targeting drugs and guns across the state. 

Additional provisions to get tough on crime include:

• SF 3487 (Limmer) Organized Retail Theft: Address the drastic surge in organized retail crime by defining this crime in state statute and giving law enforcement better tools and updated laws to pursue these crime rings
• SF 2573 (Gazelka) Carjacking: Establish the crime of carjacking and add a mandatory minimum sentence
• SF 3352 (Mathews) Carjacking Report: Require law enforcement agencies to report carjacking data
• SF 2844 (Coleman) Fleeing a Peace Officer: Create a new penalty for recklessly endangering the public while fleeing law enforcement in a motor vehicle
• SF 2889 (Ingebrigtsen) Ramsey County Sheriff Crime Prevention & Air Patrol Grant: Create a crime prevention grant for the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office to coordinate with other metro area law enforcement agencies; appropriate money for this metro area partnership to pay for use of the State Patrol’s Air Patrol to address rising violent crime
• SF 3224 (Newman) Aggravated & Consecutive Sentences for Violent or Repeat Offenders: Imposes mandatory sentences and increases sentences for certain dangerous and habitual offenders
• SF 635 (Eichorn) Murder of an Unborn Child Penalty: Corrects a technical oversight in previous legislation that did not list a sentence in statute for the murder of an unborn child when a pregnant mother is assaulted, and the baby dies.
• SF 1462 (Westrom) Drugging a Vulnerable Adult under Guardianship/Conservatorship: Ensures that prosecutors have all tools available to charge crimes involving drugging a vulnerable adult without a valid prescription or administering a drug inconsistent with a prescription.
• SF 2843 (Osmek) Enhanced Penalty for Auto Theft & Crime Spree: Provides a longer sentence if a person commits another listed crime within seven days of stealing a vehicle.
• SF 2854 (Senjem) Drugged Driving Roadside Test Pilot Project: Authorizes the Department of Public Safety to conduct a pilot project to test the efficacy of oral fluid tests for drivers who may be driving under the influence of drugs. 
• SF 2890 (Ingebrigtsen) Ramsey County Gunfire Detection: Authorizes Ramsey County to procure a system of identifying gunfire to be placed in high crime areas in the county. 

Providing accountability and transparency 

To respond to growing instances of violent criminals becoming repeat offenders and frequent decisions by prosecutors and judges to go easy on criminals, this bill takes several steps to improve transparency for the decisions that lead to early releases and failures to charge to the fullest extent possible.

This bill includes limited funding for nonprofits. There have been recent stories where newly founded nonprofits are unable to prove what their funding is actually going towards. And even more alarmingly, in the past two years, there have been reports about violence interrupters tasked to work with law enforcement to de-escalate situations by non-profits who have themselves violently harmed other individuals. Youth Intervention Programs, a proven system that requires a local match with accountability to the Department of Public Safety and legislature, receives $3 million in the bill. 

This bill supports Minnesota’s justice system with a $50 million increase in funding for public defenders. Recent reports of a strike by public defenders put the justice system process at risk. The majority of people charged with a crime use a public defender and are entitled to a fair and speedy trial. Historically, public defender salaries have not kept up with the salaries of prosecutors, requiring a nearly 8% increase in funding for public defenders last year. 

Provisions to provide accountability and transparency to the public include:

• SF 2989 (Lopez Franzen) and SF 3368 (Inge) Youth Intervention Program Increase: Funding increase to keep youth out of crime.
• SF 870 (Limmer) Removing MSGC Probation Cap for Violent Offenses: Recognizes that an artificial probation cap of five years imposed by the Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission (MSGC) does not reflect the sentences the legislature previously allowed judges to hand out, such as allowing judges to give longer probation for the most serious and violent offenses without additional findings needed or paperwork required.
• SF 2841 (Limmer) Reports on Prosecutor Dismissals: Provides transparency so the public better understands county attorneys sentencing decisions, including reporting charge dismissals.
• SF 2850 (Jasinski) Changing Prison Presumption from two-thirds to three-quarters: Increase the presumed amount of time convicted felons would spend behind bars from two-thirds to three-quarters of their sentence.
• SF 3356 (Koran) MSGC Website for Judicial Sentencing Departures: Require the MSGC to develop and maintain a publicly searchable database with information on criminal sentences stayed or imposed by the courts.
• SF 3752 (Mathews) MSGC Meeting Recordings: Require the recording of all MSGC meetings to ensure public particularization and accountability.
• SF 3059 (Pratt) Increased Probation Funding: Provides $25M additional funding to provide more robust community supervision for offenders living in our neighborhoods.
• SF 3332 (Kiffmeyer) Prosecutor Training Grant: Funds several annual seminars so new, young prosecutors can learn from experienced county attorneys, which is important as that workforce is facing many retirements in the next few years.
• SF 2673 (Limmer) Prohibiting Judicial/Prosecutor Waiver of Firearm Mandatory Minimum Sentence: Removes the ability for prosecutors and judges to waive mandatory minimum sentences for those who commit violent crimes with firearms.
• SF 3029 (Latz) Uncertified Court Documents Fee Elimination: Eliminate the fee for online copies of court documents from civil or criminal proceeding.