On Friday, April 14, Senate Democrats forced through a Public Safety budget bill that makes thousands of criminals eligible for early release and reduces sentences for violent offenders. This legislation also allocates millions of dollars to nonprofits, ignoring the needs of law enforcement officers across the state, said Senator Cal Bahr (R-East Bethel).

Notable portions of the bill include:

• Allows 92% of the prison population eligible for early release through Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act (MRRA) 
• Funding for controversial gun control measures like red flag laws and background checks
• Reduction of the maximum penalty for juveniles tried as an adult from 25 years to as little as 15 years
• $91 million to untested nonprofit organizations

“The Democrats’ Public Safety budget continues an all too familiar pattern of ignoring our state’s surge in violent crime,” Senator Bahr said. “With many Minnesotans no longer feeling safe in their communities, it is simply the wrong approach to make thousands of serious offenders eligible for early release. This legislation fails to address our real public safety problems, and instead, funnels millions of taxpayer dollars to unproven nonprofits.”

Convicted criminals currently spend two-thirds of their time in incarceration, and the rest on supervised release; the MRRA reduces the amount of incarceration time to one-half of the sentence. This will be applied retroactively and could impact about 7,400 of the approximately 8,000 prisoners in the state. The MRRA only excludes prisoners with a life sentence but does not specifically exclude specific crimes like manslaughter, rape, kidnapping, assault, or domestic assault. This means those who are charged by law enforcement, tried by a judge or jury, and convicted of those crimes could be released significantly earlier than their victims were promised. The MRRA does not require victims to have absolute notification of their perpetrator’s early release, just a passive attempt, meaning they may not know their perpetrator is free before it’s too late.  

Juveniles tried as adults will also see a reduction in maximum penalties, from 25 years to as little as 15 years. There are 96 individuals whose cases would qualify, and they were convicted of heinous crimes like murdering their family with an ax, raping a woman while stabbing her with a screwdriver, stabbing a woman 173 times and killing a 10-month baby. 

Omitted from the bill is any form of assistance for law enforcement. Retirements and the “Defund” movement have made it harder to find qualified law enforcement for open positions. With police departments struggling to fill open positions and colleges struggling to fill classrooms for criminal justice programs, this bill is woefully inadequate to recruit, train, and retain a qualified, professional police force.