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Yes: 630 • No: 370
MinnesotaHF 243294th Legislature, 2025-2026HouseWALLET
Judiciary, public safety, and corrections policy and finance bill.
Sponsored By: Paul Novotny (Republican)
Became Law
Public Safety Finance and PolicyRules and Administration for comparison with SF1417
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
59 provisions identified: 37 benefits, 9 costs, 13 mixed.
Funding supports prisons and release preparation
Incarceration and prerelease services get $583.47 million for fiscal year 2026 and $600.689 million for fiscal year 2027. Corrections administration gets $67.816 million and $69.268 million, respectively. Corrections technology and information-sharing systems get $4.097 million each year. Unspent technology funds remain available in the next two-year budget period. This funding supports agency operations and release preparation, not direct household payments.
Release violations bring prison terms and caps
Noncriminal parole or supervised-release violations can bring up to six months in prison, including related jail time. Misdemeanor or gross-misdemeanor convictions also allow up to six months; felony convictions allow six months through sentence expiration. Terms in these categories can run alongside or after local court-ordered incarceration. A term can reach sentence expiration after findings of public risk or repeated violations and that supervision will not work. Commissioner policies must address release conditions, revocation, prison terms, and extensions. The law sets a general 12-month cap, except for felony convictions, public-risk findings, or findings that prior violations make supervision unworkable.
Crime survivors get funded support services
The law provides $10 million in fiscal year 2026 and $5 million in fiscal year 2027 for crime survivor services. Funding serves victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and other crimes. Grants can cover client assistance, housing support, staff wages, culturally responsive programs, and prevention work. Survivors can receive help through funded groups, but the law does not set individual payment amounts.
More juveniles can enter Red Wing
The corrections commissioner can admit juvenile delinquents and specified juvenile offenders serving a juvenile disposition to Minnesota Correctional Facility–Red Wing. Admission depends on available space and resources, federal and state law, and the facility's admission criteria. Placement is not guaranteed.
Older convictions gain short furlough access
The commissioner can grant furloughs to people in custody who were convicted of an offense before May 1, 1980. Each furlough can last up to five days, with no more than three in any 12-month period. It must serve the public interest and support family needs, personal health needs, or reintegration into society.
Releasees get lawyers and hearing rights
Agents must investigate alleged violations and consult a supervisor before submitting a violation report and warrant recommendation. People facing revocation must receive the violation report and hearing notice. They have rights to a chosen lawyer or State Public Defender services, to present evidence, and to question witnesses. When proceedings begin, officials must notify the agent in writing and send the report to the State Public Defender's Office. Any admission must be written, after notice of its consequences, including possible imprisonment set by the hearing official.
Jail mental health pilot changes entry
People from participating county jails no longer have to volunteer for the Oak Park Heights mental health pilot. A licensed mental health professional must evaluate each person and recommend treatment in the unit. Participants must be able to join programming with others. No more than five county-jail participants can be in the unit at once. The pilot ends August 1, 2027.
Work release after half the prison term
The corrections commissioner can conditionally release a person for paid work, job searching, vocational training, or education. The person must first serve at least half of the prison term. The commissioner must find that release fits the public interest and public safety. Release and wages are not guaranteed.
Funding keeps Minnesota courts running
For fiscal years 2026 and 2027, district courts get $392.179 million and $400.47 million, respectively. The Supreme Court gets $50.002 million and $50.963 million, plus $5,000 yearly for necessary operating expenses without other reimbursement. The Court of Appeals gets $15.593 million and $15.936 million. The Tax Court gets $2.312 million and $2.353 million; this funding does not change household tax bills. These funds support court operations for fiscal years ending June 30, 2026, and June 30, 2027.
Funding supports investigations and survivor tracking
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension gets $114.442 million in fiscal year 2026 and $114.081 million in fiscal year 2027. Funding includes $2.429 million yearly from the trunk highway fund for impaired-driving lab work and $695,000 yearly for fraud investigations. Another $3.504 million yearly supports faster forensic testing, including sexual assault kits and survivors' access to testing status. Annual reports begin January 1, 2027, covering spending, testing times, and barriers to testing kits within 90 days of lab receipt. A missing persons data system gets $1.5 million in fiscal year 2026, available through June 30, 2029.
Funding supports legal help and representation
For fiscal years 2026 and 2027, public defense gets $167.733 million and $171.189 million, respectively. Civil legal aid gets $35.33 million and $36.522 million. The Guardian ad Litem Board gets $26.169 million and $26.732 million. The Office of Appellate Counsel and Training gets $1.56 million each year. Funds support services through June 30 of each fiscal year; these provisions do not set individual eligibility or payments.
Funding supports supervision after prison release
Community supervision and postrelease services get $196.362 million for fiscal year 2026 and $201.69 million for fiscal year 2027. The law directs $143.378 million each year to community supervision services under the state's funding formula. These amounts fund services for people under supervision or receiving postrelease support. They do not establish a set household payment.
Funding keeps emergency calls and radios running
Minnesota provides $68.597 million from the 911 fund in each of fiscal 2026 and 2027 for emergency communications, except where otherwise specified. That funding includes $28.011 million each year for emergency call centers. It also transfers $10.384 million yearly to transportation officials to maintain and operate the statewide public safety radio network. Another $1 million yearly supports the emergency communications board and competitive local government grants. Local grants must help deliver 911 calls to first responders or advance the statewide plan for connecting communications systems.
Corrections can detain people and pause sentences
The corrections commissioner can issue nationwide warrants for listed supervision or pretrial-release violations, escapes, and failures to report after sentencing. Warrants also cover committed children who abscond, escape, break furlough conditions, or leave court while on institution status. State parole and probation agents or corrections investigators can detain listed people without warrants when needed to prevent escape or enforce discipline. They must bring those people to court or the commissioner, as applicable. The commissioner can pause sentence time after absconding, escape, or failure to report after sentencing until the person returns to custody.
Leaving supervision can pause sentence time
A person who absconds from release supervision can face an arrest warrant. The sentence clock stops until the person returns to custody. Missing a properly noticed revocation or probable cause hearing can also bring a warrant and detention pending a hearing.
Work release alone does not restore voting
People barred from voting because of a felony conviction do not regain eligibility solely through work release under section 244.065. That work-release status no longer counts as being outside incarceration for this voting rule. The separate exception for people released under section 631.425 remains.
Emergency custody rules for supervised people
People on release generally cannot be taken into custody without a warrant, except for the statutory exception. An agent can request an emergency warrant by phone after consulting a supervisor. After approval, the hearings unit directs the fugitive unit to issue it; a written violation report must arrive within five working days. The hearings executive officer or a district supervisor can also order detention based on an agent’s written reasons. That detention cannot exceed 72 hours unless the agent starts revocation proceedings.
Release hearing deadlines and changed appeals
Revocation and separate probable cause hearings generally must happen within 12 working days after the person becomes available to corrections. People detained under a hearings-unit warrant get a hearing within 15 working days, unless good cause supports a delay. After admitting violations and returning to a correctional facility, a person gets a disposition hearing within 15 working days. Hearings should be near the violation when possible; outside the metropolitan area, a district supervisor cannot hear their own agent’s case. The executive officer can handle those cases for special need, and appeals now go to the commissioner or a designee under commissioner policy, replacing review-panel appeals.
Release violations can mean prison
Parole, work release, or supervised release can be revoked for felony, gross misdemeanor, or specified misdemeanor convictions that allow imprisonment. Repeated traffic offenses, excluding parking violations, and broken release conditions also qualify; a sworn confession before a judge can count as a conviction. A court finding of probable cause or grand jury indictment permits custody until the person is found not guilty. After finding a violation, officials can continue release with counseling, change conditions, or return the person to prison. A return-to-prison term cannot exceed the time left on the sentence.
Rewards available for escaped inmate information
The corrections commissioner can offer a reward of up to $100 from the state treasury. Information must lead to an escaped inmate's arrest and return to custody. Payment is discretionary, not guaranteed.
State funds calls for incarcerated people
The law provides $3.1 million each year in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 for incarcerated people's voice communication services. First-year money not committed to expenses can carry into the second year. Money above the cost of voice services must help cover other communication-service costs.
State pays providers for assault exams
The law provides $3.771 million in fiscal year 2026 and $3.776 million in fiscal year 2027 for sexual assault exams. The state reimburses qualified health care providers for required medical examinations of victims of criminal sexual conduct. This funding pays providers; it does not set a separate cash payment for survivors.
Housing help for survivors of violence
The law provides $1 million each year for Domestic Violence Housing First and Domestic and Sexual Violence Transitional Housing programs. Grants support stable housing, mobile advocacy, housing expertise, and medium- to long-term transitional housing with support services. Survivors can seek help through funded organizations; the law does not set a payment amount for each person.
Fake emergency calls targeting prison staff criminalized
The law extends the protected-home false emergency call felony to state and local correctional employees. It covers fake calls made to send emergency responders to those employees' homes.
Funding supports court competency services
The State Competency Attainment Board gets $11.16 million for fiscal year 2026 and $11.426 million for fiscal year 2027. Funds support the board's work through June 30 of each fiscal year. The appropriation does not set individual eligibility or household payments.
Funding supports court oversight and policy
For fiscal years 2026 and 2027, the Board on Judicial Standards gets $655,000 and $666,000, respectively. If one year's funding falls short, the board can use funds from the other year. The Uniform Laws Commission gets $115,000 each year. The Sentencing Guidelines Commission gets $1.092 million and $1.112 million. These funds support oversight and policy work; the sentencing appropriation does not itself change sentencing rules.
Funding supports fire and rescue teams
State Fire Marshal activities get $20.117 million in fiscal year 2026 and $20.017 million in fiscal year 2027. Hazardous materials and emergency response teams get $2.17 million and $2.07 million from the fire safety account. Those team amounts also set the starting funding levels for matching years in future two-year budgets. Local bomb squads receive yearly reimbursements of $250,000 from the fire safety account and $50,000 from the general fund. Another $750,000 yearly from the fire safety account covers hazardous-material incidents without a responsible party, urban search and rescue, air rescue, and bomb squad incidents; each year's funds last one year.
Funding supports intensive police officer training
The law provides $2 million in each of fiscal years 2026 and 2027 for intensive peace officer education and training. These are one-time appropriations, not ongoing annual funding. The money remains available through June 30, 2029.
Funding supports Minnesota human rights services
The Department of Human Rights gets $9.044 million for fiscal year 2026 and $9.203 million for fiscal year 2027. Funds support department operations through June 30 of each fiscal year. This provision does not create a household payment or change specific rights or eligibility rules.
Funding supports state and Tribal emergency planning
State emergency management gets $5.504 million for fiscal year 2026 and $6.366 million for fiscal year 2027. Funding comes from the general and environmental funds and is available through June 30 of each fiscal year. The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa gets $145,000 yearly to establish and maintain a Tribal emergency management coordinator. These funds support emergency management, not household payments.
Prisons get safety and accountability funding
Corrections safety and security funding is $1.932 million for fiscal 2024 and $1.632 million for fiscal 2025. Its ongoing budget base is $2.625 million starting in fiscal 2026. Accountability and transparency work receives $1 million for fiscal 2024 and $800,000 for fiscal 2025. Its ongoing base is $1.48 million starting in fiscal 2026.
State funds alcohol and gambling enforcement
Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement receives $4.056 million for fiscal year 2026 and $4.067 million for fiscal year 2027. The money comes from the general fund and lawful gambling regulation account. Funds are available through June 30 of each fiscal year.
State funds cannabis record clearing
The Cannabis Expungement Board receives $5.371 million for fiscal year 2026 and $5.386 million for fiscal year 2027. The money supports the board's work on clearing cannabis records. This funding does not change individual eligibility or guarantee that a person's record will be cleared.
State funds clemency review and help
The Clemency Review Commission receives $995,000 for fiscal year 2026 and $1.005 million for fiscal year 2027. That includes $200,000 each year in grants for outreach and help with clemency applications. The funding does not guarantee clemency or provide cash payments to applicants.
State funds fire training and rescue
For fiscal years 2026 and 2027, the fire safety account provides $5.5 million each year for firefighter training. Annual funding also includes $1.425 million for Minnesota Task Force 1 and $300,000 for Task Force 2. The Minnesota Air Rescue Team gets $500,000 each year. Additional money collected in fiscal year 2025 that was not already appropriated also goes toward state fire safety purposes. The public safety commissioner can move funding and base amounts between activities within this fire safety budget.
State funds help for firefighters
The law provides $4 million each year in fiscal years 2026 and 2027 to the Minnesota Firefighter Initiative. The general fund grants support the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program, rather than direct payments to households.
State funds justice and missing-person offices
The Office of Justice Programs receives $58.703 million for fiscal year 2026 and $53.708 million for fiscal year 2027. Its funding includes $1.248 million each year for the Office for Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls. Another $774,000 each year covers staff and operations for the Office for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives and its Advisory Board. That amount also supports the Gaagige-Mikwendaagoziwag reward advisory group.
State funds police standards and training
The Peace Officer Standards and Training Board receives $6.749 million for fiscal year 2026 and $6.797 million for 2027. The law provides $2.949 million each year to reimburse local governments for peace officer training costs. The reimbursements go to local governments, not households.
State funds prison safety and oversight
For fiscal years 2026 and 2027, the law provides $500,000 annually for compliance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act. It also provides $2.339 million each year for state corrections safety and security investments. The corrections ombudsperson receives $1.118 million in 2026 and $1.137 million in 2027. These funds support safety work and oversight, not direct payments to people in custody.
State funds private detective oversight
The Private Detective Board receives $697,000 for fiscal year 2026 and $706,000 for fiscal year 2027. The money supports the board and is available through June 30 of each fiscal year.
Tribal Nations receive supervision service funding
Tribal Nations not serving as Community Corrections Act or county probation officer jurisdictions are eligible for $250,000 yearly. The money pays for community supervision or reentry services, including contracted services. The commissioner must approve a plan listing services, a steering committee, and a budget; approval lasts two years. Nations joining the state community-supervision system qualify for $150,000 plus a formula amount and must meet its service requirements. Their nonparticipating subsidy funding transfers into the formula appropriation.
Work-release account funds programs each year
All money in the work-release account goes to the corrections commissioner each year for work-release program purposes. The law does not specify a total funding amount or a direct payment to participants.
Health coverage reentry project gets funding
The law provides $1.924 million for fiscal 2026 and $2.364 million for fiscal 2027 for the Medical Assistance reentry demonstration. The money funds planning and implementation related to health services during reentry. This appropriation does not itself set individual eligibility rules or a benefit amount.
Housing funding for people leaving prison
Corrections housing initiatives receive $2.13 million for fiscal 2024 and $880,000 for fiscal 2025. Starting in fiscal 2026, the ongoing budget base is $1.685 million. The law provides $1.685 million each year for initiatives supporting stable housing after release. This funds programs, not guaranteed housing or a fixed payment for each person.
Releasees face interstate transfer paperwork deadlines
Requests for interstate release supervision must reach the deputy compact administrator 60 to 90 days before the release date. Correction form 245 must include a placement offer, job information, and the institution caseworker's evaluation and recommendation. Staff must submit three copies of forms 245, 312, and 248 and case-management progress reports. Fingerprints and photos are also required.
Work-release wages can pay separate restitution
The corrections commissioner can direct work-release wages toward court-ordered restitution for a different conviction than the current prison sentence. This includes restitution for an offense committed before the offense leading to the current sentence. These payments reduce wages available to the person; the law sets no deduction amount.
Corrections decisions skip formal rulemaking procedures
The corrections commissioner can make determinations and policies under the law governing placement of sentenced people without formal state rulemaking. These decisions are exempt from chapter 14 procedures, including section 14.386. This changes how those decisions are made, not a specified household payment.
County supervision aid covers transfer costs
The corrections commissioner deducts each county’s share of Interstate Transfer Unit costs before paying its community-supervision subsidy. Each share follows the county’s portion of the probation population in the latest probation survey. The deduction leaves less subsidy money for other local uses.
Public funds theft carries felony penalties
The law creates a crime covering specified intentional theft, fraud, and swindling involving public money or publicly funded services. Amounts over $35,000 carry maximum penalties of 24 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Amounts over $5,000 through $35,000 carry maximum penalties of 12 years and a $20,000 fine. Amounts over $1,000 through $5,000 carry maximum penalties of six years and a $10,000 fine. Property received through violations within a six-month period can be added together to determine the penalty tier.
Public safety grants can fund administration
Public Safety can retain grant money for administration when those costs are not funded separately. It can keep up to 5% of grants named in law, single-source grants, and formula grants. It can keep up to 10% of competitive grants. The authority covers new and existing programs but excludes grants funded by state general obligation bonds. Retained money pays for administration, leaving less available for grant activities.
Prison workers' wages saved for release
For people in the private-industry prison work program, the commissioner determines how much pay is set aside for release. The money supports the person's needs upon conditional release or final discharge, rather than being immediately available as wages. The state public welfare fund holds it instead of the facility's chief executive officer. Any balance left at final discharge goes to the person.
Charter school inspection fees follow size
Charter school fire inspections replace the flat $100 fee with $0.014 per square foot for each inspected building. The new fee can be lower or higher than $100, depending on building size. It includes two follow-up inspections or on-site consultations. Each extra follow-up inspection costs $0.005 per square foot for that building.
Corrections gets money for overdue obligations
The law provides a one-time $9.091 million for the Department of Corrections' fiscal year 2025 financial obligations. The department can move this money to its other programs. For that year, it can also transfer up to $4.05 million from incarceration and prerelease services. Transfer caps are $5.75 million from community supervision and postrelease services and $200,000 from administrative services. Those transfers can only fund financial obligations in other department programs, shifting money away from the source budgets.
Corrections research funding falls then resets
The law funds a unit that develops evidence-based corrections practices. Funding is $750,000 for fiscal year 2024 and $500,000 for fiscal year 2025. The 2025 amount is reduced from $750,000. Beginning in fiscal year 2026, the funding base is $750,000.
Counties and Tribes face supervision funding changes
Tribal Nations providing services as Community Corrections Act or county probation officer jurisdictions enter the supervision funding formula. The former $250,000 annual allotment for every Tribal Nation is removed; this provision does not state replacement formula amounts. Counties and Tribal Nations receive allotments after meeting prerequisites and getting their comprehensive plans approved, subject to available funds. Corrections alone provides adult felony probation in jurisdictions outside the Community Corrections Act subsidy program and retains their allotted felony-probation funding. That retention does not apply to a Tribal Nation's separate subsidy under section 401.115.
Reentry programs funded, second-year amount cut
The amended two-year budget provides $375,000 in each year for reentry initiatives. These include a culturally specific release program for Native American people in prison. The second-year amount drops from $875,000 to $375,000. The ongoing budget base is $875,000 starting in fiscal 2026.
Tribal funding plans and spending flexibility
A Tribal Nation must get commissioner approval of an abbreviated plan to receive the specified community-supervision allotment. The plan must describe the supervision or reentry services and include a budget. Abbreviated plans follow their own requirements instead of the general comprehensive-plan requirements. The commissioner retains first-year funds that a county or Tribal Nation cannot spend. The funds are paid in the second year when the recipient shows both need and ability to spend them.
Tribal supervision funding provisions point both ways
One provision provides $2.75 million each year for Tribal Nations to offer supervision or support services. Another removes a dedicated $2.75 million annual appropriation for those same purposes. The supplied provisions do not resolve the net funding change, so they do not establish an individual service gain or loss.
Prison education funded, second-year amount cut
The amended two-year budget provides $5.6 million in the first year for correctional education and support services. The second-year amount drops from $4 million to $1 million. The ongoing budget base is $2 million starting in fiscal 2026. The funding supports services, not a fixed payment to each participant.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Paul Novotny
Republican • House
Cosponsors
Latz
Affiliation unavailable
Kelly Moller
Democratic • House
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 5/18/2025
Third Reading
Yes: 34 • No: 33
House vote • 5/18/2025
Repassage, as amended by Conference
Yes: 131 • No: 3
Senate vote • 5/18/2025
Repassage of H.F. No. 2432, as amended by the Conference Committee
Yes: 34 • No: 33
Senate vote • 4/30/2025
Amendment: Weber (A11) amendment, as amended
Yes: 32 • No: 34
Senate vote • 4/30/2025
Amendment: Draheim (A16) amendment
Yes: 36 • No: 30
Senate vote • 4/30/2025
Third Reading
Yes: 34 • No: 32
House vote • 4/25/2025
Vote
Yes: 67 • No: 67
House vote • 4/25/2025
Passage, as amended
Yes: 128 • No: 4
House vote • 4/25/2025
Vote
Yes: 67 • No: 67
House vote • 4/25/2025
Amendment
Yes: 67 • No: 67
Actions Timeline
Secretary of State Chapter 35
5/23/2025SenateGovernor's action Approval
5/23/2025SenatePresentment date
5/20/2025SenateSenate adopted conference committee report, bill repassed vote: 34-33
5/19/2025HouseThird Reading Repassed vote: 34-33
5/18/2025SenateSenate adopted CC report and repassed bill vote: 34-33
5/18/2025SenateConference committee report, delete everythingc
5/18/2025SenateHouse adopted HCC report and repassed bill
5/18/2025SenateBill was repassed as amended by Conference vote: 131-3
5/18/2025HouseThird reading as amended by Conference
5/18/2025HouseHouse adopted conference committee report
5/18/2025HouseConference committee report, delete everythingc
5/18/2025HouseSenate conferees Latz; Oumou Verbeten; Seeberger; Westlin; Clark
5/6/2025SenateSenate accedes, CC of 5 be appointed
5/6/2025SenateHouse conferees Novotny; Moller; Scott; Liebling
5/6/2025SenateHouse not concur, conference committee requested
5/6/2025SenateSenate conferees Latz; Oumou Verbeten; Seeberger; Westlin; Clark
5/6/2025HouseSenate accedes, conference committee of 5 be appointed
5/6/2025HouseHouse conferees Novotny, Moller, Scott, Liebling
5/5/2025HouseHouse refuses to concur, conference committee of 4 requested
5/1/2025HouseReturned from Senate with amendment
5/1/2025HouseThird reading Passed as amended vote: 34-32
4/30/2025SenateSpecial Order: Amendeda
4/30/2025SenateSecond reading
4/29/2025SenateComm report: Rule 45-amend, subst. General Orders SF1417a
4/29/2025Senate
Bill Text
1st Engrossment
2nd Engrossment
3rd Engrossment
4th Engrossment
Introduction
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