reduce recidivism and promote rehabilitation

 

The purpose of this bill is to establish pragmatic and comprehensive criminal justice reform in the state of Minnesota

to reduce recidivism and promote rehabilitation by establishing a universal, state-supported system where all defendants

receive an objective risk assessment and are released on non-financial conditions as the default, unless the court

determines a risk to public safety, and establishing universal risk-need-responsivity models across Minnesota county

jails for those who screen as high-risk, are serving a sentence over 60 days, or are identified for a formal reentry

program. In addition, mandates for hospital-based intervention programs in hospitals in Minnesota cities with a

population over 50k, along with mandates for youth outreach and mentoring classes in public schools servicing high-crime

neighborhoods, will be implemented.

 

Minnesota’s crime rate is in the worse half of American states, with concentrated higher rates in metropolitan areas.

For example, Minneapolis’s overall crime rate is significantly higher than the national average, with a 143% higher

rate. Homicides in Minneapolis were up in 2024 compared to 2019, and vehicle theft remains a major concern despite a

significant drop. Despite ongoing efforts to improve safety, perception of crime and safety is a concern for many

citizens. To combat these concerns, this bill uses practical, pragmatic solutions based on evidence and research that

have been proven to work to reduce crime and recidivism and promote rehabilitation. If this bill passes, Minnesota’s

major cities will face major reduction in crime, making Minnesota one of the safest states in the United States.

 

● Criminal justice reform shall be defined as efforts to improve the criminal justice system by changing laws.

● Recidivism shall be defined as a relapse in criminal behavior, where a person re-offends after being punished.

● Rehabilitation shall be defined as a process of reforming offenders to prevent future crime.

● Objective risk assessment shall be defined as an assessment that uses standardized, data driven tools to predict an

individual’s likelihood of recidivism.

● Risk-need-responsivity model shall be defined as a model for offender rehabilitation that guides interventions based

on risk, need, and responsivity principles.

● High-crime neighborhoods shall be defined as an area with a higher-than-average incidence of criminal activity.

 

 

Programs that require funding will be financed by a 0.5% increase in the corporate income tax rate and minor cuts to

state programs, generating around $300 million per year.

 

If any non-government institution mandated to execute policies established by this bill do not comply, the people

responsible will face a risk of prosecution, and the institution will face a risk of loss of funding. The Minnesota

Attorney General’s office and The Minnesota Department of Public Safety will be responsible for enforcing the bill.

 

This bill will go into effect on October 1st, 2028.