Judiciary/public safety agreement receives overwhelming support

Additional funding for courts and victims services programs and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are three provisions that supporters say are key components of the omnibus judiciary and public safety finance bill on its way to Gov. Mark Dayton.

Sponsored by Rep. Tony Cornish (R-Vernon Center) and Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park), the conference committee agreement on HF849/SF878* calls for almost $2.12 billion in General Fund spending in the 2016-17 biennium — $111 million over current biennial funding. The agreed upon number is about $29 million more than the original House position and $6 million less than the Senate first proposed.

“All in all it’s a good bill,” Cornish said.

The conference committee report was passed 116-15 by the House Sunday evening, less than two hours after the Senate gave its approval on a 55-9 vote.

“This is a good budget bill, but not a perfect policy bill,” Latz said.

Among its spending, the bill calls for 4 percent annual compensation increase for judges and court staff. The agreement also includes an additional $6.48 million for the Board of Public Defense, which should equate to 36 more public defenders to help reduce caseloads and $700,000 to expand specialty courts.

MORE: View the spreadsheet

Other funding increases include:

• $11.4 million, as requested by the governor, for the BCA to, in part, replace outdated equipment, hire more latent fingerprint examiners, hire more computer forensics examiners and develop a financial crimes unit to investigate identity theft and fraud related to state governmental agencies;
• $1.59 million for the Department of Corrections Fugitive Apprehension Unit to fund additional positions that should allow for more arrests of wanted fugitives;
• $1.5 million for youth intervention programs;
• $1.35 million for crime victims services;
• $800,000 for child advocacy centers;
• $500,000 in sex trafficking prevention grants;
• $300,000 for the Department of Human Rights; and
• $200,000 for crisis de-escalation grants.

In Fiscal Year 2016, the bill provides $250,000 “to develop strategies to combat the recruitment of Minnesota residents by terrorist organizations such as ISIS and al-Shabaab.”

“This bill goes a really long way to not only fund our third branch of government, the courts, but to make the opportunity to invest in our youth and make sure they don’t end up in the criminal justice system,” said Rep. Debra Hilstrom (DFL-Brooklyn Center). “It goes above and beyond in training both prosecutors and law enforcement and public defenders to make certain that we have adequate training about the best way to deal with all of the folks who end up going through our criminal justice system.”

Among the policy provisions are:

• use of a Blue Alert system to disseminate urgent information to the public to help locate an individual suspected of killing or injuring a law enforcement officer;
• creating the crime of adulteration by bodily fluid;
• requiring the Department of Corrections, when imposing electronic monitoring as a condition of the offender’s release, not release the offender until the offender’s electronic monitoring is activated;
• in DWI cases, the blood alcohol concentration would be lowered from 0.20 to 0.16 for the definition of aggravating factors, which enhance criminal provisions;
• amending the DWI implied consent law to specifically authorize a petitioner to raise the affirmative defense of necessity; and
• the state’s controlled substance schedules would be amended, primarily to align Minnesota’s schedules II through V with federal schedules II through V.

Gun provisions

The agreement would allow firearm suppressors to be used in Minnesota, possibly risking a veto from Dayton, who earlier this year said he would not accept legislation with the suppressor language. An enhanced penalty would be in order for someone who commits a crime while hunting with a suppressor.

People who have a permit to carry a pistol must now notify the Department of Public Safety if they will be armed when visiting the Capitol Complex. If not, they could be charged with a felony. A provision in the agreement states that having the issuance of a permit to carry would be enough notification.

The department publishes on its website a list of states that do not have substantially similar governance of permit to carry laws which makes permits issued by those states invalid in Minnesota. The agreement would remove the word “substantially” from the inter-state statutory review statute. However, a plan to prohibit the department from placing Class I carry permits issued by North Dakota on the list is not included.

It would also clarify and delimit the authority of a public official or entity to seize or regulate weapons during a state of emergency.

“Restore the Vote” not included

Rep. Dave Pinto (DFL-St. Paul) and Rep. Raymond Dehn (DFL-Mpls) expressed concern that the so-called “Restore the Vote” provision did not make the agreement.

Under current law, a person convicted of a felony cannot vote until they finish all of their sentence, including time on probation, parole or supervised release. The provision would have made them eligible to vote upon release from a correctional facility.

Pinto said it’s a civil rights issue, and Dehn said current law tells approximately 47,000 Minnesotans that they don’t count. Both also said having the right to vote helps felons believe they are part of society. “They’re good people that made mistakes and are trying to turn their life around,” Dehn said.

Other provisions brought to the conference committee by the House or Senate that did not make the final agreement include creation of a 15-year felony for a person convicted of criminal vehicular homicide involving impairment that occurs within 10 years of a prior qualified driving offense; creating a new offense for intentionally setting fire to property which proximity causes bodily harm to any person, including a public safety officer; and use of officer deadly force investigations would need to be conducted by an outside agency.

“There’s a lot of good things in this bill … but there’s a couple points that are problematic for me and the citizens I serve,” said Rep. Dan Schoen (DFL-St. Paul Park).