Early release, more rape kit testing part of $22 million public safety bill OK'd in House

Keeping the public safe during the COVID-19 pandemic was the focus of the floor debate on the omnibus public safety bill passed by the House Saturday.

Also part of the debate was the price tag to the state of $22 million.

Republicans said that with the state’s projected budget shortfall, the bill’s programs can’t be funded, as worthy as they might be. “I want to see the numbers. How do we pay for this?” said Rep. Marion O'Neill (R-Maple Lake).

But DFL members said keeping the public safe is a core duty of state government, and it must find a way to fund these “critical” programs.

“As we work through the economic harm caused by the pandemic, the state will not stop its work to help keep Minnesotans safe,” said Rep. Carlos Mariani (DFL-St. Paul), the bill sponsor.

The House passed HF3156, as amended, by a vote of 76-58 and sent it to the Senate. There is no Senate companion.

The bill would fund the following public safety programs in response to the COVID-19 emergency in the 2020-21 biennium:

• $9.8 million for Department of Corrections’ violence-prevention and other community programs;
• $7.9 million to the department for staff compensation and overtime;
• $3.1 million to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for sexual assault exam kit storage, tracking and testing; and
• $1.3 million for the BCA DNA and ballistics crime labs.

Mariani said many of the appropriations would be eligible to be funded by money the state is set to receive under the federal CARES Act. A provision in the bill specifies that federal dollars would be spent first, with the state’s General Fund being the monetary source only if needed.

The $3.1 million for testing sexual assault kits would come from MINNCOR Industries’ funds as a result of an amendment successfully offered by O’Neill, and further amended by a Mariani amendment.

Testing sexual assault examination kits

The bill would require restricted sexual assault examination kits to be submitted to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension within 60 days, and the BCA to store the kits for at least 30 months. Restricted kits are those the victims say they do not want to be tested.

Many of these kits are tossed out because hospitals where the assault examinations are done lack the ability to safety and securely store them, said O’Neill. The language in the omnibus bill comes from HF2983 that she sponsors.

She said this extended time would give sexual assault victims a chance to change their minds about designating their kits as restricted and signing a release to have the kits sent to a lab. “It is so incredibly important to test all rape kits.”

The omnibus bill would require unrestricted kits – where the victim signs a release to permit forensic analysis – to be tested and would require the kit to be retained indefinitely after being tested by the law enforcement agency investigating the case.

The bill would also require the BCA to create a searchable web database where victims who have had their kits tested can get updates on the testing status of their kits.

Corrections policy provisions

The bill would grant temporary emergency powers to the commissioner of corrections to protect the health and welfare of state correctional employees and inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

To ease overcrowding in state prisons, the Corrections Department could release inmates if they:

• are deemed to be at low-risk to reoffend upon release;
• are serving terms for non-violent offenses; and
• have 180 days or less in their terms.

Further, the corrections commissioner would be required to report to the Legislature within 30 days of the expiration of the peacetime emergency on the timeline about when the temporary emergency powers were exercised and an explanation for why the powers were necessary.

Rep. Brian Johnson (R-Cambridge) unsuccessfully offered an amendment to delete the section containing the temporary emergency powers and early-release provisions.

Felony murder task force established

The bill would also establish a 12-person task force, charging it to:

• collect and analyze data on the charging, convicting, and sentencing of people for aiding and abetting felony murder;
• assess whether current laws and practices promote public safety and equity in sentencing; and
• make recommendations to the Legislature.

A $25,000 appropriation in fiscal year 2021 is called for to fund the staffing needs of the task force, which would be required to submit a report to the Legislature by Jan. 15, 2021.

Traumatic brain injury

Rep. Jeremy Munson (R-Lake Crystal) successfully added an amendment that would direct judges to order a neuropsychological evaluation before sentencing when a defendant has a prior history of a traumatic brain injury. If the assessment reveals a lack of impulse control due to the injury, the punishment could be adjusted to seek effective medical treatment.

“We need to do more to treat mental illness instead of criminalizing it,” Munson said.

The so-called “Cassy’s Law” is named after Cassondra Barry, who was 26 when she had a massive stroke, damaging her frontal lobe, leading her to have a lack of impulse control, numerous encounters with law enforcement, and a felony conviction.

What’s in the bill?

These are some of the House bills that have been incorporated in part or in whole into the omnibus public safety bill:

• HF1864 (Munson)
• HF2983 (O’Neill)
• HF3976 (Dehn)
• HF4540 (Mariani)
• HF4578 (Freiberg)