MN HF3568

Establishes a planning group to conduct a community needs assessment and advise the legislature on legal and policy issues related to decriminalizing mental illness, assessing law enforcement practices, court access barriers, and disparities in correctional settings.

Planning group shall study training protocols for law enforcement, incarceration rates and alternatives, sentencing, correctional program access, probation/parole/reentry, competency, health care access, prosecution, and legal representation for persons with mental illness.

Membership includes commissioners of human services, public safety, corrections, and health; the attorney general; judicial branch representative; representatives from mental health organizations and law enforcement associations; jail administrators; and individuals with lived experience in the criminal justice and correctional systems.

Group must submit a preliminary report by December 1, 2022, identifying critical problems and recommending solutions, and a final report by December 1, 2025, with findings and recommendations; commissioners of public safety and corrections must take immediate corrective action on identified critical problems or provide written justification for refusing to do so.

Appropriates $312,000 in fiscal year 2021 for administrative support, with a base of $286,000 for fiscal years 2022-2026, reducing to $0 in fiscal year 2027; planning group expires December 2, 2025, or upon submission of the final report.