SA Penalty Reform

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Policy Area: Public Safety & Criminal Justice
Purpose: Protect children and vulnerable Minnesotans by increasing penalties for the most serious sexual offenses, strengthening supervision of high-risk offenders, improving prosecution capacity, and expanding victim support—while ensuring constitutional compliance and evidence-based practices.

Minnesota law provides significant penalties for sexual offenses, yet gaps remain for aggravated crimes against children, repeat offenders, and high-risk predators. Fragmented supervision, uneven prosecution resources, and limited monitoring tools reduce accountability and increase recidivism risk. Victims often face long waits for justice and inadequate long-term support.

1. Increase penalties for aggravated sexual offenses and repeat predatory behavior.
2. Reduce recidivism through enhanced monitoring and supervision of high-risk offenders.
3. Improve investigation and prosecution outcomes statewide.
4. Expand restitution, services, and protections for victims.
5. Ensure reforms are constitutional, targeted, and measurable.

• Increase mandatory minimum sentences for aggravated sexual offenses involving minors.
• Establish enhanced consecutive sentencing for repeat or serial offenders.
• Codify aggravating factors (victim age, force/coercion, trafficking, prior convictions) to elevate presumptive ranges.

• Create statutory sentence enhancements for offenders with multiple qualifying convictions.
• Authorize courts to impose longer terms based on validated risk assessments.

• Expand predatory offender registration triggers and duration for high-risk cases.
• Authorize GPS/electronic monitoring for the highest-risk registrants during probation, supervised release, or conditional release.
• Strengthen interagency data sharing and violation response protocols.

• Increase mandatory minimums for trafficking of minors.
• Establish strong felony penalties for purchasers who knowingly exploit minors.

• Clarify standards for civil commitment of dangerous sexual offenders with regular judicial review.
• Extend or strengthen conditional release and lifetime supervision where warranted.

• Prioritize mandatory restitution to victims.
• Expand funding for victim services, therapy, and legal support.
• Invest in prevention education, mandatory reporter training, and Child Advocacy Centers.

• Special Victims Units: Create a state-funded grant program to support regional SVUs in county attorney offices.
• Forensic Capacity: Invest in DNA and digital forensics to reduce backlogs.
• Training: Standardized training for law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges on trauma-informed practices and risk assessment.

• State grants for SVUs, forensic labs, monitoring technology, and victim services.
• Initial investments offset by reduced recidivism, improved case outcomes, and long-term public safety savings.
• Detailed fiscal note to accompany bill.

• Annual reporting on prosecutions, convictions, recidivism, registry compliance, costs, and victim outcomes.
• Periodic judicial review for electronic monitoring and civil commitment.
• Sunset and review provisions (3–5 years) for enhanced penalties and monitoring expansions.

• Stronger deterrence and incapacitation of the most dangerous offenders.
• Improved prosecution success and faster resolution of cases.
• Reduced recidivism among high-risk offenders.
• Better long-term support and restitution for victims.