By MN Crime Watch, February 5, 2020
What does politics have to do with crime? Everything!
The people you vote for write and enact laws (your legislators), they sign bills into law, appoint judges and members of the Sentencing Guidelines Commission (your governor), they prosecute crimes or decide not to prosecute (your county attorneys), and they set public safety and police policy (mayors and city councils).
If you’re concerned about public safety and holding criminals accountable, you need to know where the people you vote for stand on these issues.
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The Minnesota legislative session will begin on Feb. 11, but several bills have already been introduced, including several related to public safety.
Below are the summaries of the newly proposed public safety related bills introduced in the MN House of Representatives that have been referred to the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform Finance and Policy Division committee.
Click on the hyperlinks to the bills and you can read the details. The State Legislature website allows you to track the status of bills that are of interest to you at this link so you can follow their progress through the legislative process: https://www.leg.state.mn.us/mybills/login?ReturnUrl=%2fmybills%2f
Note: Some bills may be adding or removing language from existing statutes that creates new crimes, eliminates crimes or changes penalties related to crimes. Some bills propose funding for public safety related needs or initiatives.
Note: Other bills introduced but not listed here may impact or affect public safety if enacted. For example, the following bill was referred to the Transportation and Finance Policy Division committee, but could certainly have implications related to public safety:
Torkelson introduced:
H. F. 3110, A bill for an act relating to transportation; requiring a light rail transit safety assessment; requiring a report; appropriating money.
Note: When reading the bills, Strikethrough = removed language from existing statute (or language removed from later mark ups). Underline = newly added language.
Also read: How a bill becomes law.
Find your legislators here: https://www.gis.leg.mn/iMaps/districts/
This column will be a regular series on our Patreon page throughout the legislative session where we will share the introduction and status of bills related to public safety.
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The following bills were introduced in the House on Jan. 31, 2020:
Youakim, Christensen, Edelson, Moller, Mann, Hassan, Poston and Theis introduced:
H. F. 2934, A bill for an act relating to public safety; appropriating money to increase crime alert categories to include a dementia and Alzheimer’s disease category and to provide grants to develop law enforcement training on issues associated with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease; requiring a report.
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Cantrell introduced:
H. F. 2962, A bill for an act relating to labor and industry; requiring carbon monoxide detectors in hotel and motel rooms; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 299F.51.
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Cantrell introduced:
H. F. 2963, A bill for an act relating to public safety; eliminating automatic 30-day revocation of driver’s license for small amount of marijuana; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 152.0271.
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Mekeland and Grossell introduced:
H. F. 2966, A bill for an act relating to public safety; creating liability and vicarious liability for trespass to critical infrastructure; creating a crime for recruiting or educating individuals to trespass on or damage critical infrastructure; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 609.6055, subdivision 2; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 604.
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O’Neill, Moller, Poston, Tabke, Edelson, Grossell and Haley introduced:
H. F. 2983, A bill for an act relating to public safety; requiring all unrestricted sexual assault examination kit samples to be tested; establishing retention and storage requirements for sexual assault examination kits; requiring the design and publication of a uniform sexual assault examination kit consent form; creating a searchable database to track the status of testing of sexual assault examination kits; appropriating money for additional lab scientists and software upgrades; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 299C.106, subdivision 3, by adding subdivisions.
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Noor; Richardson; Hassan; Dehn; Christensen; Moller; Xiong, J., and Cantrell introduced:
H. F. 3003, A bill for an act relating to public safety; requiring installation of automatic sprinkler systems in certain existing high-rise buildings; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 299F.
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Lesch; Moller; Xiong, J.; Lucero; Noor and Scott introduced:
H. F. 3009, A bill for an act relating to public safety; regulating the use of unmanned aerial vehicles by law enforcement agencies; classifying data; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 13.82, subdivision 15, by adding a subdivision; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 626.
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Lesch introduced:
H. F. 3010, A bill for an act relating to public safety; requiring a government entity to obtain a search warrant before accessing electronic communication information; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, sections 626A.26, subdivision 3; 626A.27, subdivision 2; 626A.28, subdivisions 3, 4, 5; 626A.31, subdivision 1; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 626; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2018, sections 626A.28, subdivisions 1, 2; 626A.29; 626A.30.
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Lesch introduced:
H. F. 3012, A bill for an act relating to public safety; enabling reporting of information related to use of electronic location tracking warrants; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, sections 626A.08, subdivision 2; 626A.37, subdivision 4.
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Drazkowski introduced:
H. F. 3018, A bill for an act relating to public safety; expanding the offense of assaulting a minor; establishing the offense of assault in the third degree by strangulation; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 609.223, subdivision 3, by adding a subdivision.
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Garofalo introduced:
H. F. 3040, A bill for an act relating to public safety; establishing strict liability for possessing stolen property within ten years of certain prior convictions; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 609.53, subdivision 1; Minnesota Statutes 2019 Supplement, section 609.52, subdivision 2.
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Edelson, Mann, Hassan, Youakim, Koegel and Moran introduced:
H. F. 3041, A bill for an act relating to public safety; prohibiting persons from interfering with access to reproductive health services and facilities; establishing criminal penalties; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 609.
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Edelson, O’Neill, Poston, Johnson, Wolgamott and Howard introduced:
H. F. 3045, A bill for an act relating to public safety; providing for reinstatement of driving privileges with ignition interlock; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 169A.55, subdivision 4.
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Munson, Drazkowski, Miller and Bahr introduced:
H. F. 3051, A bill for an act relating to public safety; providing for a cause of action when a person who is prohibited from carrying a firearm on a property suffers a loss by not having the firearm; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 624.714, subdivision 17; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 624.
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Lee; Gomez; Her; Mann; Dehn; Noor; Hassan; Moran; Mahoney; Bierman; Freiberg; Hausman; Moller; Xiong, J.; Davnie and Howard introduced:
H. F. 3061, A bill for an act relating to public safety; modifying authority of jails to house federal inmates; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 641.03.
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Pinto and Moller introduced:
H. F. 3069, A bill for an act relating to public safety; establishing the crime of assault by strangulation; repealing the crime of domestic assault by strangulation; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, sections 243.167, subdivision 1; 609.2242, subdivision 3; Minnesota Statutes 2019 Supplement, sections 145A.061, subdivision 3; 245C.15, subdivision 1; 518.179, subdivision 2; 609.02, subdivision 16; 611A.036, subdivision 7; 624.712, subdivision 5; 631.52, subdivision 2; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 609; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 609.2247.
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Pinto and Miller introduced:
H. F. 3070, A bill for an act relating to public safety; increasing penalties for certain human trafficking offenses; increasing penalties for patrons of prostitutes; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, sections 609.1095, subdivision 1; 609.131, subdivision 2; 609.322, subdivisions 1, 1a; 609.324, subdivisions 2, 4; 609.3241; 609.352, subdivision 4; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 609.324, subdivision 3.
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Edelson; Kotyza-Witthuhn; Elkins; Carlson, A., and Howard introduced:
H. F. 3080, A bill for an act relating to capital investment; appropriating money for the South Metro Public Safety Training Facility in Edina; authorizing the sale and issuance of state bonds.
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Edelson, Hassan, Howard, Richardson, Becker-Finn and Cantrell introduced:
H. F. 3105, A bill for an act relating to public safety; providing for probationary sentences for certain nonviolent offenders; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 244.
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Edelson, Cantrell, Jurgens, Moller, Zerwas and Her introduced:
H. F. 3108, A bill for an act relating to public safety; providing for immunity from prosecution for certain controlled substance and alcohol violations for sexual assault victim and persons assisting the victim; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 604A.
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Edelson, Richardson, Howard, Hassan, Becker-Finn and Cantrell introduced:
H. F. 3109, A bill for an act relating to public safety; requiring a report on statistics for individuals convicted as an extended jurisdiction juvenile; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, sections 241.016; 244.19, subdivision 3; 401.06.
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Quam introduced:
H. F. 3115, A bill for an act relating to public safety; providing criminal penalty for substantial bodily harm caused by response for fictitious emergency; providing restitution for public agencies and victims affected by the reporting of a fictitious emergency; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 609.78, subdivision 2a, by adding a subdivision.
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Quam introduced:
H. F. 3116, A bill for an act relating to public safety; establishing the emergency infrastructure repair and replacement account for loans and grants to local governments for infrastructure damaged in disasters; requiring a report; appropriating money; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 12B.
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Quam introduced:
H. F. 3117, A bill for an act relating to public safety; requiring a policy for the use of confidential informants; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 626.
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Quam introduced:
H. F. 3120, A bill for an act relating to public safety; authorizing consideration of an arrest and investigative record in a criminal history background check; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 299C.
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Quam introduced:
H. F. 3121, A bill for an act relating to public safety; providing supervision guidelines for electronic monitoring of violent offenders; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 244.
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