In 2021 the Minnesota legislature created a working group to comprehensively study Minnesota’s sex offense registry regime to determine whether changes are needed and what those changes might be (hereinafter referred to as the “Working Group”). On February 1, 2022, the Working Group issued its report to the Minnesota legislature with a majority of Working Group members supporting five critical areas for legislative reform.
The five areas of reform identified by the Working Group are:
- Eliminate or limit registration requirement for adjudicated juveniles;
- Apply registration requirement to convictions only (not same set of circumstances/probable cause determination);
- Eliminate/modify the restart provisions;
- Provide an avenue of relief from registration; and
- Limit mandatory minimum for failure to register crimes.
In addition to discussing these five proposals in detail, the Working Group’s report highlights areas for further study and calls for enhanced research and data collection regarding registrants in the system and how the registry is used by law enforcement to more effectively weigh any benefits against the harmful effects of the system.
Now that its report has been issued, the Working Group requests that the Minnesota legislature hold hearings on the proposed areas of reform. If and when such hearings are scheduled, SOLPRC will provide an update.
More information, including a link to the final report, can be found here.