HF 947

1st Engrossment - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 02/11/2022 11:29am

A bill for an act
relating to juvenile justice; prohibiting visual inspection of delinquent children
and youth in detention facilities; prohibiting disciplinary room time for delinquent
children and youth in detention facilities; raising the age of delinquency and
detention to 13 years old; amending Minnesota Statutes 2020, sections 241.021,
subdivisions 2a, 2b, by adding subdivisions; 260B.176, subdivision 2; 260C.007,
subdivision 6.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 241.021, subdivision 2a, is amended to read:

Subd. 2a.

Affected municipality; notice.

The commissioner must not deleted text begin issue deleted text end new text begin grant new text end a
license without giving 30 calendar days' written notice to any affected municipality or other
political subdivision unless the facility has a licensed capacity of six or fewer persons and
is occupied by either the licensee or the group foster home parents. The notification must
be given before the new text begin license is new text end first deleted text begin issuance of a license deleted text end new text begin granted new text end and annually after that time
if annual notification is requested in writing by any affected municipality or other political
subdivision. State funds must not be made available to or be spent by an agency or department
of state, county, or municipal government for payment to a foster care facility licensed under
subdivision 2 until the provisions of this subdivision have been complied with in full.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 241.021, subdivision 2b, is amended to read:

Subd. 2b.

Licensing; facilities; juveniles from outside state.

The commissioner may
not:

(1) deleted text begin issue deleted text end new text begin grant new text end a license under this section to operate a correctional facility for the
detention or confinement of juvenile offenders if the facility accepts juveniles who reside
outside of Minnesota without an agreement with the entity placing the juvenile at the facility
that obligates the entity to pay the educational expenses of the juvenile; or

(2) renew a license under this section to operate a correctional facility for the detention
or confinement of juvenile offenders if the facility accepts juveniles who reside outside of
Minnesota without an agreement with the entity placing the juvenile at the facility that
obligates the entity to pay the educational expenses of the juvenile.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 241.021, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

new text begin Subd. 2c. new text end

new text begin Searches. new text end

new text begin The commissioner shall not grant a license to any county,
municipality, or agency to operate a facility for the detention, care, and training of delinquent
children and youth unless the county, municipality, or agency institutes a policy strictly
prohibiting the visual inspection of breasts, buttocks, or genitalia of children and youth
received by the facility except during a health care procedure conducted by a medically
licensed person.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 241.021, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

new text begin Subd. 2d. new text end

new text begin Disciplinary room time. new text end

new text begin The commissioner shall not grant a license to any
county, municipality, or agency to operate a facility for the detention, care, and training of
delinquent children and youth unless the county, municipality, or agency institutes a policy
strictly prohibiting the use of disciplinary room time for children and youth received by the
facility.
new text end

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 260B.176, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Reasons for detention.

(a) If the child is not released as provided in subdivision
1, the person taking the child into custody shall notify the court as soon as possible of the
detention of the child and the reasons for detention.

new text begin (b) No child may be detained in a secure detention facility after being taken into custody
for a delinquent act as defined in section 260B.007, subdivision 6, unless the child is over
the age of 12.
new text end

deleted text begin (b) deleted text end new text begin (c) new text end No child may be detained in a juvenile secure detention facility or shelter care
facility longer than 36 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, after being taken
into custody for a delinquent act as defined in section 260B.007, subdivision 6, unless a
petition has been filed and the judge or referee determines pursuant to section 260B.178
that the child shall remain in detention.

deleted text begin (c) deleted text end new text begin (d) new text end No child may be detained in an adult jail or municipal lockup longer than 24
hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, or longer than six hours in an adult jail
or municipal lockup in a standard metropolitan statistical area, after being taken into custody
for a delinquent act as defined in section 260B.007, subdivision 6, unless:

(1) a petition has been filed under section 260B.141; and

(2) a judge or referee has determined under section 260B.178 that the child shall remain
in detention.

After August 1, 1991, no child described in this paragraph may be detained in an adult
jail or municipal lockup longer than 24 hours, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays,
or longer than six hours in an adult jail or municipal lockup in a standard metropolitan
statistical area, unless the requirements of this paragraph have been met and, in addition, a
motion to refer the child for adult prosecution has been made under section 260B.125.
Notwithstanding this paragraph, continued detention of a child in an adult detention facility
outside of a standard metropolitan statistical area county is permissible if:

(i) the facility in which the child is detained is located where conditions of distance to
be traveled or other ground transportation do not allow for court appearances within 24
hours. A delay not to exceed 48 hours may be made under this clause; or

(ii) the facility is located where conditions of safety exist. Time for an appearance may
be delayed until 24 hours after the time that conditions allow for reasonably safe travel.
"Conditions of safety" include adverse life-threatening weather conditions that do not allow
for reasonably safe travel.

The continued detention of a child under clause (i) or (ii) must be reported to the
commissioner of corrections.

deleted text begin (d) deleted text end new text begin (e) new text end If a child described in paragraph deleted text begin (c) deleted text end new text begin (d) new text end is to be detained in a jail beyond 24 hours,
excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, the judge or referee, in accordance with rules
and procedures established by the commissioner of corrections, shall notify the commissioner
of the place of the detention and the reasons therefor. The commissioner shall thereupon
assist the court in the relocation of the child in an appropriate juvenile secure detention
facility or approved jail within the county or elsewhere in the state, or in determining suitable
alternatives. The commissioner shall direct that a child detained in a jail be detained after
eight days from and including the date of the original detention order in an approved juvenile
secure detention facility with the approval of the administrative authority of the facility. If
the court refers the matter to the prosecuting authority pursuant to section 260B.125, notice
to the commissioner shall not be required.

deleted text begin (e) deleted text end new text begin (f) new text end When a child is detained for an alleged delinquent act in a state licensed juvenile
facility or program, or when a child is detained in an adult jail or municipal lockup as
provided in paragraph deleted text begin (c) deleted text end new text begin (d) new text end , the supervisor of the facility shall, if the child's parent or legal
guardian consents, have a children's mental health screening conducted with a screening
instrument approved by the commissioner of human services, unless a screening has been
performed within the previous 180 days or the child is currently under the care of a mental
health professional. The screening shall be conducted by a mental health practitioner as
defined in section 245.4871, subdivision 26, or a probation officer who is trained in the use
of the screening instrument. The screening shall be conducted after the initial detention
hearing has been held and the court has ordered the child continued in detention. The results
of the screening may only be presented to the court at the dispositional phase of the court
proceedings on the matter unless the parent or legal guardian consents to presentation at a
different time. If the screening indicates a need for assessment, the local social services
agency or probation officer, with the approval of the child's parent or legal guardian, shall
have a diagnostic assessment conducted, including a functional assessment, as defined in
section 245.4871.

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 260C.007, subdivision 6, is amended to read:

Subd. 6.

Child in need of protection or services.

"Child in need of protection or
services" means a child who is in need of protection or services because the child:

(1) is abandoned or without parent, guardian, or custodian;

(2)(i) has been a victim of physical or sexual abuse as defined in section 260E.03,
subdivision 18 or 20, (ii) resides with or has resided with a victim of child abuse as defined
in subdivision 5 or domestic child abuse as defined in subdivision 13, (iii) resides with or
would reside with a perpetrator of domestic child abuse as defined in subdivision 13 or child
abuse as defined in subdivision 5 or 13, or (iv) is a victim of emotional maltreatment as
defined in subdivision 15;

(3) is without necessary food, clothing, shelter, education, or other required care for the
child's physical or mental health or morals because the child's parent, guardian, or custodian
is unable or unwilling to provide that care;

(4) is without the special care made necessary by a physical, mental, or emotional
condition because the child's parent, guardian, or custodian is unable or unwilling to provide
that care;

(5) is medically neglected, which includes, but is not limited to, the withholding of
medically indicated treatment from an infant with a disability with a life-threatening
condition. The term "withholding of medically indicated treatment" means the failure to
respond to the infant's life-threatening conditions by providing treatment, including
appropriate nutrition, hydration, and medication which, in the treating physician's or advanced
practice registered nurse's reasonable medical judgment, will be most likely to be effective
in ameliorating or correcting all conditions, except that the term does not include the failure
to provide treatment other than appropriate nutrition, hydration, or medication to an infant
when, in the treating physician's or advanced practice registered nurse's reasonable medical
judgment:

(i) the infant is chronically and irreversibly comatose;

(ii) the provision of the treatment would merely prolong dying, not be effective in
ameliorating or correcting all of the infant's life-threatening conditions, or otherwise be
futile in terms of the survival of the infant; or

(iii) the provision of the treatment would be virtually futile in terms of the survival of
the infant and the treatment itself under the circumstances would be inhumane;

(6) is one whose parent, guardian, or other custodian for good cause desires to be relieved
of the child's care and custody, including a child who entered foster care under a voluntary
placement agreement between the parent and the responsible social services agency under
section 260C.227;

(7) has been placed for adoption or care in violation of law;

(8) is without proper parental care because of the emotional, mental, or physical disability,
or state of immaturity of the child's parent, guardian, or other custodian;

(9) is one whose behavior, condition, or environment is such as to be injurious or
dangerous to the child or others. An injurious or dangerous environment may include, but
is not limited to, the exposure of a child to criminal activity in the child's home;

(10) is experiencing growth delays, which may be referred to as failure to thrive, that
have been diagnosed by a physician and are due to parental neglect;

(11) is a sexually exploited youth;

(12) has committed a delinquent act or a juvenile petty offense before becoming deleted text begin ten deleted text end new text begin 13 new text end
years old;

(13) is a runaway;

(14) is a habitual truant;

(15) has been found incompetent to proceed or has been found not guilty by reason of
mental illness or mental deficiency in connection with a delinquency proceeding, a
certification under section 260B.125, an extended jurisdiction juvenile prosecution, or a
proceeding involving a juvenile petty offense; or

(16) has a parent whose parental rights to one or more other children were involuntarily
terminated or whose custodial rights to another child have been involuntarily transferred to
a relative and there is a case plan prepared by the responsible social services agency
documenting a compelling reason why filing the termination of parental rights petition under
section 260C.503, subdivision 2, is not in the best interests of the child.