1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to corrections; appropriating money for Ramsey County Corrections pilot 
1.3 	program.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. RAMSEY COUNTY PILOT PROGRAM.
 1.6 	(a) The commissioner of corrections shall award a grant to Ramsey County to develop 
1.7 	a one-year pilot program to divert from prison an offender who violates a condition of 
1.8 	supervised release or stay of execution of a sentence and is facing revocation of the 
1.9 	supervised release or execution of the stayed prison sentence.
1.10 	(b) Ramsey County Community Corrections shall consult with the Department of 
1.11 	Corrections to identify eligible offenders who are facing a return to prison. As an alternative 
1.12 	to supervising these offenders in the community, Ramsey County Community Corrections 
1.13 	shall use community-based organizations that have demonstrated success in working with 
1.14 	this population of offenders or send the offenders to the Ramsey County Correctional Facility 
1.15 	(RCCF) if all community options have been exhausted and secure time is warranted.
1.16 	(c) Offenders in the program will serve the same amount of time at RCCF that would 
1.17 	have been served at a Department of Corrections institution, but have access to increased 
1.18 	services such as mental health and chemical dependency assessment and treatment, cognitive 
1.19 	skills therapy, and related programs. These offenders will also be eligible for electronic 
1.20 	home monitoring, work release, and community job search.
1.21 	(d) Participation in the RCCF alternative is voluntary, and RCCF and community agencies 
1.22 	have the right to refuse an offender based on the offender's capacity to succeed in the pilot 
2.1 	program and the suitability of the offender for the program. Offenders who are selected to 
2.2 	participate in the program must demonstrate a readiness to change and a commitment to 
2.3 	follow release conditions. Offenders must understand that the effort and progress the 
2.4 	offenders demonstrate toward defined goals will earn their release back to the community 
2.5 	on supervised status.

2.6 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION.
 2.7 	$500,000 in fiscal year 2020 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
2.8 	of corrections for a grant to Ramsey County for the purposes of section 1.