1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to public safety; directing the commissioner of corrections to implement 
1.3 	a gardening program at state correctional facilities;proposing coding for new 
1.4 	law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 241.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. [241.241] PRISON GARDENING PROGRAM.
1.7 		Subdivision 1.Establishment. The commissioner shall establish a gardening 
1.8 	program for inmates at each correctional facility where space and security allows 
1.9 	for operation of a garden. The garden shall be primarily tended by inmates. The 
1.10 	commissioner shall strive to raise produce that can be used to feed inmates in state 
1.11 	correctional facilities. The commissioner shall donate any portion of the harvest that 
1.12 	cannot be used to feed inmates to food shelves and charities located near the correctional 
1.13 	facility where the produce was grown. The commissioner may sell, for profit, produce 
1.14 	that cannot be donated.
1.15 		Subd. 2.Report. The commissioner shall include the following information in the 
1.16 	annual report to the legislature required under section 241.016:
1.17 	(1) the type and amount of produce raised in the gardening program;
1.18 	(2) the amount of the harvest used to feed inmates and the amount used for other 
1.19 	purposes;
1.20 	(3) the amount of inmate time dedicated to the gardening program;
1.21 	(4) the cost savings to the department from using prison-grown food to feed inmates; 
1.22 	and
1.23 	(5) the cost of operating the program.

1.24 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective January 1, 2012.