SF 5117

Introduction - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026)

Posted on 04/15/2026 09:07 a.m.

A bill for an act
relating to public safety; extending the time to use certain grant funds; amending
Laws 2023, chapter 52, article 2, section 3, subdivision 8, as amended.

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

Section 1.

Laws 2023, chapter 52, article 2, section 3, subdivision 8, as amended by Laws
2023, chapter 69, section 12, Laws 2024, chapter 123, article 1, section 11, Laws 2024,
chapter 123, article 9, section 3, and Laws 2025, chapter 35, article 2, section 24, is amended
to read:

Subd. 8. Office of Justice Programs

94,758,000

80,434,000

Appropriations by Fund
General	94,662,000	80,338,000
State Government Special Revenue	96,000	96,000

(a) Domestic and Sexual Violence Housing

$1,500,000 each year is to establish a
Domestic Violence Housing First grant
program to provide resources for survivors of
violence to access safe and stable housing and
for staff to provide mobile advocacy and
expertise in housing resources in their
community and a Minnesota Domestic and
Sexual Violence Transitional Housing
program to develop and support medium to
long term transitional housing for survivors
of domestic and sexual violence with
supportive services. The base for this
appropriation is $1,000,000 beginning in fiscal
year 2026.

(b) Federal Victims of Crime Funding Gap

$11,000,000 each year is to fund services for
victims of domestic violence, sexual assault,
child abuse, and other crimes. This is a
onetime appropriation.

(c) Office for Missing and Murdered Black
Women and Girls

$1,248,000 each year is to establish and
maintain the Minnesota Office for Missing
and Murdered Black Women and Girls.

(d) Increased Staffing

$667,000 the first year and $1,334,000 the
second year are to increase staffing in the
Office of Justice Programs for grant
monitoring and compliance; provide training
and technical assistance to grantees and
potential grantees; conduct community
outreach and engagement to improve the
experiences and outcomes of applicants, grant
recipients, and crime victims throughout
Minnesota; expand the Minnesota Statistical
Analysis Center; and increase staffing for the
crime victim reimbursement program and the
Crime Victim Justice Unit.

(e) Office of Restorative Practices

$500,000 each year is to establish and
maintain the Office of Restorative Practices.

(f) Crossover and Dual-Status Youth Model
Grants

$1,000,000 each year is to provide grants to
local units of government to initiate or expand
crossover youth practices model and
dual-status youth programs that provide
services for youth who are involved with or
at risk of becoming involved with both the
child welfare and juvenile justice systems, in
accordance with the Robert F. Kennedy
National Resource Center for Juvenile Justice
model. This is a onetime appropriation. new text begin This
appropriation is available until December 31,
2026.
new text end

(g) Restorative Practices Initiatives Grants

$4,000,000 each year is for grants to establish
and support restorative practices initiatives
pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section
299A.95, subdivision 6, and for a restitution
grant program under Minnesota Statutes,
section 299A.955. This appropriation is
available until June 30, 2026. The base for this
appropriation is $2,500,000 beginning in fiscal
year 2026.

(h) Ramsey County Youth Treatment
Homes Acquisition and Betterment

$5,000,000 the first year is for a grant to
Ramsey County to establish, with input from
community stakeholders, including impacted
youth and families, up to seven intensive
trauma-informed therapeutic treatment homes
in Ramsey County that are licensed by the
Department of Human Services, that are
culturally specific, that are community-based,
and that can be secured. These residential
spaces must provide intensive treatment and
intentional healing for youth as ordered by the
court as part of the disposition of a case in
juvenile court. This appropriation is available
through June 30, 2027.

(i) Ramsey County Violence Prevention

$5,000,000 the first year is for a grant to
Ramsey County to award grants to develop
new and further enhance existing
community-based organizational support
through violence prevention and community
wellness grants. Grantees must use the money
to create family support groups and resources
to support families during the time a young
person is placed out of home following a
juvenile delinquency adjudication and support
the family through the period of postplacement
reentry; create community-based respite
options for conflict or crisis de-escalation to
prevent incarceration or further systems
involvement for families; or establish
additional meaningful employment
opportunities for systems-involved youth. This
appropriation is available through June 30,
2027.

(j) Office for Missing and Murdered
Indigenous Relatives

$274,000 each year is for increased staff and
operating costs of the Office for Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Relatives, the Missing
and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Advisory
Board, and the Gaagige-Mikwendaagoziwag
reward advisory group.

(k) Youth Intervention Programs

$3,525,000 the first year and $3,526,000 the
second year are for youth intervention
programs under Minnesota Statutes, section
299A.73. The base for this appropriation is
$3,526,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $3,525,000
in fiscal year 2027.

(l) Community Crime Intervention and
Prevention Grants

$750,000 each year is for community crime
intervention and prevention program grants,
authorized under Minnesota Statutes, section
299A.296. This is a onetime appropriation.

(m) Resources for Victims of Crime

$1,000,000 each year is for general crime
victim grants to meet the needs of victims of
crime not covered by domestic violence,
sexual assault, or child abuse services. This is
a onetime appropriation.

(n) Prosecutor Training

$100,000 each year is for a grant to the
Minnesota County Attorneys Association to
be used for prosecutorial and law enforcement
training, including trial school training and
train-the-trainer courses. All training funded
with grant proceeds must contain blocks of
instruction on racial disparities in the criminal
justice system, collateral consequences to
criminal convictions, and trauma-informed
responses to victims. This is a onetime
appropriation.

The Minnesota County Attorneys Association
must report to the chairs and ranking minority
members of the legislative committees with
jurisdiction over public safety policy and
finance on the training provided with grant
proceeds, including a description of each
training and the number of prosecutors and
law enforcement officers who received
training. The report is due by February 15,
2025. The report may include trainings
scheduled to be completed after the date of
submission with an estimate of expected
participants.

(o) Minnesota Heals

$500,000 each year is for the Minnesota Heals
grant program. This is a onetime
appropriation.

(p) Sexual Assault Exam Costs

$3,967,000 the first year and $3,767,000 the
second year are to reimburse qualified health
care providers for the expenses associated with
medical examinations administered to victims
of criminal sexual conduct as required under
Minnesota Statutes, section 609.35, and for
costs to administer the program. The base for
this appropriation is $3,771,000 in fiscal year
2026 and $3,776,000 in fiscal year 2027.

(q) First Responder Mental Health
Curriculum

$75,000 each year is for a grant to the Adler
graduate school. The grantee must use the
grant to develop a curriculum for a 24-week
certificate to train licensed therapists to
understand the nuances, culture, and stressors
of the work environments of first responders
to allow those therapists to provide effective
treatment to first responders in distress. The
grantee must collaborate with first responders
who are familiar with the psychological,
cultural, and professional issues of their field
to develop the curriculum and promote it upon
completion.

The grantee may provide the program online.

The grantee must seek to recruit additional
participants from outside the 11-county
metropolitan area.

The grantee must create a resource directory
to provide law enforcement agencies with
names of counselors who complete the
program and other resources to support law
enforcement professionals with overall
wellness. The grantee shall collaborate with
the Department of Public Safety and law
enforcement organizations to promote the
directory. This is a onetime appropriation.

(r) Pathways to Policing

$400,000 each year is for reimbursement
grants to state and local law enforcement
agencies that operate pathway to policing
programs. Applicants for reimbursement
grants may receive up to 50 percent of the cost
of compensating and training program
participants. Reimbursement grants shall be
proportionally allocated based on the number
of grant applications approved by the
commissioner. This is a onetime appropriation.

(s) Direct Assistance to Crime Victim
Survivors

$5,000,000 each year is to provide grants for
direct services and advocacy for victims of
sexual assault, general crime, domestic
violence, and child abuse. Funding must
support the direct needs of organizations
serving victims of crime by providing: direct
client assistance to crime victims; competitive
wages for direct service staff; hotel stays and
other housing-related supports and services;
culturally responsive programming; prevention
programming, including domestic abuse
transformation and restorative justice
programming; and for other needs of
organizations and crime victim survivors.
Services funded must include services for
victims of crime in underserved communities
most impacted by violence and reflect the
ethnic, racial, economic, cultural, and
geographic diversity of the state. The office
shall prioritize culturally specific programs,
or organizations led and staffed by persons of
color that primarily serve communities of
color, when allocating funds.

(t) Racially Diverse Youth

$250,000 each year is for grants to
organizations to address racial disparity of
youth using shelter services in the Rochester
and St. Cloud regional areas. Of this amount,
$125,000 each year is to address this issue in
the Rochester area and $125,000 each year is
to address this issue in the St. Cloud area. A
grant recipient shall establish and operate a
pilot program connected to shelter services to
engage in community intervention outreach,
mobile case management, family reunification,
aftercare, and follow up when family members
are released from shelter services. A pilot
program must specifically address the high
number of racially diverse youth that enter
shelters in the regions. This is a onetime
appropriation.

(u) Violence Prevention Project Research
Center

$500,000 each year is for a grant to the
Violence Prevention Project Research Center,
operating as a 501(c)(3) organization, for
research focused on reducing violence in
society that uses data and analysis to improve
criminal justice-related policy and practice in
Minnesota. Research must place an emphasis
on issues related to deaths and injuries
involving firearms. This is a onetime
appropriation.

Beginning January 15, 2025, the Violence
Prevention Project Research Center must
submit an annual report to the chairs and
ranking minority members of the legislative
committees with jurisdiction over public safety
policy and finance on its work and findings.
The report must include a description of the
data reviewed, an analysis of that data, and
recommendations to improve criminal
justice-related policy and practice in
Minnesota with specific recommendations to
address deaths and injuries involving firearms.

(v) Report on Approaches to Address Illicit
Drug Use in Minnesota

$118,000 each year is to enter into an
agreement with Rise Research LLC for a study
and set of reports on illicit drug use in
Minnesota describing current responses to that
use, reviewing alternative approaches utilized
in other jurisdictions, and making policy and
funding recommendations for a holistic and
effective response to illicit drug use and the
illicit drug trade. The agreement must establish
a budget and schedule with clear deliverables.
This appropriation is onetime.

The study must include a review of current
policies, practices, and funding; identification
of alternative approaches utilized effectively
in other jurisdictions; and policy and funding
recommendations for a response to illicit drug
use and the illicit drug trade that reduces and,
where possible, prevents harm and expands
individual and community health, safety, and
autonomy. Recommendations must consider
impacts on public safety, racial equity,
accessibility of health and ancillary supportive
social services, and the intersections between
drug policy and mental health, housing and
homelessness, overdose and infectious disease,
child welfare, and employment.

Rise Research may subcontract and coordinate
with other organizations or individuals to
conduct research, provide analysis, and
prepare the reports required by this section.

Rise Research shall submit reports to the
chairs and ranking minority members of the
legislative committees with jurisdiction over
public safety finance and policy, human
services finance and policy, health finance and
policy, and judiciary finance and policy. Rise
Research shall submit an initial report by
February 15, 2024, and a final report by March
1, 2025.

(w) Legal Representation for Children

$150,000 each year is for a grant to an
organization that provides legal representation
for children in need of protection or services
and children in out-of-home placement. The
grant is contingent upon a match in an equal
amount from nonstate funds. The match may
be in kind, including the value of volunteer
attorney time, in cash, or a combination of the
two. These appropriations are in addition to
any other appropriations for the legal
representation of children. This appropriation
is onetime.

(x) Pretrial Release Study and Report

$250,000 each year are for a grant to the
Minnesota Justice Research Center to study
and report on pretrial release practices in
Minnesota and other jurisdictions, including
but not limited to the use of bail as a condition
of pretrial release. This appropriation is
onetime.

(y) Intensive Comprehensive Peace Officer
Education and Training Program

$5,000,000 the first year is to implement the
intensive comprehensive peace officer
education and training program described in
Minnesota Statutes, section 626.8516. This
appropriation is available through June 30,
2027.

(z) Youth Services Office

$250,000 each year is to operate the Youth
Services Office.