HF 232

1st Engrossment - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to crime prevention; limiting services 
  1.3             provided by restorative justice programs; funding 
  1.4             restorative justice program grants; appropriating 
  1.5             money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 
  1.6             611A.775. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 611A.775, is 
  1.9   amended to read: 
  1.10     611A.775 [RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROGRAMS.] 
  1.11     (a) A community-based organization, in collaboration with a 
  1.12  local governmental unit, may establish a restorative justice 
  1.13  program.  A restorative justice program is a program that 
  1.14  provides forums where certain individuals charged with or 
  1.15  petitioned for having committed an offense meet with the victim, 
  1.16  if appropriate; the victim's family members or other supportive 
  1.17  persons, if appropriate; the offender's family members or other 
  1.18  supportive persons, if appropriate; a law enforcement official 
  1.19  or prosecutor when appropriate; other criminal justice system 
  1.20  professionals when appropriate; and members of the community, in 
  1.21  order to: 
  1.22     (1) discuss the impact of the offense on the victim and the 
  1.23  community; 
  1.24     (2) provide support to the victim and methods for 
  1.25  reintegrating the victim into community life; 
  1.26     (3) assign an appropriate sanction to the offender; and 
  2.1      (4) provide methods for reintegrating the offender into 
  2.2   community life. 
  2.3      (b) Restorative justice programs must not provide services 
  2.4   in domestic abuse cases. 
  2.5      Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.6      $....... is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 
  2.7   30, 2002, and $....... is appropriated for the fiscal year 
  2.8   ending June 30, 2003, from the general fund to the commissioner 
  2.9   of corrections for grants related to restorative justice 
  2.10  programs as defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 611A.775.  
  2.11  Grant recipients must be chosen with community-based 
  2.12  practitioner input by an interagency committee made up of 
  2.13  representatives from the department of public safety, department 
  2.14  of children, families, and learning, department of corrections, 
  2.15  supreme court, juvenile justice advisory committee, and the 
  2.16  office of dispute resolution.  The interagency committee must 
  2.17  consult with community-based restorative justice practitioners.  
  2.18  Grant awards must be allocated in a balanced manner among rural, 
  2.19  suburban, and urban organizations operating restorative justice 
  2.20  programs.  Preference must be given to organizations or programs 
  2.21  that: 
  2.22     (1) are currently operating; 
  2.23     (2) are community-based; 
  2.24     (3) are based on "best practices" as established by the 
  2.25  Minnesota restorative services coalition; 
  2.26     (4) have demonstrated effectiveness or include evaluation 
  2.27  efforts; and 
  2.28     (5) are supported by both private and public funding.