HF 1918

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to corrections; creating an American Indian 
  1.3             advisory committee to provide information to the 
  1.4             commissioner of corrections regarding the cultural and 
  1.5             spiritual needs of American Indians who are committed 
  1.6             to the commissioner's custody; establishing the 
  1.7             committee's membership and compensation; setting forth 
  1.8             the committee's duties; appropriating money; proposing 
  1.9             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 241. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  [241.055] [AMERICAN INDIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE.] 
  1.12     Subdivision 1.  [AMERICAN INDIAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE.] An 
  1.13  American Indian advisory committee is established: 
  1.14     (1) to provide information to the commissioner of 
  1.15  corrections regarding cultural and spiritual needs of American 
  1.16  Indian individuals who are committed to the commissioner's 
  1.17  custody; and 
  1.18     (2) to provide support to American Indians who are 
  1.19  committed to the commissioner's custody. 
  1.20     Subd. 2.  [MEMBERSHIP.] (a) The American Indian advisory 
  1.21  committee consists of the following: 
  1.22     (1) members of the American Indian community recognized for 
  1.23  their knowledge of American Indian cultural and spiritual 
  1.24  practices; 
  1.25     (2) relatives of American Indians who are committed to the 
  1.26  commissioner's custody; and 
  1.27     (3) members of the American Indian community recognized for 
  2.1   their advocacy in regard to the rights of American Indians. 
  2.2      (b) The commissioner of corrections or the commissioner's 
  2.3   designee shall meet on a quarterly basis with members of the 
  2.4   American Indian advisory committee. 
  2.5      (c) Section 15.059 does not apply to the American Indian 
  2.6   advisory committee and members of the committee shall not 
  2.7   receive the per diem specified in section 15.059, but shall 
  2.8   receive expenses in the same manner and amount as provided in 
  2.9   the commissioner's plan under section 43A.18, subdivision 2. 
  2.10     Subd. 3.  [DUTIES.] The American Indian advisory committee 
  2.11  shall: 
  2.12     (1) propose American Indian religious and cultural 
  2.13  programming for use in state correctional facilities; 
  2.14     (2) monitor the American Indian religious and cultural 
  2.15  programming in state correctional facilities to ensure that the 
  2.16  programming is meeting the needs of American Indian inmates; 
  2.17     (3) identify items that have cultural or spiritual 
  2.18  significance to American Indians to make recommendations 
  2.19  regarding the need for these items to be available to American 
  2.20  Indians who are confined in state correctional facilities; 
  2.21     (4) draft policies and procedures concerning the cultural 
  2.22  and spiritual needs of American Indians who are confined in 
  2.23  state correctional facilities; 
  2.24     (5) communicate with American Indians within all of the 
  2.25  state correctional facilities and ensure that the rights of 
  2.26  tribal members are upheld; 
  2.27     (6) investigate reports of bias stemming from the exercise 
  2.28  of American Indian culture and spirituality in state 
  2.29  correctional facilities; 
  2.30     (7) document any findings of bias in state correctional 
  2.31  facilities, adopt recommendations for culturally appropriate 
  2.32  remedies, and report the findings and recommendations to the 
  2.33  ombudsperson for corrections on a quarterly basis; 
  2.34     (8) monitor the implementation of remedies to evaluate the 
  2.35  effectiveness of remedies in providing cultural fairness to 
  2.36  American Indians in the exercise of their culture and 
  3.1   spirituality; 
  3.2      (9) monitor state-funded transitional programming for 
  3.3   American Indians on supervised release to ensure that this 
  3.4   programming meets the cultural and spiritual needs of American 
  3.5   Indians; and 
  3.6      (10) draft a policy to permit American Indians on 
  3.7   supervised release to attend tribal ceremonies outside of 
  3.8   Minnesota. 
  3.9      Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.10     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.11  commissioner of corrections for expenses incurred by members of 
  3.12  the American Indian advisory committee in performing duties 
  3.13  under Minnesota Statutes, section 241.051, to be available for 
  3.14  the fiscal biennium ending June 30, 1999.