1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to the Minnesota sentencing guidelines 
  1.3             commission; requiring legislative approval of 
  1.4             sentencing guideline modifications; amending Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes 2000, section 244.09, subdivision 11. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 244.09, 
  1.8   subdivision 11, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subd. 11.  [MODIFICATION.] The commission shall meet as 
  1.10  necessary for the purpose of modifying and improving the 
  1.11  guidelines.  Any modification which amends the sentencing 
  1.12  guidelines grid, including severity levels and criminal history 
  1.13  scores, or which would result in the reduction of any sentence 
  1.14  or in the early release of any inmate, with the exception of a 
  1.15  modification mandated or authorized by the legislature or 
  1.16  relating to a crime created or amended by the legislature in the 
  1.17  preceding session, shall be submitted to the legislature by 
  1.18  January 1 of any year in which the commission wishes to make the 
  1.19  change and shall be effective on August 1 of that year, unless 
  1.20  the legislature by law provides otherwise.  All other 
  1.21  modifications shall take effect according to the procedural 
  1.22  rules of the commission if approved by the legislature.  Failure 
  1.23  or refusal by the legislature to act upon the proposed change 
  1.24  shall be considered a negative legislative action.  On or before 
  1.25  January 1 of each year, the commission shall submit a written 
  2.1   report to the committees of the senate and the house of 
  2.2   representatives with jurisdiction over criminal justice policy 
  2.3   that identifies and explains all modifications made during the 
  2.4   preceding 12 months and all proposed modifications that are 
  2.5   being submitted to the legislature that year.