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Minnesota Agencies

Information on Minnesota State Agencies, Boards, Task Forces, and Commissions

Compiled by the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library


Special Review Board

Active dates:1982-
Function:

The Special Review Board hears reduction in custody petitions involving individuals civilly committed as Mentally Ill and Dangerous, as a Sexually Dangerous Person, or as a Sexual Psychopathic Personality.

History:

The special review board meets at least every six months and at the call of the commissioner. It hears and considers all petitions for a reduction in custody or to appeal a revocation of provisional discharge. A "reduction in custody" means transfer from a secure treatment facility, discharge, and provisional discharge. Patients may be transferred by the commissioner between secure treatment facilities without a special review board hearing.

As the Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) has come under scrutiny, so too has the role of the special review board. Since its establishment, none of the clients of the MSOP have been fully discharged. The Program was investigated in 2011 by the Office of the Legislative Auditor, and has been the subject of a federal class action lawsuit filed by the sex offenders in the program in 2011.

2015 Minn. Laws Chap. 71 Art 2. Sec. 18 added the following requirement to the Special Review Board: "The special review board must review each denied petition under subdivision 5 for barriers and obstacles preventing the patient from progressing in treatment. Based on the cases before the board in the previous year, the special review board shall provide to the commissioner an annual summation of the barriers to treatment progress, and recommendations to achieve the common goal of making progress in treatment."

Membership:

3 members; one attorney, one psychiatrist or psychologist, and one other mental health professional experienced in the field of mental health

Entries for this agency in the Annual Compilation and Statistical Report of Multi-Member Agencies Report: 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013.

Note: This report provides membership details as well as meeting information and a summary of the group's activities.

Agency heads:

Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services

Note: The Legislative Reference Library may have additional reports on or by this group available through our catalog.
Documents/Articles:
News clippings and documents. Agencies Notebook Collection, 2014.
Record last updated: 05/24/2021
 

All information on this group from the Library’s collection of agency notebooks has been digitized. These materials are incorporated into the “documents/articles” section of the record. Please contact a librarian with any questions. The Minnesota Agencies database is a work in progress.

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