Minnesota Agencies

The Direct Care and Treatment executive board shall establish and maintain the Minnesota Sex Offender Program. The program shall provide specialized sex offender assessment, diagnosis, care, treatment, supervision, and other services to civilly committed sex offenders as defined in Minn. Stat. 246B.01, subdivision 1a. Services may include specialized programs at secure treatment facilities as defined in Minn. Stat. 253D.02, subdivision 13, consultative services, aftercare services, community-based services and programs, transition services, or other services consistent with the mission of Direct Care and Treatment.

Direct Care and Treatment provides this brief overview of the program in their FAQ pages: "Since the 1930s, Minnesota has had a civil commitment law since that was primarily used for those determined to be mentally ill and dangerous. It was not until the 1990s that these laws were revised and more widely implemented for sex offenders. MSOP opened in Moose Lake in 1995 to provide treatment to people who were committed as sexually dangerous persons or sexual psychopathic personalities. Prior to that, individuals with a history of sex offending behavior were committed [to] the Forensic Mental Health Program (formerly the Minnesota Security Hospital) in St. Peter under the Psychopathic Personality Law."

The Minnesota Sex Offender Program (MSOP) has come under scrutiny due to the fact that none of the program's clients have ever 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. On June 17, 2015, the program was ruled unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Donovan Frank. The ruling was later reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit on January 3, 2017 (No.15-3485).

In 2023, the Legislature restructured the Department of Human Services and created Direct Care and Treatment as a standalone agency to oversee the state-operated behavioral health care system, including the Minnesota Sex Offender Program.