Minnesota Agencies

The working group will examine Minnesota's system of investigating and prosecuting sex crimes and try to determine whether there are better training programs, as well as better ways to allocate resources in the system. Areas of deliberation will include investigator training, development of a model policy for handling cases, and strengthening of victim rights.

In September 2018, Minnesota's outgoing Attorney General, Lori Swanson, announced she was putting together a working group aimed at dissecting  problems and proposing solutions to how Minnesota handles sexual assault cases. The task force was created after the Star Tribune’s special report, “Denied Justice,” documenting pervasive failings in the way Minnesota law enforcement agencies investigate sexual assault. The yearlong project, which examined more than 1,000 sexual assault reports from 2015 and 2016, found hundreds of cases in which police across Minnesota failed to pursue basic investigative steps.

The working group held its first meeting on Tuesday, September 18, 2018. 

The working group issued a report in December 2018 with recommendations to the Legislature on how to reform laws and policies related to sexual assault.

10 members: 
Minneapolis City Council member Barb Johnson
Doctor Mark Hudson
Isanti County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Lisa Lovering
Minnesota Indian Woman’s Sexual Assault Coalition Executive Director Nicole Matthews
Professor Carolyn Porta
Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault Executive Director Teri Walker McLaughlin
Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women Executive Director Elizabeth Richards
Inver Grove Heights Police Chief Paul Schnell
St. Paul Police Sgt. Nichole Sipes
Anoka County Attorney’s office Criminal Division Chief Paul Young.