Minnesota Agencies

By September 1, 2019, the commissioner of public safety shall convene a working group on criminal sexual conduct statutory reform. The working group must review, assess, and make specific recommendations with regard to substantive and technical amendments to Minnesota Statutes, sections 609.341 to 609.3451, 609.3453 to 609.3455, 609.349, 628.26, and any other related criminal laws.

The commissioner shall file a report detailing the working group's findings and recommendations with the chairs and ranking minority members of the house of representatives and senate committees and divisions having jurisdiction over public safety and judiciary policy and finance by January 15, 2021.

In the 2019 legislative session, the creation of this task force was deemed a top priority by groups like the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault, which emphasized the need to bring together law enforcement, prosecutors and advocates for sexual assault survivors to craft a comprehensive set of recommendations for changing the law to make it easier to prosecute sexual assault.

In a May 22, 2019 Star Tribune story, it was reported that State Rep. Carlos Mariani, D-St. Paul, who co-chaired the conference committee on the public safety bill (Laws of Minn. 1st Sp. Sess. Chapter 5 (SF8)), said that the task force was atop his key sticking points during negotiations. “It really could be a game changer,” he said. “We have an opportunity to actually reform everything and the public’s ready for it.”

The commissioner shall invite representatives from city and county prosecuting agencies, statewide crime victim coalitions, the Minnesota judicial branch, the Minnesota Board of Public Defense, private criminal defense attorneys, the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Human Services, the Sentencing Guidelines Commission, state and local law enforcement agencies, and other interested parties to participate in the working group. The commissioner shall ensure that the membership of the working group is balanced among the various representatives and reflects a broad spectrum of viewpoints, and is inclusive of marginalized communities as well as victim and survivor voices.