Minnesota2026Passed Legislature
HF3769
Clarifying Substance Abuse Care Levels and Expanding Mental Health Beds for Incarcerated People
Last scannedAug 22, 2026, 3:39 AM
In one sentence
This law clarifies that substance abuse programs in prisons must meet community standards unless alternative rules are agreed upon, and it expands access to mental health unit beds by allowing transfers for assessment or stabilization.
What it does
- Requires all substance use disorder treatment programs run by the commissioner of corrections to comply with state standards set for community-based facilities.
- Allows commissioners of corrections and human services to create alternative equivalent standards if current rules cannot reasonably apply inside correctional facilities.
- Mandates that at least one adult correctional institution must have a mental health unit staffed and equipped to treat mentally ill inmates.
- Expands the reasons licensed professionals can recommend transferring an inmate to a mental health unit, including for assessment, evaluation, or stabilization.
- Updates rules allowing courts to commit people who are mentally ill to a mental health unit within prisons instead of outside hospitals in certain cases.
Who it affects
- The commissioner of corrections and staff who run correctional facilities
- Incarcerated adults and juveniles receiving substance abuse or mental health treatment
- Licensed mental health professionals working inside state institutions
Limits and unknowns
- The law does not state the specific date when these new rules will officially take effect.
- It is unclear how many additional beds will be created since the text only requires at least one unit to exist in an adult institution.
- The bill does not specify which correctional facilities must operate the mental health units.
Plain language
Terms to know
- Commissioner of Corrections
- The government official in charge of running the state's prisons and correctional facilities.
- Judicial Commitment
- A legal process where a court orders a person to receive treatment, often for mental illness or substance abuse.
Official record
Sources
Official summary
Multiple levels of substance abuse care provided by the commissioner of corrections clarified in law, and access to mental health unit beds for incarcerated persons expanded.
Official activity
Bill history
- Presented to Governor 05/11/26House
- Presentment date 05/11/2026Senate
- Returned from SenateHouse
- Special OrderSenate
- Comm report: Subst. for SF on General Orders SF4293Senate
- Received from HouseSenate
- AmendedHouse
- House rule 1.21, placed on Calendar for the Day Monday, April 20, 2026House
- Committee report, to adopt as amendedHouse
- Committee report, to adopt and re-refer to Health Finance and PolicyHouse
- Introduction and first reading, referred to Public Safety Finance and PolicyHouse