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.

A bill for an act

relating to corrections; clarifying in law the multiple levels of substance abuse

care provided by the commissioner of corrections; expanding access to mental

health unit beds for incarcerated persons; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024,

sections 241.021, subdivision 4a; 241.69, subdivisions 1, 3, 4, 5, 6.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 241.021, subdivision 4a, is amended to read:

Subd. 4a.

Substance use disorder treatment programs.

All
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residential
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substance use

disorder treatment programs operated by the commissioner of corrections to treat
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adults
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individuals
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committed to the commissioner's custody
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shall
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or to treat juveniles in

state-operated juvenile correctional facilities that have a correctional program services

certification per Minnesota Rules, chapter 2960, must
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comply with the standards mandated

in chapter
245G
for treatment programs operated by community-based treatment facilities.

When the commissioners of corrections and human services agree that these established

standards for community-based programs cannot reasonably apply to correctional facilities,

alternative equivalent standards shall be developed by the commissioners and established

through an interagency agreement.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 241.69, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Authority; rules.

The commissioner of corrections shall, in accordance

with applicable rules and standards prescribed by the Department of Human Services,

establish, staff, equip, maintain, and operate
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in
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at
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least
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one of the adult correctional

institutions under the commissioner's control a mental health unit for the care and treatment

of those inmates of state correctional institutions who become mentally ill.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 241.69, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Transfer.

If the licensed mental health professional finds the person to be a

person who is mentally ill and in need of short-term care,
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assessment, evaluation, or

stabilization,
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the licensed mental health professional may recommend transfer by the

commissioner of corrections to
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the
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a
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mental health unit established pursuant to subdivision

1.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 241.69, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Commitment.

If the licensed mental health professional finds the person to be

a person who is mentally ill and in need of long-term care in a hospital,
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or if an inmate

transferred pursuant to subdivision 3 refuses to voluntarily participate in the treatment

program at the mental health unit,
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the director of psychological services of the institution

or the mental health professional shall initiate proceedings for judicial commitment as

provided in section
253B.07
. Upon the recommendation of the licensed mental health

professional and upon completion of the hearing and consideration of the record, the court

may commit the person to
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the
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a
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mental health unit established in subdivision 1 or to another

hospital. A person confined in a state correctional institution for adults who has been

adjudicated to be a person who is mentally ill and in need of treatment may be committed

to the commissioner of corrections and placed in
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the
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a
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mental health unit established in

subdivision 1.

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 241.69, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Discharge.

The director of psychological services of
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the
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a
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mental health unit

established under this section may, subject to the provisions of chapter 253B, provisionally

discharge any inmate patient admitted as a person who is mentally ill without discharging

the commitment and order the inmate patient's release into the general population of the

institution from which admitted, subject to return to the facility for further treatment.

When the director of psychological services of the facility certifies that a patient is no

longer in need of institutional care for mental illness the director of psychological services

shall discharge the patient to the institution from which committed, and the discharge shall

also discharge the mental illness commitment.

A copy of the certification that the inmate is no longer in need of care for mental illness

shall be transmitted to the commissioner of corrections. The commissioner of corrections

shall give serious consideration to the aforementioned certification for purposes of their

supervision over the inmate upon the inmate's release.

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 241.69, subdivision 6, is amended to read:

Subd. 6.

Transfer upon expiration of sentence.

If the sentence of a person who has

been adjudicated to be mentally ill and committed to
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the
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a
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mental health unit established

under this section should expire before the person recovers and is discharged therefrom,

and, in the judgment of the director of psychological services of the unit, the person requires

further hospitalization for mental illness, the person shall be transferred by the commissioner

of corrections to a state hospital designated by the Direct Care and Treatment executive

board, there to be detained as in the case of other mentally ill persons under judicial

commitment.