Also review the Comparison of Sex Offender Sentencing Provisions of S.F. 1875 and S.F. 1325 and Brief Overview of the Sex Offender Provisions of S.F. Nos. 1875, 1325, and 1377.

S.F. No. 1875 requires indeterminate life sentences for certain egregious first-degree criminal sexual conduct offenses and certain repeat criminal sexual conduct offenses; creates a new crime of criminal sexual predatory conduct; increases the conditional release terms for sex offenders; and provides for intensive community supervision of sex offenders. The bill also makes changes to the predatory offender registration law, most significantly, by addressing homeless offenders; makes changes to the community notification law, most significantly, by addressing out-of-state offenders; authorizes the use of polygraphs for sex offenders under community supervision; provides for victim notification when certain civilly committed individuals are about to be provisionally discharged; implements most of the 2005 recommendations of the Legislative Auditor regarding sex offender supervision; and makes numerous technical and conforming statutory changes.

Article 1 contains the sex offender sentencing changes, including the indeterminate life sentences, the conditional release changes, and the new crime of criminal sexual predatory conduct.

Section 1 states the legislative findings and intent related to this article. Of note, specifies that the future dangerousness of sex offenders is one reason they merit longer-term supervision and treatment than do other types of criminal offenders and that their future dangerousness must be taken into consideration in sentencing and release decisions.

Section 2 makes a conforming change related to article 1, section 21.

Section 3 clarifies that the Commissioner of Corrections' rulemaking authority relating to the revocation of supervised release also applies to conditional release.

Section 4 provides that an offender serving an indeterminate life sentence (see article 1, sections 12 and 21) may not be given supervised release without having served the minimum term of imprisonment as specified by the sentencing court.

Section 5 requires the Commissioner of Corrections, when considering whether to give supervised release to an offender serving an indeterminate life sentence (see article 1, sections 12 and 21), to consider at a minimum:

• the risk the offender poses to the community if released;

• the offender's progress in treatment;

• the offender's behavior while incarcerated;

• psychological or other diagnostic evaluations of the offender;

• the offender's criminal history; and

• any other relevant conduct of the offender while incarcerated or before incarceration.

The commissioner may not give supervised release to the offender unless:

• while in prison, the offender has successfully completed appropriate sex offender treatment;

• while in prison, the offender has been assessed for chemical dependency and mental health needs and, if appropriate, has successfully completed necessary treatment; and

• a comprehensive individual release plan is in place for the offender that ensures that the offender will have suitable housing and receive appropriate aftercare and treatment, and includes an employment/education plan for the offender.

Also makes a conforming change relating to article 1, section 4.

Section 6 strikes language in the intensive supervised release law relating to sex offenders. Community supervision of sex offenders released from prison is addressed in article 1, section 21.

Sections 7 to 10 amend the patterned and predatory offender sentencing law.

Section 7 adds a cross-reference to the new crime of criminal sexual predatory conduct (see article 1, section 20). Strikes language relating to court findings regarding whether the necessary prongs of the law have been met. Substitutes for this a determination by the fact finder. These changes are necessary in light of the 2004 United States Supreme court decision, Blakely v. Washington. Strikes other language that is no longer necessary in light of the changes made by this article.

Section 8 strikes the definition of "predatory crime." Replaces this with a cross-reference to what is essentially the same definition in article 1, section 11.

Section 9 makes the same substitution of a fact finder determination for a court finding as was made in article 1, section 7.

Section 10 strikes language relating to the conditional release of offenders sentenced under this law. Instead, adds a cross-reference to article 1, section 21.

Section 11 defines "predatory crime" for purposes of the criminal sexual conduct laws. This definition is nearly identical to the definition stricken from the patterned and predatory offender sentencing law in article 1, section 8. The new definition does not include criminal sexual conduct in the first- to fourth-degrees because a reference to these crimes is unnecessary under the changes made by the article. In addition, it does not include incest.

Sections 12 and 13 amend the first-degree criminal sexual conduct crime.

Section 12 requires a court to sentence an offender to an indeterminate life sentence if the offender is convicted of certain clauses of the first-degree criminal sexual conduct crime involving force or violence (i.e., where circumstances exist that cause the victim to have a reasonable fear of great bodily harm; where the offender is armed with a dangerous weapon; where the offender causes personal injury to the victim under specified conditions; where the offender is aided or abetted by one or more accomplices under specified conditions; or where the offender has a family-type relationship to a victim under 16 and specified conditions exist) and the fact finder determines, beyond a reasonable doubt, that:

• the offender tortured the victim;

• the offender intentionally inflicted great bodily harm upon the victim;

• the offender intentionally mutilated the victim; or

• the offender exposed the victim to extreme inhumane conditions.

Defines "extreme inhumane conditions," "mutilation," and "torture." Requires a court to specify a minimum term of imprisonment, based on the sentencing guidelines or applicable mandatory sentences, that must be served before the offender may be considered for supervised release. Makes other structural and conforming changes.

Section 13 makes a conforming change relating to article 1, section 21.

Sections 14 and 15 amend the second-degree criminal sexual conduct crime to make conforming changes related to article 1, section 21.

Sections 16 and 17 amend the third-degree criminal sexual conduct crime to make conforming changes related to article 1, section 21.

Sections 18 and 19 amend the fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct crime to make conforming changes related to article 1, section 21.

Section 20 creates a new substantive crime known as "criminal sexual predatory conduct." This crime occurs if an offender commits a predatory crime (see definition in article 1, section 11) that was motivated by the offender's sexual impulses or was committed as part of a predatory pattern of behavior that had criminal sexual conduct as its goal. Provides that the statutory maximum sentence for this offense is 25 percent longer than for the underlying predatory crime. If the violation is committed by a person with a previous sex offense conviction, as defined in article 1, section 21, the statutory maximum is 50 percent longer than for the underlying predatory crime. Also authorizes a fine of up to $20,000. An offender convicted of violating this section may be subject to the life sentence and conditional release provisions of article 1, section 21.

Section 21 creates a new section of law addressing indeterminate life sentences for certain repeat offenders and the conditional release of sex offenders.

Subdivision 1 defines "conviction," "previous sex offense conviction," "prior sex offense conviction," "sex offense," and "two previous sex offense convictions." Of note, "conviction" includes convictions as an extended jurisdiction juvenile for violations of first- through third-degree criminal sexual conduct or the new criminal sexual predatory conduct crime. "Previous sex offense conviction" is defined to be a "true prior" offense. That is to say that the offender must have committed, been convicted, and been sentenced for the previous sex offense before the commission of the present sex offense. "Prior sex offense conviction" does not require this sequencing of events. Thus, a person who has committed two sex offenses but has not been convicted of either would be considered to have a prior sex offense conviction once the offender has been convicted for the first offense even though the present offense occurred before the actual conviction for the prior offense. "Sex offense" includes first- through fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct offenses and criminal sexual predatory conduct, and similar laws from other jurisdictions.

Subdivision 2 provides for a mandatory indeterminate life sentence for an offender convicted of violating first- through fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct or criminal sexual predatory conduct if:

• the offender has two previous sex offense convictions (i.e., true priors);

• the offender has a previous sex offense conviction (i.e., a true prior), and:

• the present offense involved an aggravating factor that would provide grounds for an upward sentencing departure; or

• the offender received an upward sentencing departure for the previous sex conviction or was sentenced under the patterned and predatory sex offender sentencing law for the previous sex offense conviction; or

• the offender has two prior sex offense convictions (not necessarily true priors) and the prior convictions and present offense involved at least three separate victims, and:

• the present offense involved an aggravating factor that would provide grounds for an upward sentencing departure; or

• the offender received an upward sentencing departure for one of the prior sex offense convictions or was sentenced under the patterned and predatory offender sentencing law for one of the prior sex offense convictions.

Of note, if the present offense is a fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct offense, the offender is not subject to the indeterminate life sentence unless the offender's previous or prior sex offense convictions that are being used to enhance the sentence were for first- through third-degree criminal sexual conduct or criminal sexual predatory conduct.

Subdivision 3 requires courts sentencing offenders to indeterminate life sentences under subdivision 2 to specify a minimum term of imprisonment, based on the sentencing guidelines or applicable mandatory sentences, that must be served before the offender may be considered for release.

Subdivision 4 provides that when an offender is released from prison for a violation of first- through fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct or criminal sexual predatory conduct, the person must be placed on conditional release for ten years. Under current law, offenders released from prison for violating first- through fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct receive a five-year conditional release term unless the offender is a repeat offender, in which case the conditional release term is ten years.

Subdivision 5 provides that if an offender sentenced to an indeterminate life sentence under subdivision 2 is released from prison, the offender must be placed on conditional release for the remainder of the offender's life. Also provides that if an offender is released from prison for a violation of first- through fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct or criminal sexual predatory conduct, and the offender has a previous or prior sex offense conviction, the offender must be placed on conditional release for the remainder of the offender's life. Similar to the eligibility for the indeterminate life sentence in subdivision 2, if an offender is released from prison for a violation of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, the offender will only be placed on lifetime conditional release if the offender's previous or prior sex offense conviction that is being used as the basis for the lifetime conditional release term is for first- through third-degree criminal sexual conduct or criminal sexual predatory conduct.

Subdivision 6 specifies the conditional release terms that are applicable to all sex offenders placed on conditional release (i.e., any offender released from prison after a conviction for first- through fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct or criminal sexual predatory conduct, or after being sentenced under the patterned and predatory offender sentencing law). Provides that the Commissioner of Corrections may not dismiss an offender on conditional release from supervision until the offender's conditional release term has expired. Requires a ratio of corrections agents to offenders of 15 to one. Provides intensive release conditions for sex offenders placed on conditional release. These conditions are similar to phase I of the current intensive supervised release program. Conditions include, but are not limited to, weekly urinalysis and breath tests, house arrest/modified house arrest/daily curfews, a minimum of four face-to-face contacts with the offender's corrections agent each week, including at least one home visit, etc. Authorizes the Commissioner of Corrections to modify certain conditions upon request of the offender's corrections agent. The modification may be ordered only if the commissioner determines that the offender has complied with these requirements for a substantial period of time, a modification is justified under the circumstances, and public safety will not be compromised. However, the minimum number of face-to-face contacts may not be reduced to fewer than one per week and one home visit per month.

Section 22 repeals a provision of the patterned and predatory offender sentencing law providing for an increased statutory maximum penalty. This provision is no longer necessary based on the changes made in this article. Also repeals a subdivision of the repeat sex offender sentencing law addressing conditional release of sex offenders. This provision is superceded by article 1, section 21.

Article 2 makes numerous substantive and technical changes to the Predatory Offender Registration Law and the Community Notification Law. In addition, it specifically authorizes the use of polygraphic examinations for sex offenders under correctional supervision and provides for victim notification in certain situations regarding the release of offenders civilly committed as mentally ill and dangerous, as having a sexual psychopathic personality, or as being a sexually dangerous person.

Section 1 makes numerous changes to the Predatory Offender Registration (POR) Law. The primary substantive changes involve homeless predatory offenders, for whom there is presently no clearly applicable registration procedure. Requires homeless predatory offenders who lack a primary address or who leave a primary address without having a new primary address to register with the law enforcement authority of the area in which the offender is staying within 24 hours. Each time an offender lacking a primary address moves to an area served by a different law enforcement authority, reregistration is required. If an offender continues to lack a primary address but remains in the same area, the offender must report weekly to the law enforcement authority in the area in which the offender is staying and inform the authority of any changes to the information required for predatory offender registration, with complete reregistration required annually. Offenders with no primary address whose registration is required because of a civil commitment are subject to the general homeless offender registration provisions but must completely reregister every three months. Authorizes the law enforcement authority to allow an offender to follow an alternative reporting procedure if it determines that due to an offender's unique circumstances it is impractical to require the offender to report weekly.

Section 1 also makes the following changes to the POR Law.

• Reorganizes it by repealing subdivisions 1 (Registration Required) and 8 (Definition of Law Enforcement Authority); creating a definitions subdivision 1a (placing all definitions at the beginning of the section); recodifying subdivision 1 as subdivision 1b; and making conforming and clarifying amendments to the remainder of the section.

• Adds new definitions for "bureau," "dwelling," "incarceration," and "confinement." The existing definitions of "primary residence," "secondary residence," and "law enforcement agency" are changed to "primary address," "secondary address," and "law enforcement authority" respectively. In addition, the definitions of "primary address" and "secondary address" are substantively overhauled.

• Provides that it applies to offenders who aid, abet, or conspire to commit an offense currently requiring registration.

• Expands it to require registration for nonchild false imprisonment offenses.

• Requires offenders who enter Minnesota to reside, work, or attend school, or enter the state and remain for 14 days or longer, to register within five days of when the registration requirement becomes applicable.

• Clarifies that if a person subject to registration moves out of the state, registration with Minnesota terminates when the BCA confirms the address in the new state.

• Requires an offender subject to registration to consent to allowing the offender's residential housing unit or shelter to release information on the offender to law enforcement.

• Requires all level III predatory offenders to be photographed every six months by their supervising authority.

• Requires level II and III predatory offenders who are no longer under correctional supervision to have an annual in-person contact with the law enforcement authority with jurisdiction over where the offender lives during which the offender must be photographed and verify the accuracy of the offender's registration information.

• Requires verification of registration information by mail twice annually for level III predatory offenders who are no longer under correctional supervision (current law requires verification by mail annually).

• Authorizes the Commissioner of Public Safety to extend an offender's registration period for five additional years for failure to register a change in the offender's primary or secondary address, employment, school, or motor vehicle information; failure to report any property the offender owns, leases, or rents; or failure to return the annual verification letter within ten days.

• Provides that when determining whether an offender is a repeat offender, and thus subject to the longer mandatory minimum sentence under the POR law, violations of similar statutes from other states or the United States "count."

• Provides for a ten-year conditional release term for a violation of the POR Law by a level III predatory offender. The terms of the conditional release are governed by article 1, section 21.

• Provides that a violation of the POR Law may be prosecuted in any jurisdiction where an offense takes place. However, the prosecutorial agency in the jurisdiction where the offender last registered a primary address is initially responsible to review the case. When an offender commits two or more offenses in two or more counties, the offenses may be aggregated and prosecuted in any of the counties in which one of the offenses was committed.

• Provides that certified copies of predatory offender registration records are admissible as substantive evidence when necessary to prove the commission of a violation of the POR Law.

• Adds to the list of offenses that require registration a reference to the new criminal sexual predatory conduct crime created in article 1, section 20.

• Makes other technical and clarifying changes.

Section 2 amends section 243.167 (registration under the POR Law for other offenses). This law requires registration under the POR Law for offenders who commit a crime against the person and who previously registered under the POR Law but whose registration period ended or who would have had to register except the POR Law did not apply to the offender at the time of the offense. Expands the definition of "crime against the person" to include fourth-degree assault. Expands this law to apply to offenders who are convicted of a crime against the person and who previously completed registration in another state.

Section 3 requires the Commissioner of Corrections to report annually to the Legislature as specified on community supervision of level II and level III sex offenders and on other types of offenders.

Section 4 amends the Community Notification Law provision relating to non-Minnesotan offenders. Requires the Commissioner of Corrections to establish an end of confinement review committee to assign risk levels for offenders released from any federal correctional facility or from any state correctional facility of another state, and for offenders accepted from another state for parole supervision under the new interstate compact on adult offender supervision.

Section 5 allows for community notification for offenders who move to Minnesota from another state who, at the time of the move, are subject to a community notification statute in the other state and who are not already assigned a risk level under the community notification law. Authorizes the law enforcement agency in the area where the offender resides, expects to reside, or is regularly found to disclose information regarding the offender. The extent of the notification must be consistent with the notification made in the state from which the offender is moving. Caps the level of notification to that of a risk level II offender, unless the notification made concerning the offender in the state from which the offender is moving is broader than that authorized for a level II offender and the end of confinement review committee at the nearest state correctional or treatment facility at the request of the agency, assigns the offender to risk level III.

Section 6 clarifies that the Community Notification Law applies to homeless predatory offenders.

Section 7 authorizes law enforcement to disclose the probationary status of predatory offenders granted mitigated dispositional departures (sentences where the presumptive guidelines' disposition is commitment to the Commissioner of Corrections but where this disposition is stayed by the court) to individuals that law enforcement believes may be victimized by the offender (thus, conforming this notification provision to the one in the Community Notification Law governing level II offenders).

Section 8 amends the law relating to the civil commitment of persons as being mentally ill and dangerous. Requires the special review board and Commissioner of Human Services to consider statements received from victims under article 2, section 9, when making recommendations and orders regarding release.

Section 9 amends the law relating to the civil commitment of persons as being mentally ill and dangerous. Requires a county attorney who files a civil commitment petition alleging that a person is mentally ill and dangerous, has a sexual psychopathic personality, or is a sexually dangerous person to make a reasonable effort to provide prompt notice of the filing of the petition to a victim and to notify the victim of the resolution of the petition. Also requires the head of a treatment facility to make a reasonable effort to notify victims that a person civilly committed as being mentally ill and dangerous, as having a sexual psychopathic personality, or as being a sexually dangerous person may be discharged or released and that the victim has a right to submit a written statement regarding the release decision. Requires victims to request these notifications by contacting in writing the county attorney in the county where the conviction for the crime occurred. Defines key terms used in this section. Of note, defines "convicted" and "conviction" in a manner that includes certain mental illness procedures where the elements of the crime have been proven but the person has not actually been convicted and findings in certain civil commitment cases that the act or acts occurred.

Section 10 authorizes a court or the Commissioner of Corrections to require a sex offender to submit to a polygraph exam as a probationary intermediate sanction or a condition of release from confinement. Allows the court or the commissioner to order all or part of the cost of the exam to be borne by the offender.

Section 11 requests the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, in consultation with the Conference of Chief Judges, to develop, by September 1, 2005, a protocol for the use of polygraph examinations for sex offenders on probation.

Section 12 requests the Supreme Court to study and report to the Legislature on the development and use of a statewide panel of defense attorneys to represent persons petitioned for civil commitment for being sexually dangerous persons or sexual psychopathic personalities and a statewide panel of judges to hear these petitions.

Section 13 requires the Revisor of Statutes to make conforming changes to statutes as necessitated by this article.

Section 14 repeals two subdivisions in the POR Law superceded by changes made in this article.

Article 3 implements the Legislative Auditor's recommendations from the auditor's 2005 report to the Legislature on sex offender supervision.

Section 1 requires that when an offender who is subject to the POR law is being released from prison, the Commissioner of Corrections must provide the offender's prison records relating to psychological assessments, medical and mental health issues, and treatment to the corrections agency that is going to supervise the offender.

Section 2 amends the law requiring county and private sex offender programs to provide the Commissioner of Corrections with information related to program effectiveness. Strikes language that limits this provision to programs that seek new or continued state funding or reimbursements.

Section 3 clarifies that the law requiring the Commissioner of Corrections to provide follow-up information on sex offenders for three years following their completion or termination from treatment programs, provide treatment programs in different geographical areas of the state, provide necessary data relating to sex offender treatment programing, etc., is not a onetime project, but rather an ongoing obligation.

Section 4 amends the POR law to require offenders subject to registration to disclose their status as a registered offender to a health care facility upon admittance. The offender must also notify the offender's corrections agent or the applicable law enforcement authority when an inpatient admission has occurred. Requires a law enforcement authority or corrections agent who has received this notice or who knows that an offender has been admitted to a health care facility to notify the administrator of the facility.

Section 5 provides that when a corrections agency supervising an offender who is required to register under the POR law and who is classified as a public risk monitoring case has knowledge that the offender is seeking housing arrangements in a location under the jurisdiction of a different corrections agency, the supervising agency must notify the other agency of this and initiate a supervision transfer request.

Section 6 requires a corrections agency supervising an offender who is required to register under the POR law to notify the appropriate child protection agency before authorizing the offender to live in a household where children are residing.

Section 7 clarifies that an independent professional assessment of a sex offender's need for sex offender treatment must be conducted before sentencing.

Section 8 adds to the list of mandatory reporters of child abuse individuals involved in correctional supervision.

Section 9 requires the Commissioner of Corrections to convene a working group related to sex offender management and supervision. Requires the working group to study and make recommendations on specified issues. Also requires the working group to review the provisions of any laws enacted in the 2005 legislative session relating to sex offender supervision and treatment. Requires the working group to report recommendations to the Legislature. Requires the Commissioner of Corrections to implement policies and standards relating to the issues studied by the working group over which the commissioner has jurisdiction.

Section 10 requires the Commissioner of Corrections to report specified information to the Legislature on prison-based sex offender treatment programs.

Article 4 makes technical and conforming changes relating to the substantive changes made in article 1.

Sections 1 to 13 make technical and conforming changes to various statutes necessitated by article 1 of this bill. Of note, section 1 clarifies that the definition of "rule" in chapter 14 does not include rules of the Commissioner of Corrections relating to the release or release term of inmates on supervised or conditional release. Also of note, section 3 provides timetables for the actions of the end of confinement review committees relating to offenders subject to indeterminate life sentences under article 1.

Section 13 instructs the Revisor of Statutes to renumber the sex offender assessment statute so that it does not fall numerically between fifth-degree criminal sexual conduct and the new criminal sexual predatory conduct crime created in article 1, section 20. Also directs the Revisor to make other technical changes to statues necessitated by this act.

KPB:vs

Check on the status of this bill

Back to Senate Counsel and Research Bill Summaries page

This page is maintained by the Office of Senate Counsel and Research for the Minnesota Senate.

Last review or update: 04/13/2005

If you see any errors on this page, please e-mail us at webmaster@senate.mn.