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Law Enforcement Criticizes 'Bait-and-Switch' Tactics on Treatment Bill

More than fifty law enforcement officials and county prosecutors convened at the Minnesota state capitol on June 5, 2025, to advocate for increased funding for mental health treatment centers in response to the St. Paul jail overcrowding crisis.
The crisis stems from the legislature's failure to pass a 2024 bonding bill, delaying funding needed to expand the state’s largest psychiatric hospital and worsening overcrowding in jails.
Law enforcement officials highlighted that mentally ill individuals deemed incompetent to stand trial remain confined in county jails for prolonged periods due to limited treatment capacity.
Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson criticized the funding arrangement as a severe and misleading shift, highlighting that the current $10 million allocation is conditional on the approval of a separate $55 million bonding bill for facility expansion.
Without increased investment, including approval of the bonding bill, the backlog in jails could persist, undermining the paused 48-hour transfer rule and prolonging incarceration of civilly committed individuals.

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Duluth News Tribune

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‘Jails are not hospitals’: Minnesota sheriffs, attorneys sound alarm on mental health funding

ST. PAUL — From 2013 to 2023, a law known as the “48-hour rule” required Minnesota’s Department of Human Services to transfer inmates who are civilly committed to a state-operated mental health facility within 48 hours. According to Chief Deputy Chris Martin, 10,780 hours and 453 days is how long a mentally ill individual was held in the Clay County Correctional Facility until this January. Martin said the individual was admitted in 2023, and fo…

1 day ago·Cherokee County, United States

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