Subject of Amendments to Rules. The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission requests comments on its possible amendments to rules governing how the Commission changes the Sentencing Guidelines. The Commission is considering rule amendments that would change how, and for how long, the public is given notice of a public hearing on proposed Guidelines changes. Specifically, the Commission is considering replacing public notice by State Register and U.S. mail with public notice on the Commission’s web site and by email, and shortening the time between public notice and the public hearing from 30 days to a briefer period such as 13 days. The Commission is also considering removing the five-day written comment period after the public hearing; all written comments would be due at the close of the public hearing. Together, these amendments would significantly reduce the time required for the Commission to take final action on proposed Guidelines changes, giving the Commission the flexibility to change the Guidelines in response to special-session legislation before the legislation takes effect. The Commission is also considering other changes to streamline the processes for Guidelines changes and to clarify, simplify, and modernize the language in Chapter 3000.

 

    Persons Affected. The amendments to the rules would likely affect those members of the public, including advocacy groups, who are interesting in providing input to the Sentencing Guidelines Commission regarding proposed changes to the Sentencing Guidelines. Likely included would be criminal-justice practitioners (prosecutors, defense attorneys, probation officers, and judges), crime victims, and criminal defendants; groups advocating for any of these; individuals and groups generally interested in public safety; and legislators interested in commenting on Sentencing Guidelines changes.

 

    Statutory Authority. Minnesota Statutes, section 244.09, subds. 5 & 13, authorize and require the Commission to adopt rules establishing procedures for the promulgation of the Sentencing Guidelines. Subd. 11 authorizes the Commission to define, within such rules, when certain Guidelines modifications take effect.

 

    Public Comment. Interested persons or groups may submit comments or information on these possible rules in writing until 4:30 p.m. on November 18, 2024.

 

    Rules Draft. The Commission appointed an advisory subcommittee on possible rules amendments, which has issued its report. The advisory subcommittee’s report includes a first draft of possible rules amendments. That report is available at https://mn.gov/sentencing-guidelines/assets/06-Ch3000SubcommitteeReport_tcm30-632655.pdf or at https://mn.gov/sentencing-guidelines/meetings/previous/ (scroll to July 25, 2024, agenda item 6).

 

    Agency Contact Person. Written comments, questions, and requests for more information on these possible rules amendments should be directed to: Nate Reitz at Minn. Sentencing Guidelines Commission, 658 Cedar Street, Suite G-58, St. Paul, MN 55155, by telephone at 651-296-0144, or by email at sentencing.guidelines@state.mn.us (email is preferred).

 

    Alternative Format. Upon request, this information can be made available in an alternative format, such as large print, braille, or audio. To make such a request, please contact the agency contact person at the address or telephone number listed above.

 

    NOTE: Comments received in response to this notice will not necessarily be included in the formal rulemaking record submitted to the administrative law judge if and when a proceeding to adopt rules is started. The agency is required to submit to the judge only those written comments received in response to the rules after they are proposed. If you submitted comments during the development of the rules and you want to ensure that the Administrative Law Judge reviews the comments, you should resubmit the comments after the rules are formally proposed.

 

Dated: September 16, 2024            Nathaniel J. Reitz, Executive Director