Each legislative session, we at the Minnesota Justice Research Center push for policies that reflect Minnesotans' priorities for public safety, community wellbeing, and justice. As this year's session begins, we are excited to share brand new, statewide data that reveals exactly what we knew to be true: Most Minnesotans, across political lines, want to see major changes or a complete overhaul to our criminal legal system. It also gives us helpful insight about perceptions of

By Alejandro Caceres-Aranda and Will Cooley The Problem of Prison Churn In 2019, over 60% of new admissions to Minnesota’s prisons resulted from supervision failures—this means that most of the people entering the facility had been there before, and were back for a violation of their supervision. These individuals comprised approximately 25% of the total prison population and cost taxpayers more than $77 million per year . On top of that, a significant number of these admissi

By Justin Terrell, Executive Director of MNJRC Along with this blog post, MNJRC also released a memo addressed to local governments including specific recommendations to prioritize transparency as the operation unfolds. Read it here. The federal government's ongoing Operation Metro Surge continues into another week, putting Minnesotans on edge regardless of immigration status. Over 95% of the immigrants ICE arrested during the government shutdown don’t even have a criminal co

“The system is broken, but we’re doing a good job.” By Dr. Katie Remington Cunningham This blog is a reflection that represents my own views and perspectives on the conversations that occurred with corrections staff and community members over the course of three days, from 9/22/25 to 9/24/25. In late September, some of my colleagues and I at the MNJRC were invited to co-host an international visitor on his whirlwind tour of correctional facilities and stakeholder meetings. Th

By Will Cooley and Mabel Malhotra The Minnesota Justice Research Center (MNJRC) has been engaged in a multi-year effort to improve our state’s community supervision system focus on safely reintegrating people into the community, reducing revocations, and ensuring public safety. On October 23, 2025, we hosted a roundtable to discuss policies that can create more housing opportunities for Minnesotans on community supervision or otherwise impacted by the criminal legal system. W

In 2024, 47 percent of violent crimes reported to police in Minnesota were solved. This is 3 percentage points lower than the solve rate in 2014. In Minnesota, we are underfunding, understaffing, and neglecting the most important thing law enforcement can do to prevent crime. Solving violent crimes sends a message that criminal behavior will not be tolerated, which deters future offenses, provides a sense of justice for victims, reduces the urge to retaliate, and builds publi