This report measures an in-depth analysis of Minnesota's pretrial release system against community values and practices in other jurisdictions. We offer 6 evidence-based policy recommendations to the legislature.

In Breaking Ground, the MNJRC reviews current and potential future reform efforts in Minnesota, and outlines three key targets for change in community supervision policies nationwide and in Minnesota.

From 1991 to 2021, the percentage of people in prison aged 55 or older grew from 3 percent to 15 percent. The costs of imprisoning older people are skyrocketing because they are twice as expensive to incarcerate due to health care expenses.

The Returning Home Saint Paul (RHSP) pilot was a partnership between the City of Saint Paul, HousingLink, and Ujamaa Place to house Black men aged 18-30 years old who have experienced incarceration.

Findings from MNJRC's pilot project on how to effectively reach formerly disenfranchised voters in Minnesota that leads them to vote.

This toolkit provides information and resources for members of the public interested in communicating
their support for recent administrative rules changes at the Minnesota POST Board.

This report offers a high-level overview of learnings at a one-year check point for the RHSP pilot, a partnership between the City of Saint Paul, HousingLink, and Ujamaa Place to house residents returning to the community from incarceration.

This memo explores the impact of the 2016 Drug Sentencing Reform Act (DSRA) on average probation sentence length, exploring the differences by judicial district.

This report reviews MNJRC's evaluation of Ramsey County Sexual Assault Systems Change Task Force and particularly their goal of directly engaging with survivors of sexual violence to improve their practices.

Community supervision is one of the most widely used forms of correctional control in the United States. In this report, we review the broad literature on the causes and consequences of this mass expansion of community supervision.

In this preliminary report, we provide a high-level summary of the current law of pretrial release and detention in Minnesota. We focus on the role of data and explore the current landscape in Minnesota where we identify several significant barriers to better understanding our pretrial system.

2022 was a big year for the MNJRC, from issuing a self-initiated report on accountability in policing to supporting the MN Department of Human Rights in negotiating a consent decree with the City of Minneapolis that reflects the community's perspectives to advancing research to support restoring voting rights to Minnesotans with criminal records. Read more here!

This report highlights three main recommendations drawn from community feedback to address race-based policing and strengthen public safety in Minneapolis through a consent decree.

Our second report examining values in the criminal legal system, this review explores the role of the Minnesota POST Board in enhancing accountability for police use-of-force misconduct.

Our first report examining values in the criminal legal system, this review examines the data on the presence of explicit white supremacist idealogies and hate groups in law enforcement and trust in policing.

This memo examines the differences in surcharge collection rate for cases based on whether or not a defendant was represented by a public defender.

This report shares findings from a 2023 voter mobilization effort focused directly on connecting with formerly-disenfranchised, Black, Twin Cities residents following the restoration of voting rights in Minnesota that show the power of relational outreach and the importance of credible messengers.

Drug testing is a standard practice for people on probation and parole. Should it be? Luke’s story details how this common procedure can disrupt his successful transition from prison.

What does life after prison look like for some Minnesotans? It can involve Intensive Supervised Release (or ISR) resulting in a challenging experience navigating a continued culture of punishment.

MNJRC's research report exploring whether cash bail supports or undermines commonly and communally held values of justice, fairness, and safety.

This series of short documents explore research connected to the restoration of voting rights

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety contracted with Wilder Research to conduct an external review of the state’s response to civil unrest that occurred following the murder of George Floyd. MNJRC partnered with Wilder to lead focus groups with community leaders, business owners, and youth.

This memo details the racial and geographic distribution of felon disenfranchisement in Minnesota as a tool to consider the impact of proposed legislation (HF 40/SF 856) that would restore the right to vote for people convicted of felony offenses in reentry.