Bill > SF4027

This bill makes several changes to sentencing laws in Minnesota, primarily focusing on violent offenders who use firearms. It mandates an "aggravated durational departure," meaning a longer prison sentence than typically recommended, for certain violent crimes involving a firearm, especially for repeat offenders. Specifically, if an offender has prior convictions for violent crimes and the current offense involves a firearm, or if they have a history of five or more felony convictions and the current offense involves a firearm, judges must impose this longer sentence. The bill also clarifies that offenders sentenced under these provisions, or those convicted of a third violent felony, must serve their entire announced sentence in prison without eligibility for early release programs like probation, parole, or work release, and that sentences imposed under these new firearm provisions must generally be served consecutively, meaning one after the other, to any existing unserved sentence. Additionally, offenders sentenced under a specific section related to dangerous offenders and violent crimes will no longer be eligible for earned release credits.

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https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/94/2026/0/SF/4027/