Minnesota Laws and Programs

Drug Courts

Drug and DWI Courts in Minnesota specialize in drug law enforcement by incorporating such innovative departures from traditional judicial process as intensive court supervision of eligible offenders. If an offender is determined to be nonviolent, chemically dependent, and unsuccessful in achieving sobriety through traditional legal sanctions, frequent court appearances will be combined with addiction treatment services and positive incentives to address the personal needs of individuals. A team typically headed by a presiding judge with county or city-wide jurisdiction will collaborate with a prosecuting attorney, a public defender, a probation officer, and a treatment provider to promote the coordinated support of the justice system to deal with drug abuse-related crimes.

Operational drug courts for adult defendants first appeared in Minnesota in 1996. Since then, 18 of the state's 87 counties have implemented adult drug courts, 14 have instituted DWI courts, six have done so as a response to illegal conduct attributable to family dependency and four counties have set up juvenile drug courts. All Minnesota Drug Courts are distinguished in their operation by 12 standards, effective in 2007 and revised in 2009.

A majority of the money for treatment services in Minnesota Drug Courts is drawn from the Consolidated Chemical Dependency Treatment Fund (CCDTF) that was developed in 1986 by the state legislature. The Fund has become a model for financing chemical dependency treatment services by pooling federal, state, and local resources. Recent analysis of CCDTF funding of Drug Court operation indicates that about 10 percent of clients succeed in completing a minimum of 90 days of in-patient treatment while less that 1 percent of offenders not admitted to drug court do so.

Other Programs

In 1997 Minnesota was one of the first states to enact employment drug and alcohol testing laws. Minnesota Statute, Section 181.950 provides that no employer may conduct drug and alcohol tests of employees or job applicants unless all are tested in conformity with a written policy that has been established and made known in advance to those who would be subject to the procedure. An employer may not discharge an employee solely on the basis of a first-time positive drug test, nor may an employer inquire about an employee's use of over-the-counter or prescription medications unless an employee tests positive as a basis for reasonable, individualized suspicion.

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