Minnesota's Pretrial Data Transparency Act Fails Again as Black and Indigenous Minnesotans Remain Overrepresented in Jails
Contributing writer Izzy Canizares reports on the Pretrial Data Transparency Act failing to pass for the second year in a row in Minnesota, leaving advocates without statewide data on pretrial detention while the Minnesota Justice for All Coalition continues to push for reforms in a system where Black and Indigenous Minnesotans are detained at disproportionately higher rates.
Despite bipartisan support, the Pretrial Data Transparency Act, which would establish a streamlined data collection process for those held in jails around Minnesota, did not pass for the second year in a row. While a setback, the Minnesota Justice for All Coalition and its member organizations have not been deterred from their mission to reform the state’s legal system.
The coalition was created in 2023, spearheaded by the Minnesota Justice Resource Center (MNJRC), and includes over 40 organizations and community leaders across the state. This year the coalition collaborated with lawmakers and advocated for a variety of bills at the Capitol. Despite promising support, none passed.
The coalition’s legislative agenda was built around three themes: that people dealing with trauma should still be able to participate in society; that when crime is alleged, people deserve fair and transparent investigatory procedures that respect their constitutional rights; and that a safer Minnesota is built by addressing poverty and eliminating penalties that disproportionately impact the poor.
“The majority of people agree that the system should not be based on wealth. Wealth should not determine whether you get out of jail or not,” said Will Cooley of the MNJRC.
Among the bills the coalition pushed for was the Pretrial Data Transparency Act (HF 1775/SF 1908), which would enforce streamlined data reporting on those being held pre-trial across the state. While some counties such as Hennepin and Ramsey have online data dashboards of their jail populations, tracking individuals held in other counties, especially smaller ones, remains difficult, leaving an incomplete picture of who is in Minnesota’s jails.
“I think that when you talk about data reporting and collection, it could be inconsistent in a number of places. Part of it is due to the fact that different parts of the data we need are held by different agencies,” said Jana Kooren, MNJRC Associate Director and Pretrial Justice Minnesota Steering Committee Member. She also described how coalition members lobbied throughout the session. “We have a broad set of members, and throughout the session, we would talk with authors of our bills to work with them and the people who run the key committees to try to get hearings scheduled, and then our coalition would turn people out in support to testify when it was heard.”
While the pre-trial bill passed in the House, it was not included in the House’s final omnibus bill presented to the Senate. Cooley explained that there was not enough funding to support accurate data tracking statewide during a year when the closure of Hennepin Healthcare was looming and elections were around the corner.
“What we learned this year at the Capitol was that it’s a matter of money. A fiscal note came in, and it’s expensive to set this up, and there wasn’t a lot of money at the Legislature this year. It was a policy year, not a budget year,” Cooley said. “Two years in a row, that’s what we found out. Legislators were unwilling to fund this. This will cause another year of not being able to determine how many people are being held. We are going to continue to work and continue to create a system that is based on public safety and risk rather than wealth.”
Data made available through the MNJRC’s research has shown that people of color, especially Black and Indigenous people, are detained at disproportionately higher rates.
“We were able to find the truly disproportionate amount of time the average person stays in jail based on their race,” Kooren said. “Native people have the longest average detention rate compared to white individuals, and with Black individuals it’s the same for them.”
In Hennepin County, the jail dashboard shows that 63% of its jail population is Black as of June 27, with an average stay of 28 days compared to 17 days for white Minnesotans.
“We also have a map that grades out that data where it happens, and you can see that people in greater Minnesota and rural Minnesota, specifically northern Minnesota, have the highest average amount of days they spend in jail compared to the metro,” Kooren said.
Those advocating for justice reform remain undeterred. They continue to stress the importance of not only data tracking, but of a comprehensive legislative approach that addresses all aspects of the legal system and its racial disparities.
Izzy Canizares is a contributing writer for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.