Corrections officials change sex offender review policy

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By Minnesota Public Radio

Published: 12/08/2003

Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was released after serving a 23- year prison sentence. Earlier this week, a corrections official said he was not recommended for civil commitment because of his age and his behavior in prison. The 50-year-old Rodriguez moved into his mother's home in Crookston, where neighbors were notified of his release.
Corrections Commissioner Joan Fabian's new policy will take that discretion away from department staffers. The decision on who should be civilly committed will now be left up to county attorneys who worry that they won't have the time or resources to do the same job.
"I just want to know is it going to make it a better process or is it just going to change who is ultimately responsible," said Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner. She says her office will continue to do a thorough review of anyone judged a high likelihood to reoffend. Her office now considers civil commitment for any sex offenders recommended by the Corrections Department.
Gaertner says, however, that she's concerned that county attorneys across the state won't have the experts and the tools to make uniform decisions about offenders: "When they send a file to us and say we have concerns, we think this person might reoffend, we really rely on that judgment. And I'm really concerned that without that judgment, without that initial screening, the process is not going to be better, the process isn't going to be as good."
Corrections Department officials declined requests to be interviewed for this story. A spokesperson says the policy shift is temporary, but that Fabian may move to make it permanent.
Gaertner isn't sure if more people will be civilly committed under the new program. She says the courts have approved about fifty percent of her civil commitment requests. But there will be an increase in referrals. The Corrections Department expects 45 level three offenders to be released from prison every year. If committed, they would go into the Sex Offender Treatment Program.
And that worries some who say the costly program is not producing significant results. There are 209 offenders in the program now at a cost of $110,000 a year per patient.
The Legislature made a five percent cut for community sex offender treatment and supervision in the current two-year budget. Human Services Commissioner Kevin Goodno says his department is prepared to handle an increase in patients who are civilly committed. But he says he's not so sure that there will be an increase since the courts require a high standard of proof before a person is civilly committed.

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