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Attorney general, counties back $75 million for 50‑bed Anoka treatment center to cut jail wait times
Summary
Attorney General Keith Ellison and county representatives urged lawmakers to fund a 50‑bed psychiatric treatment building at the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center (AMRTC) to reduce long priority‑admissions waits from jails; the House bill asks for $75 million to design and construct the facility.
Attorney General Keith Ellison told the House Capital Investment Committee on April 8 that a new 50‑bed facility at the Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center is the top recommendation of a multi‑stakeholder task force reviewing the state’s priority admissions law and waits for civilly committed patients.
Ellison said the task force — which included sheriffs, county human services directors, providers and family advocates — found expanding bed capacity to be the most important step to reduce prolonged waits for people committed to the commissioner of human services and held in local jails or hospitals while they wait for a state bed. "These two entities were established by this body ... to study the state's priority admissions law, also known as the 48 hour rule," Ellison said. He noted the panel recommended increasing capacity and that the legislature funded planning money for a 50‑bed building last year.
Why it matters: witnesses said patients on the priority admissions list were waiting an average of more than 30 days for admission at the end of 2024, and counties and sheriffs said the extended waits strain local resources and do not provide appropriate care for people with serious mental illness.
Matt Freeman of the Association of Minnesota Counties and the Minnesota Association of County Social Service Administrators said AMRTC is the state's largest psychiatric hospital and that lack of excess beds forces people to wait in jails or hospitals. "Imagine waiting 30 days for access to ICU care," Freeman told the committee. He and other witnesses asked the committee to provide $75 million in bonding to design and construct the 50‑bed facility, which would be built after demolition of an existing campus building.
Ending: Supporters said the investment would reduce litigation risk under the 48‑hour priority admissions law, relieve pressure on county jails and hospitals, and improve care access for people needing residential treatment.
