Community Corrections briefs Rice County commissioners on 2026 legislative impacts, grants and rising placement costs

Angela Brewer, director of Rice County Community Corrections, briefed the Rice County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 12 about legislative and funding changes that will affect the department’s 2026 budget and operations.

Brewer told the board she was presenting information, not asking for action, and reviewed major policy changes from the 2023 legislative session that continue to reshape community supervision across Minnesota. She described the near‑term items likely to affect Rice County in 2026: implementation of the Minnesota Reinvestment Rehabilitation Act (MRRA) earned‑incentive releases and potential supervision abatement, the Community Supervision Advisory Committee (CSAC) deliverables that will standardize risk assessments and case plans, an increased state requirement for evidence‑based practice (EBP) skill coaching and quality‑assurance reporting, and other statutory changes including the Clean Slate Act and a five‑year probation cap enacted in 2023.

"I'm not asking for any action on anything, just providing some information," Brewer said.

Key points Brewer presented

- Funding formula and recent change: the legislature moved to a three‑year rolling average for the community‑supervision funding formula. That averaging partially insulated many counties from sharp funding drops tied to population snapshots taken Dec. 31 of a single year; Rice County reported a minor net increase in funding (about $15,000) rather than a loss.

- Client fees: the state has delayed the scheduled sunset of supervision fees; the presentation said the fees had been scheduled to sunset Aug. 1, 2027, and that the legislature extended that date by two years (the transcript did not specify the revised year). Brewer reiterated that counties remain prohibited from increasing supervision fees during that postponement and must continue to waive fees for indigent clients as required by statute.

- MRRA and caseload uncertainty: MRRA creates the possibility of earned‑incentive releases from prison and supervision abatement, but Brewer cautioned that the effect on county caseloads is uncertain. She said some people may be released early from prison and therefore arrive on county caseloads; others may leave supervision early through abatement. Rice County expects to have a real‑time example in September when one person eligible for retroactive earned incentive release transfers from a state prison to county supervision.

- CSAC deliverables and quality assurance: upcoming statewide standards will require formal written case plans for medium‑ and high‑risk individuals, statewide risk assessment tool alignment, and peer review and reporting on staff EBP skills. Brewer said Rice County has invested in training and in‑house EBP trainers and had already reclassified two probation positions in 2025 to support a coaching approach, positioning the county to meet many new requirements.

- Juvenile out‑of‑home placement costs: Brewer showed a spike in 2024 placement spending driven by a small number of long placements and a large jump in average cost‑per‑day; she said Rice County placed 27 children in out‑of‑home placements in 2024 and that average daily placement cost in 2025 is roughly twice the 2023 level. Brewer told commissioners that counties have limited ability to control placement decisions made at arrest or detention and that families are generally not covering these placement costs under current state rules.

- Federal and state grant mitigation: Brewer outlined three federal grants supporting corrections services: an $800,000 Treatment Court Enhancement grant through BJA (expires Sept. 2027) that funds participant supports and operating costs; a $400,000 "Second Chance" grant (expires Sept. 2026) used to remove barriers to successful supervision including electronic monitoring and transportation; and a COSAP grant with roughly $300,000 unspent that the county has requested to extend so remaining funds can continue programs such as police assisted recovery and pre‑charge diversion assistance.

- Other fiscal pressures: Brewer said the Minnesota Paid Leave Act (effective Jan. 1) will add employer contribution costs, and that the state shift charging counties for the Department of Corrections interstate compact unit reduces county state subsidy before it is received. She also noted uncertainty about continued state reimbursement for costly psychosexual evaluations required in certain cases; Rice County plans to seek modification of its Second Chance grant to pay for those evaluations if necessary.

Brewer closed by urging commissioners to watch for MRRA implementation details and for any state requests that counties provide staff or programming inside state prisons to support earned‑credit programming; she said such a shift would strain local supervision capacity if counties were required to staff prison programming.