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Committee hears bill to require sufficient naloxone in prisons; bill laid over pending fiscal note
Summary
House File 1399 would require the Department of Corrections to maintain ample naloxone (Narcan) supplies and staff training; witnesses described multiple overdose events in prisons and jails and DOC said it already uses mail‑screening contractors and supplies naloxone but may need funding.
The committee heard House File 1399, a bill that would require the Department of Corrections to stock sufficient naloxone (Narcan) in state correctional facilities and to train staff and incarcerated people to recognize opioid overdoses. Members laid the bill over pending submission of a fiscal note.
Vice Chair Witte, the bill sponsor, said the measure would ensure “ample number of doses in each facility” after recent incidents in which staff required multiple doses to revive people. Will Cooley, policy director at the Minnesota Justice Research Center, testified that naloxone and medication-assisted treatment at correctional intake and the pre-release transition reduce overdose deaths and support continuity of care.
Commissioner Paul Snell of the Department of Corrections said DOC currently provides naloxone to facilities and has operationalized mail screening and other measures. He noted DOC had procured a third-party contractor to receive and scan mail, which he saidcorrelated with roughly a two‑thirds reduction in suspected facility intoxications. Snell told the committee DOC has been using grant funds to supply naloxone and that the department would need stable funding if the statutory requirement is enacted.
Members asked how many doses would be appropriate; Vice Chair Witte and others said they would defer to DOC to set facility-level inventories but emphasized that some incidents have required multiple doses and facilities may need higher stocks. Representative Bream noted a prior 2023 law requiring two doses of naloxone in every public and charter school and asked whether two doses are sufficient in corrections. Members also asked whether probation officers outside facilities should carry naloxone; DOC indicated that would require additional statutory language.
Ending: Committee laid House File 1399 over while awaiting a fiscal note and additional discussion of inventory levels and funding sources.
