Committee reviews updated H.550 draft on gender‑identity rules for DOC; removes narrow volunteer ban for further policy work

The House Corrections and Institutions Committee spent its March 11 session line‑by‑line through draft 2.1 of H.550, the bill that would direct the Department of Corrections to treat people in its custody consistent with their gender identity, clarify nondiscrimination limits on placement decisions, and require targeted training for staff, contractors and volunteers.

Legislative counsel Hillary Cheddar, reading the committee draft, told members that the bill "reflects changes discussed during yesterday's testimony and changes discussed this morning" and that the draft intentionally places some policy elements in session law for later review. She read the bill's principal requirement: "The department shall ensure each individual is addressed in a manner consistent with the individual's gender identity." (Hillary Cheddar, legislative counsel.)

The committee focused much of its debate on how prescriptive the statute should be about volunteers, contractors and contractors who only infrequently enter facilities. Several lawmakers expressed concern that a subdivision stating volunteers "shall not consistently fail to use the gender pronoun and honorific an individual has specified" could create First Amendment tensions for clergy volunteers and other religiously‑motivated volunteers. Members discussed two approaches: keep a broad statutory principle and let DOC policy provide detailed rules, or keep more specific statutory prohibitions. After discussion, the committee directed staff to remove the most prescriptive volunteer language from subdivision 4 and rely on the broader principle while preserving other statutory protections.

Josh Geruthford, facilities division deputy director, told the committee DOC would prefer to hold volunteers to standards generally but noted a religious‑belief exception could require careful legal handling. "I do have concerns about simply striking volunteers entirely, because we would want to hold all volunteers to this standard unless there was a specific reason around the religious sincerely held religious belief where we felt we put it," Geruthford said. (Josh Geruthford, facilities division deputy director.)

On housing and classification, the draft creates a new Section 701c requiring DOC to ask transgender, gender‑diverse and intersex inmates, "during the initial intake process and in as private a setting as possible," for their housing placement request and to route placement questions through the department's existing multidisciplinary review panels. The committee debated two drafting options for weighing those requests: require DOC to give an inmate's request "serious consideration" and permit denial only when accommodation would pose an unreasonable safety or security risk; or list a set of factors for DOC to consider (request, inmate health and safety, safety of others, facility operations). Members favored a blended approach that gives clear weight to an inmate's request while enumerating relevant factors.

The bill would also require DOC to provide a written explanation when it decides it cannot accommodate a housing request. Counsel read proposed statutory language that DOC must "document in writing a specific reason the department is unable to accommodate the inmate's classification or housing placement request." Committee members pressed that a single checkbox on a form would not meet the intent; they sought substantive, non‑generic reasons tied to safety, security, institutional history or other evidence.

On searches, the committee added session‑law language directing DOC to submit a revised search policy to the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee by August 1, 2026, for review and potential statutory recommendations. Cheddar said the date could be adjusted if DOC suggested an earlier or later deadline; members discussed August 1 and August 15 as operationally realistic targets.

The committee also folded PREA‑consistent language into the bill, including a provision that would bar placing a transgender, gender‑diverse or intersex inmate in segregation "solely based on the inmate's gender identity or status," and it asked DOC to consider an inmate's perception of health and safety when making bed‑assignment and programming decisions.

No formal floor action or final vote was recorded in the transcript. Members directed counsel to prepare a revised draft incorporating the committee's decisions; the committee scheduled additional testimony for the next day (including medical testimony) and signaled plans for further line‑by‑line review before any potential floor action. The draft sets the bill's effective date at July 1, 2026.

The committee also noted conforming, non‑substantive changes to Title 28 definitions and asked DOC to confirm federal PREA reporting dates so internal reporting timelines align. The committee closed by urging members to read the new draft carefully before reconvening.