The Task Force was established by the Minnesota Supreme Court on March 16, 2005, to make recommendations as to how the Minnesota Judicial Branch can deal more effectively with persons with alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems who come before the Minnesota courts.
In particular, the Court directed the Task Force to:
1. Conduct background research on specific issues concerning AOD-dependent persons, and particularly AOD-related offenders, including:
- The current extent of the problem of AOD-dependent persons, and particularly AOD offenders, in the Minnesota Judicial Branch;
- The cost(s) of the problem and benefit(s) of proposed solutions;
- Identification and assessment of current judicial strategies to address the problem of AOD-dependent persons, and particularly AOD offenders, both in Minnesota and other states;
- Determination of the current and potential effectiveness of drug courts and other alternative approaches in Minnesota.
2. Conduct an inventory of current multi-agency, state-level AOD efforts in Minnesota as well as in other states, including:
- Identification of promising practices;
- Identification of gaps and redundancies.
3. Identify and recommend approaches, solutions, and opportunities for collaboration.
First Report (focusing specifically on AOD-related criminal and juvenile offenders):
Executive Summary
Full Report
Second Report (focusing on the overall impact of AOD problems across all case types):
Executive Summary
Full Report