Home for Good:
A Campaign to Expand
Early Release opportunities in MN
Work Release Campaign
No matter where we come from or what we look like, most Minnesotans believe that all people deserve dignity and a chance to make things right when things go wrong. Yet, in Minnesota, there are a handful of powerful and wealthy people who benefit from perpetually punishing folks for actions they took on their worst day. By coming together across race, place and background to expand MN Work Release, we can have thriving, restored communities. Minnesotans deserve to come home for good to work, live, go to school, and be with their families. We want to build communities that contribute to unity, dignity and safety for all.
What is the MRRA?
On August 1st, 2023, The MN Legislature passed the Minnesota Rehabilitation & Reinvestment Act (MRRA): a good time law allowing people to earn a 25% reduction in their prison time and a 33% reduction in their supervision time.
Unfortunately, the Department of Corrections has emphasized that no one will receive good time under the MRRA until January 2025, 17 months after the law goes into effect. This means that over 1300 people who may already have earned their good time will continue to be confined. The Commissioner has also been silent on implementing supervision reduction and retroactivity, where some 6700 people are currently on supervised release and could have earned shorter times. The Minnesota Rehabilitation and Reinvestment Act can provide opportunities for early release- if its implementation is not stifled by bureaucracy.
We can make our state safer, more connected, with less homelessness and violence -- while saving money -- but only if the DOC chooses to follow the law and brings our loved ones "home for good".
Key Facts and Data
- Allows people to earn up to a 25% reduction in prison time, 33% reduction in supervision
- Effective August 1, 2023
- Retroactive
- Incarcerated people earn “release credits” from a not-yet-clear “individualized plan” mandated for everyone by Jan 1, 2025 if they have 365+ days on their sentence
- Supervision reductions via “compliance credits”- 1 month for every 2 in compliance
- DOC won't implement until Jan 2025 -- this 17 month gap means over 1300 people who may already have earned their good time will not receive it.
- MN taxpayers pay $62,290.9/year for each person that is incarcerated.
- 38 states have similar earned release policies
- DOC data suggests that MRRA can reduce recidivism by ~35%
What is work release?
What is Work Release?
It is a Minnesota Law (Statute 244.065) that allows the Commissioner of Corrections to conditionally release incarcerated people to seek paid employment and participate in vocational or educational programs if they have served at least "one half their term of imprisonment."
Current program enrollment
194 people are currently enrolled--that's only 12% of those eligible to participate.
22.5%
1,632 people, or 22.5% of the MN prison population, meet WR criteria and have been assessed as low-risk.
Benefits of Work Release
Expanding Work Release is a no-brainer. It saves money while lowering crime and the impacts of mass incarceration on the community.
Eases Re-Entry
A 2014 MN DOC evaluation showed that participants in Work Release earned an additional $5,000 their first year out.
Reduces Recidivism
The same evaluation showed that the program reduced re-arrest, conviction, and incarceration rates by 15%.
Saves Taxpayer Money
Work release is less expensive than incarceration. For each person in Work Release, taxpayers save up to $16,086/year.
Campaign Demands
Personal Stories
Work Release in the News
MN DOC Policy Research
Supporting Work Release