The Public Safety and Judiciary Conference Committee on May 16 approved a package of policy items and adopted an overall spreadsheet and directed nonpartisan staff to prepare the conference committee report. The committee approved multiple amendments and provisions by voice votes. Key actions recorded in the hearing are listed below.

Votes at a glance (actions adopted in committee):

- Adoption of the A38 amendment (data-sharing controls): Chair Liebling moved adoption of the A38 amendment, described in committee as language to limit sharing of registries and lists of people with disabilities; the committee adopted the amendment on a voice vote.

- Adoption of Article II R5–R7 (Firefighting Service Study): Senator Seaburger moved and the committee adopted language requiring the State Fire Marshal to commission a third-party assessment of firefighting services in Minnesota, including incident analysis, staffing, recruitment/retention and training. Motion prevailed on voice vote.

- Adoption of Article 11 R12 as amended by A46 (portable recording / collision investigations): Senator Latz moved adoption of Article 11 R12, as amended by the A46 amendment. The amendment exempts the State Patrol from some disclosure requirements for unredacted portable recording system data and adds ‘‘guardrails’’ and notice requirements; committee adopted the section and amendment.

- Adoption of nonprofit security grants language (Article 2 R2/A40): Senator Westlund moved adoption of House/Senate language providing one-time funding ($125,000) for nonprofit security grants and a mechanism to process applications if FEMA does not fund an initiative; the committee adopted the language.

- Adoption of judges’ property-record protections and related privacy changes (House lines and A43 amendment): Representative Scott moved adoption of House language and the A43 amendment to expand protections for judicial officials’ personal data and to incorporate stakeholder changes (including clarifications about Department of Human Services appeals judges). The committee adopted the section and the amendment.

- Adoption of A39 (Stillwater decommissioning/closure plan): Chair Muller moved adoption of the A39 amendment with an oral change to move a study deadline from Dec. 31 to Sept. 30; the committee adopted the amendment. (See separate coverage for the Stillwater decommissioning language and stakeholder testimony.)

- Addition of a retired district court judge to a mandatory minimums task force: Chair Novotny offered an oral amendment to the task force membership to add a retired district court judge appointed by the chief justice; the committee adopted the amendment.

- Adoption of A45 / grant administration sunset language for certain DPS grants: Senator Latz moved the A45 amendment (synchronizing side-by-side language) and added a sunset provision that the authority in the subsection expires on 06/30/2027; the committee adopted the amendment.

- Deletion of ballistic-testing mandate from E-Trace language: Senator Latz moved to strike Senate language in Article 2 R24 (lines 27.21–27.25) that required ballistic testing of all expended shell casings for an E-Trace-related provision; the committee adopted the deletion to remove an unmanageable fiscal cost.

- Adoption of spreadsheet and direction to prepare conference committee report: Chairs moved and the committee adopted the agreed spreadsheet and directed nonpartisan staff to prepare the conference committee report and to make technical and conforming changes to reflect members’ intent.

Vote tallies: The transcript records voice votes and repeated "aye" responses; the committee recorded that each motion "prevails" or "motion prevails." The hearing transcript does not provide roll-call tallies for these actions; the committee adopted the motions and directed staff to prepare the formal report and appropriations articles.

What this means: The adopted language covers a range of public safety and judiciary issues: stronger controls on certain data-sharing, a statewide firefighter service study, clarified access rules and notice requirements around collision and portable recording system data, nonprofit security grant funding, privacy protections for judges’ real-property records, deletion of a costly ballistic-testing mandate, and steps toward decommissioning Stillwater with a required study and written plan. Committee chairs repeatedly asked for further consultation and updates on issues with substantial operational impacts, particularly the Stillwater plan.

Ending: Nonpartisan staff were instructed to prepare the formal conference committee report incorporating the adopted spreadsheet; chairs asked staff to make only technical and conforming changes. Committee members asked for continued updates on implementation items and signaled plans to continue policy work in future sessions.