1.2relating to public safety; directing the commissioner of corrections to implement
1.3a gardening program at state correctional facilities;proposing coding for new
1.4law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 241.
1.5BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6    Section 1. [241.241] PRISON GARDENING PROGRAM.
1.7    Subdivision 1. Establishment. The commissioner shall establish a gardening
1.8program for inmates at each correctional facility where space and security allows
1.9for operation of a garden. The garden shall be primarily tended by inmates. The
1.10commissioner shall strive to raise produce that can be used to feed inmates in state
1.11correctional facilities. The commissioner shall donate any portion of the harvest that
1.12cannot be used to feed inmates to food shelves and charities located near the correctional
1.13facility where the produce was grown. The commissioner may sell, for profit, produce
1.14that cannot be donated.
1.15    Subd. 2. Report. The commissioner shall include the following information in the
1.16annual report to the legislature required under section 241.016:
1.17(1) the type and amount of produce raised in the gardening program;
1.18(2) the amount of the harvest used to feed inmates and the amount used for other
1.19purposes;
1.20(3) the amount of inmate time dedicated to the gardening program;
1.21(4) the cost savings to the department from using prison-grown food to feed inmates;
1.22and
1.23(5) the cost of operating the program.