History

In 1997, WATCH (a nonprofit court monitoring organization) identified gaps in how domestic violence cases were handled and learned about the emerging Domestic Fatality Review model. In 1998, it received a $25,000 state grant to explore creating a review team in Hennepin County.

An Advisory Board and multi-agency Planning Committee developed the framework and proposed legislation to create and fund a pilot, which passed during the 1999 session.

The Advisory Board returned to the legislature during the 2000 session to pursue the data privacy and immunity provisions. The legislation passed and became effective on August 1, 2000.

In 2004, the State Legislature granted an extension to these provisions until June 2006. These provisions were extended and made permanent in 2009, expanding the opportunity to develop a Fatality Review Team to all Judicial Districts in Minnesota with Statute 611A.203.