SF3731 (Legislative Session 94 (2025-2026))
Liability limitation of bystanders of drug-related overdoses
Related bill: HF3613
AI Generated Summary
Purpose
- The bill aims to encourage people to seek medical help during a drug-related overdose and to limit liability for bystanders and overdose responders.
- It also updates certain child welfare rules related to neglect.
Main Provisions
Update to neglect definitions (Minnesota Statutes 260E.03, Subdivision 15)
- Adds detailed criteria for neglect, including:
- Failure to provide basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, health care).
- Failure to protect a child from harm that seriously endangers health or safety.
- Failure to provide appropriate supervision or child care.
- Failure to ensure education.
- Prenatal exposure to a controlled substance or other related birth/early-life problems.
- Medical neglect; chronic and severe substance use by a caregiver (with a caveat for voluntary rehab).
- Emotional harm from ongoing behavior affecting a child’s emotional health.
- Includes protections for parents who rely on faith or spiritual means, and clarifies that not all difficult situations mean a child is neglected.
- Also notes situations where a child could be in a hospital or emergency department due to lack of available services, which should not automatically be treated as neglect.
Good Samaritan Overdose Medical Assistance (Minnesota Statutes 604A.05)
- Creates immunity for people who:
- Seek medical help for someone having a drug-related overdose, or
- Act in concert with someone seeking help.
- Immunities apply to possession, sharing, or use of controlled substances (within defined limits) and drug paraphernalia, with exceptions for certain crimes (excluded crimes).
- Immunities depend on:
- The arrest or charges arising from the overdose situation being tied to the aid-seeking or assistance, and
- The person provides a name/contact information, stays on scene, and cooperates with authorities.
- Excluded crimes: a list of serious offenses that do not qualify for immunity (for example, homicide, certain violent crimes, sex trafficking, some firearm offenses, and other listed crimes).
- Subdivision 2a adds bystander immunity: a bystander who helps or is present for an overdose also cannot be arrested or charged for possession of a controlled substance or drug paraphernalia, except for excluded crimes.
- Subdivision 3 protects people on probation, parole, or other release from being revoked for incidents that would be immune from prosecution.
- Subdivision 4 clarifies that immunity is not a blanket shield from all legal consequences; it can still be used as a mitigating factor in other prosecutions, and evidence from independent sources can still be used.
- Subdivision 5 defines drug-related overdose (same concept as used elsewhere in the bill).
- Subdivision 6 provides protections in housing, employment, licensing, education, and child welfare for people who have immunity. They cannot be punished or denied rights solely for conduct covered by the immunity, unless the person’s behavior has caused imminent danger to a child or others. Denial cannot be based only on the fact that someone sought help or was a bystander.
Revisor and numbering changes
- The bill directs the revisor to renumber some sections as part of the changes.
Significant Changes to Existing Law
- Expands immunity protections
- Adds broad Good Samaritan protections for overdose victims and bystanders for certain drug-related activities, encouraging people to seek help without fear of punishment for many non-violent drug offenses.
- Narrows access to immunity
- Immunity does not apply to a defined set of serious crimes (the excluded crimes list). This means some offenses remain prosecutable even in overdose situations.
- Integrates protections into daily life
- Extends immunity-related protections to housing, employment, licensing, education, and child custody, so immunity cannot be used to unfairly deny these opportunities solely because of conduct covered by the immunity (unless there is an imminent danger to a child or others).
- Updates child welfare standards
- Modernizes neglect definitions to reflect current concerns, including prenatal exposure and medical/educational expectations, with certain protections for faith-based choices and limited duties for those not legally responsible for a child.
- Maintains balance with other laws
- Keeps the possibility to use evidence from overdose events in other ongoing investigations, and clarifies that immunity does not remove all liability or completely shield other criminal activity discovered during the same incident.
Practical Implications
- Public health impact
- The bill is designed to reduce overdose deaths by removing fear of arrest for seeking help, which can save lives.
- Legal impact
- People who assist during overdoses and those who experience overdoses may avoid certain criminal charges, except for the excluded crimes.
- Job, housing, and school
- People with immunity protections should not be unfairly penalized in housing, licensing, or education because of their involvement in an overdose situation.
Relevant Terms - Good Samaritan Overdose Medical Assistance - immunity from arrest, charge, prosecution - bystander immunity - drug-related overdose - excluded crimes - possession of a controlled substance - drug paraphernalia - prenatal exposure to a controlled substance - fetal alcohol spectrum disorder - neglect (Minnesota Statutes 260E.03, Subd. 15) - medical neglect - chronic and severe substance use - education/school protections - housing protections - licensing protections - probation/parole pretrial release protections - emergency assistance and cooperation - rights and civil liability protections - mitigating factor in prosecutions - revisor instructions (renumbering)
Bill text versions
- Introduction PDF PDF file
Actions
| Date | Chamber | Where | Type | Name | Committee Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 23, 2026 | Senate | Action | Introduction and first reading | ||
| February 23, 2026 | Senate | Action | Referred to | Health and Human Services |
Citations
[
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "References the Good Samaritan Overdose Medical Assistance provisions; immunity from arrest, charge, and prosecution is discussed for individuals seeking medical help for overdoses.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "604A.05",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement section 260E.03 subdivision 15 is amended to define Neglect with enumerated criteria related to child welfare.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "260E.03",
"subdivision": "subdivision 15"
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Education definition referenced as part of neglect provisions.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "120A.22",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Education reference incorporates Minnesota Statutes 260C.163 subdivision 11 within neglect definitions.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "260C.163",
"subdivision": "subdivision 11"
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Prenatal exposure to a controlled substance defined in 253B.02 subdivision 2.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "253B.02",
"subdivision": "subdivision 2"
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Sympathomimetic medications referenced in the context of studying prenatal exposure, consistent with 125A.091 subdivision 2.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "125A.091",
"subdivision": "subdivision 2"
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Immunity provisions for possession of a controlled substance referenced within the Good Samaritan immunities.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "152.023",
"subdivision": "subdivision 2"
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Immunity provisions for possession of drug paraphernalia referenced.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "152.024",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Immunity provisions for possession of drug paraphernalia referenced.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "152.025",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Immunity protections under the act not to be denied by landlords under 504B.001 subdivision 7.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "504B.001",
"subdivision": "subdivision 7"
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Excluded crimes list affecting immunity, spanning from 609.18 to 609.2114.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.18 to 609.2114",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Continuation of excluded crimes range for immunity coverage.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.221 to 609.2241",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Continuation of excluded crimes list (cross-reference).",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.2242",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Sex and labor trafficking crimes excluded from immunity.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.281 to 609.284",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Sex crimes excluded from immunity.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.322",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Sex crimes continued in excluded list through 609.353.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.342 to 609.353",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Crimes against the family designated as excluded crimes.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.365",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Crimes against the family continued from 609.377 to 609.38.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.377 to 609.38",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Arson and related offenses listed within excluded crimes.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.561 to 609.5632",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Unlawful transfer of a firearm to a minor (609.66(4)) listed as an excluded crime.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.66 subdivision 4",
"subdivision": "subdivision 4"
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Violation of a restraining order (609.748(6)) listed as an excluded crime.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.748 subdivision 6",
"subdivision": "subdivision 6"
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Harassment and stalking crimes listed as excluded.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.749",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Criminal attempt included among excluded crimes.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.17",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Criminal conspiracy included among excluded crimes.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "609.175",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Driving while impaired in the first or second degree listed among excluded crimes.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "169A.24",
"subdivision": ""
},
{
"analysis": {
"added": [],
"removed": [],
"summary": "Driving while impaired in the first or second degree listed among excluded crimes.",
"modified": []
},
"citation": "169A.25",
"subdivision": ""
}
]Progress through the legislative process
In Committee