Minnesota

Minn. Stat. § 260E.06 — Minnesota maltreatment-reporting statute

Clergy named as mandatory reporter?: Yes
Confessional exemption?: Yes

Statute: Minn. Stat. § 260E.06
Clergy named: Expressly
Pending: 2 (HF 4126)

Minnesota law expressly names clergy as mandatory reporters under Minn. Stat. § 260E.06, subd. 1(a)(2), but only when the information arrives while the clergy member is engaged in ministerial duties. The same clause carves a hole back through cross-reference: clergy are not required to report information that is privileged under Minn. Stat. § 595.02, subd. 1(c), which protects confessions and communications made for religious or spiritual advice. The legislature is currently considering HF 4126 and its Senate companion SF 4198, introduced in the 2025-2026 session and referred to committee on March 9, 2026. The bills broaden the clergy definition to reach unpaid lay ministers and remove a three-year temporal limit on the reporting trigger. They leave § 595.02, subd. 1(c) untouched. Minnesota is broadening who has to report while the door that has historically let clergy abuse stay confidential stays exactly where it is. This is the kind of half-measure UCO is built to surface state by state.

Section 01What needs to change

What needs to change in Minnesota.

Clergy expressly named, with a ministerial-duties qualifier
Section 260E.06, subd. 1(a)(2) lists 'a member of the clergy' among mandatory reporters, but only when the clergy member is 'employed as a member of the clergy and received the information while engaged in ministerial duties.' The qualifier matters: information learned in a personal friendship, a board meeting, or any other non-ministerial channel falls outside the duty as currently written. HF 4126 and SF 4198 would replace 'employed as' with 'serving as ... with or without financial compensation,' reaching unpaid lay ministers who fall outside the current definition.
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Privilege carveout preserved on the face of the reporting statute
Section 260E.06, subd. 1(a)(2) states that 'a member of the clergy is not required by this subdivision to report information that is otherwise privileged under section 595.02, subdivision 1, paragraph (c).' The privilege is preserved by direct cross-reference inside the mandatory-reporting statute itself, not by silence or by judicial reading. Section 595.02, subd. 1(c) covers confessions and communications made to clergy for religious or spiritual advice unless the protected person consents. The reform bills currently before the legislature do not touch this provision.
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Organizations cannot have policies that discourage reporting
Section 260E.06, subd. 1(c) bars any corporation, school, nonprofit organization, religious organization, facility, or similar entity from having policies, written or otherwise, that prevent or discourage a mandatory or voluntary reporter from making a maltreatment report. This provision reaches institutional suppression directly, separate from the individual reporting duty.
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Failure-to-report penalties tiered by harm
Section 260E.08 makes knowing failure to report a misdemeanor, escalates to a gross misdemeanor in specified circumstances, and reaches felony exposure where the unreported maltreatment involved substantial bodily harm. A separate misdemeanor applies to anyone who intentionally prevents or attempts to prevent a mandated reporter from making a report. HF 4126 and SF 4198 also amend § 260E.08 to conform penalties to the broader reporting trigger.
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Section 02What's needed

What it takes to close the gap.

Section 03Pending action

Bills in motion right now.

HF 4126committee
Mandatory reports of child maltreatment requirements modified; failure-to-report penalties modified
House bill in the 94th Legislature (2025-2026 session). The introduced text amends § 260E.06, subd. 1 and § 260E.08. It replaces 'employed as a member of the clergy' with 'serving as a member of the clergy or other minister of any religion, with or without financial compensation,' bringing unpaid lay ministers inside the reporting duty. It removes the three-year temporal limit on the reporting trigger. It preserves the § 595.02, subd. 1(c) clergy-penitent privilege carveout unchanged. Introduced and referred to House Children and Families Finance and Policy on March 9, 2026.
SponsorsRep. P. Johnson, Rep. Kozlowski, Rep. Zeleznikar
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SF 4198committee
Requirements for mandatory reports of child maltreatment modification
Senate companion to HF 4126 in the 94th Legislature (2025-2026 session). Same operative text: broadens the clergy reporter definition to cover paid and unpaid ministers, removes the three-year temporal limit, and retains the § 595.02, subd. 1(c) privilege carveout. Introduced and referred to Senate Health and Human Services on March 9, 2026.
SponsorsSen. Maye Quade, Sen. McEwen
View source ↗

Section 04How you can help

Concrete ways to support reform in Minnesota.

Donate

Donate.

Donations fund Minnesota-specific research, coalition outreach, and the work of pushing both the reporter definition and the privilege carveout in the same legislative session.

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Section 05Timeline

How Minnesota got here.

2024
St. Louis County Attorney memo recommends amending § 260E.06
Following a child sexual abuse prosecution involving a preacher who allegedly knew of maltreatment but did not report, the St. Louis County Attorney's Office issues a memo recommending amendments to § 260E.06 and § 260E.08 to broaden the clergy reporter definition and remove the three-year temporal limit. The memo lays the policy groundwork for the bills that follow.
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2026-03
HF 4126 and SF 4198 introduced
Companion bills introduced in the House and Senate on March 9, 2026 and referred to Children and Families Finance and Policy (House) and Health and Human Services (Senate). The bills broaden the clergy reporter definition and drop the three-year temporal limit while leaving the § 595.02 privilege carveout untouched.
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2026
HF 4126 and SF 4198 pending in committee
Both bills remain in their initial referral committees. No hearing date has been scheduled as of the most recent source verification.
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Section 06Background

Public-record sources UCO is tracking.

Always verify against the underlying statute or filing before quoting.

Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota Legislature· 2025
Minn. Stat. § 260E.06 — Persons mandated to report; persons voluntarily reporting
Principal mandatory-reporting statute. Subdivision 1(a)(2) names clergy as mandated reporters when engaged in ministerial duties and preserves the § 595.02, subd. 1(c) privilege carveout by direct cross-reference. Subdivision 1(c) prohibits institutional policies that discourage reporting.
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Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota Legislature· 2025
Minn. Stat. § 595.02, subd. 1(c) — Witness privilege; clergy
Privilege statute incorporated by § 260E.06's clergy carveout. Bars clergy from disclosing a confession or a communication made in the course of seeking religious or spiritual advice without the penitent's consent. The reform bills currently in committee do not amend this provision.
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Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota Legislature· 2026-03-09
HF 4126 — Bill status, 94th Legislature (2025-2026)
Official House bill page. Authored by Rep. P. Johnson, Kozlowski, and Zeleznikar. Identifies SF 4198 as the Senate companion. Records introduction and referral to Children and Families Finance and Policy on March 9, 2026.
View source ↗
Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota Legislature· 2026-03-09
SF 4198 — Bill status, 94th Legislature (2025-2026)
Official Senate bill page. Authored by Sen. Maye Quade and Sen. McEwen. Identifies HF 4126 as the House companion. Records introduction and referral to Health and Human Services on March 9, 2026.
View source ↗
St. Louis County (MN) Attorney's Office· 2024
Proposed Revisions to Minnesota Statutes Sections 260E.06 and .08
County prosecutor memo recommending the amendments that became HF 4126 and SF 4198. Drafted in the wake of a child sexual abuse prosecution involving a preacher who allegedly knew of maltreatment but did not report. Documents the policy push behind the broader clergy definition and the removal of the three-year temporal limit.
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Child Welfare Information Gateway, U.S. HHS Children's Bureau· 2023
Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect — Minnesota
Federal child-welfare law compilation. Independently confirms that Minnesota expressly names clergy as mandated reporters under § 260E.06 and that the § 595.02, subd. 1(c) privilege carveout is in force as an exemption from the reporting duty.
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Other states

Last reviewed May 21, 2026 · by Unheard Child Org research teamHow we track this