State agencies have submitted their preliminary requests for construction projects that they would like to see funded in preparation for a bonding bill during the 2012 legislative session

The cost of the Minnesota Sex Offender Program has grown dramatically in recent years. In 2004 the program for detaining the state’s most dangerous sex offenders cost just $20.4 million. By 2012 that figure is projected to rise above $70 million.

The Minnesota Sex Offender Program is slated to run out of space in 2013. That's in part because the civil commitment program for the state's most dangerous sexual predators has never successfully rehabilitated and released an offender.

Cal Ludeman, a former Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointee and current Secretary of the Senate, heavily edited a report to the Legislature on the state's sex-offender program, according to a report published Tuesday in the Star Tribune.

The Minnesota Sex Offender Program is running out of space -- again. The civil commitment program for sexual predators is seeking $7 million to renovate a facility in St. Peter and add 55 additional beds, according to a new report released by the Department of Human Services.

The Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) will delve into the state's sex offender treatment program in Moose Lake and St. Peter, K-12 online learning and Minnesota's environmental permitting procedure in upcoming evaluations.

A reconstituted Capital Investment conference committee will meet briefly at 6:00 this evening to approve a new bonding bill spreadsheet. Both House and Senate leadership are then hoping to pass the bill on the floor Thursday. Main change: some additional dollars for the state's sex offender detention facility in Moose Lake.

When we caught up with House Capital Investment chair Alice Hausman, DFL-St. Paul, after this morning's Finance Committee hearing, she summed up the continuing back-and-forth between the two sides this way: "I'm growing increasingly pessimistic over the chances that we will get to a point where the governor will sign a bonding bill without line-item vetoes. It's beginning to seem outside the realm of possibility."

Gov. Tim Pawlenty wants to double prison terms for the state's most serious sex offenders. Under a proposal unveiled by Pawlenty on Tuesday, individuals convicted of first degree criminal sexual conduct would face a presumptive sentence of 25 years in prison, up from 12 years under current guidelines.