Minn. Stat. § 241.75 (2026)
Inmate Health Care Decisions
Subdivision 1.Definitions.
(a) Except as provided in paragraph (b), the definitions in chapter 145C apply to this section.
(b) "Health care" means any care, treatment, service, or procedure to maintain, diagnose, or otherwise affect a person's physical or mental condition.
Subd. 2.Health care decisions.
The medical director of the Department of Corrections, or the medical director's designee, who must be a physician licensed under chapter 147, may make a health care decision for an inmate incarcerated in a state correctional facility or placed in an outside facility on conditional medical release if the inmate's attending physician determines that the inmate lacks decision-making capacity and:
(1) there is not a documented health care agent designated by the inmate or the health care agent is not reasonably available to make the health care decision;
(2) if there is a documented health care directive, the decision is consistent with that directive;
(3) the decision is consistent with reasonable medical practice and other applicable law; and
(4) the medical director has made a good faith attempt to consult with the inmate's next of kin or emergency contact person in making the decision, to the extent those persons are reasonably available.
Subd. 3.Disagreement regarding health care; guardianship petition.
If the medical director consults with an inmate's next of kin under subdivision 2, clause (4), and the inmate's next of kin and the medical director are not in agreement with respect to a health care decision, the commissioner may bring a petition under section 524.5-303 for appointment of a guardian with authority to make health care decisions for the inmate.