Corrections Courses

Basic Criminal Law & Procedures (2025 Version)

Corrections and law enforcement staff are an essential element of an effective criminal justice system.  This “Basic Criminal Law and Procedure” course will address basic concepts and definitions in the criminal law as well as elements of the constitution and rules of procedures.

This two-hour course will address constitutional elements, including the United States and the Minnesota Constitution.  Procedural requirements and the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure as well as state statutes will be covered.  We will look at the workflow of a case and how it works within the criminal justice system, including what a 36-Hour Rule and a 48-Hour Rule mean. Mental Illness and the criminal court system will be addressed as well as victim rights.

Basic Data Practices For Corrections (2025 Version)

Corrections staff routinely collects receives and distributes a great amount of information about inmates. This data is protected and regulated by state and federal laws. Violation of these laws by giving out too little or too much data can result in major civil liability to the officer and the agency and in some cases can lead to loss of employment and even criminal prosecution.

This two-hour course will address data practices issues, starting with a general overview of Data Practices laws and moving into specific information on corrections data. This basic, or introductory, course covers the terms and definitions of data practices and discusses in depth the special status of data in correctional facilities, security issues and other legal safeguards.

Please note:  the first section of this course is a basic introductory course on data practices. The second section of this course deals specifically with corrections and detention data.

Basic Medication Delivery

The Basic Medication Delivery course is an introductory course for correctional officers learning about medication delivery in the correctional setting.  It will feature the rights of medication delivery, the officer’s role in passing medications in their facility, as well as basic information on diabetes, Narcan, and epinephrine.  This course is intended to provide an overview, with individual facility policies providing more detailed and specific information as well as expectations for officers to be successful in medication delivery in their facility.

Correctional Health Nursing Basics

The primary duty of an RN is corrections is to restore and maintain the health of inmates using compassion, concern, and professionalism (Schonely & Know, 2013.)  This three-hour course provides basic information to assist the new correctional nurse in his or her role. In this course, correctional nurses in Minnesota share relevant information regarding nursing in a jail including:  standards of practice, common terms, jail policies, state rules, the environment, boundaries, your safety, onboarding, trainings, health conditions, infectious diseases, and mental health screenings.

Cultural Diversity And Multi-Cultural Communication In A Corrections Setting

This course is designed for both new correctional officers and those wanting a refresher.  This course is designed to help us understand and appreciate some of the cultural differences of those incarcerated.  Community members and correctional officers shared with us their background, experiences and thoughts on cultural diversity.

Implicit Bias for Corrections

This course is an adaptation of the MSA’s Implicit Bias course.  The original course was amended to include relevant correctional information.  

The material in this course will be thought provoking and not everyone will agree with all parts of this training.  That too is part of the training.   It is suggested that students with questions about the content of this course seek additional understanding with their sheriff, police chief or director of training for their agency.

Note: This course is not POST approved.

Incarcerated Parents Part 1: How Trauma Disrupts Child Development

This course is focused on the basics of child development and how adversity and trauma can disrupt optimal child development.

Incarcerated Parents Part 2: Developmental Considerations

This module focuses on applying the content from Part 1 and highlights developmental considerations for jail staff and jail administrators.

Introduction To PREA (2025 Version)

This module is designed to help learners understand what the PREA (Prison Rape Elimination Act) is.

It covers the history of why a law was needed; how you recognize and respond to sexual abuse and how you protect those in your care.  This course also addresses staff misconduct and allegations regarding sexual misconduct.

Report Writing

This module is designed to instruct officers in basics concepts of writing clear, concise, and professional reports.

Suicide Awareness & Prevention

This module will increase suicide awareness and give tools to corrections staff to recognize, reduce, and prevent suicides in jail.  This eLearning course covers crisis situations, manipulation, communication skills, suicide prevention screening guidelines and techniques to help the staff recognize suicidal inmates.  Legal staff will also cover what the expectations are of the staff in preventing suicides in their facility.