ST. PAUL -- Dru Sjodin's family received $300,000 from Minnesota taxpayers to compensate for the college student's death, but they say that even more important are stronger laws dealing with sex offenders like the one who killed her.
In a legal settlement that came to light this week, the state agreed to pay Sjodin's relatives $300,000, but admitted no wrongdoing in releasing Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. from state prison. Rodriguez sits on federal death row after being convicted in the University of North Dakota student's 2003 death.
"As a family, we held our heads up and stood up for Dru, and we felt the state needed to do that, too," the young woman's father, Allan Sjodin, said Tuesday after word about the settlement leaked out. "With this statement, with what Gov. [Tim] Pawlenty has said, with the laws they've enacted and some they're still pursuing, it's a clear indication that they recognize the fact they did screw up."
The agreement specifically says the state accepts no responsibility for Sjodin's death and forbids the family from suing the state. State officials refused to directly comment on the settlement, which was reached in June but kept quiet.
"We are hopeful that the settlement agreement between the state of Minnesota and the Dru Sjodin family brings some closure to this sad chapter in Minnesota history," state Corrections Commissioner Joan Fabian said in a statement. "I have expressed my sympathy to Dru's parents for their loss as well as my admiration for their steps to bring about positive change in response to Dru's untimely death."
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The process of keeping sex offenders locked up now is "more comprehensive, more thorough and analyzed from two perspectives," Deputy Corrections Commissioner Harley Nelson said.
Sjodin -- of Pequot Lakes, Minn. -- was 22 when she was kidnapped from a Grand Forks, N.D., mall parking lot on Nov. 22, 2003, about a half year after Rodriguez -- a Crookston, Minn., resident -- finished serving a sex-related prison term.
Sjodin's body was found near Crookston the following April. A federal jury last year convicted Rodriguez of killing her and sentenced him to death.
Sjodin's parents said the tighter laws -- which they have supported in state Capitol testimony -- are what they sought.
"As a family, we most wanted to force the state and federal governments to act against these criminals, to pass the appropriate legislation, properly fund it and make the legislation work," said Allan Sjodin, who lives near Park Rapids, Minn.
In 2004, members of Sjodin's family told Minnesota officials they planned to sue the state for more than $1 million because authorities should have kept Rodriguez locked up after his sentence ended.
The Rodriguez case convinced state leaders to get tough on sex offenders. Pawlenty ordered all serious sex offenders to be recommended for hospital commitment after prison within days of Sjodin's death.
Nelson and Corrections official Bill Donnay said other measures have been taken to deal with sex offenders, including:
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* Electronic tracking for many.
* More intense supervision after release from prison for some.
* Increased sex offender treatment and assessment of their danger to society.
* Longer sentences, including up to life without the chance of parole for the worst offenders.
* A Web site to let the public know about sex offenders who do not comply with requirements to keep the state informed about their whereabouts.
Don Davis works for Forum Communications Co., which owns the News Tribune.
