Minnesota Manslaughter Laws: Degrees and Vehicular Homicide (2026)

Minnesota divides manslaughter into two degrees. Manslaughter in the first degree (Minn. Stat. 609.20) is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $30,000, or both, and its five forms include an intentional killing "in the heat of passion"; manslaughter in the second degree (Minn. Stat. 609.205) is punishable by up to 10 years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both, and its main form is causing a death by "culpable negligence." Deaths caused by operating a motor vehicle fall under a separate felony, criminal vehicular homicide (Minn. Stat. 609.2112), which reaches deaths "not constituting murder or manslaughter."

For the rules in other states, see our guide to manslaughter laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-17. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers the Minnesota statutes on homicide below murder: manslaughter in the first and second degree (Minn. Stat. 609.20 and 609.205), criminal vehicular homicide and its definitions (609.2111, 609.2112), the unborn-child offenses (609.2114, 609.2664, 609.2665, 609.268), fleeing a peace officer (609.487), reckless driving or racing that causes death (169.13), leaving the scene of a fatal collision (169.09), and the sentencing and licence rules tied to them. It does not cover murder sentencing (see how long a life sentence is in Minnesota and our overview of murder sentencing guidelines), self-defense (see Minnesota self-defense laws), civil lawsuits by surviving family (see Minnesota wrongful death law), or federal offenses, which the manslaughter laws hub covers.

What is manslaughter in Minnesota?

Minnesota numbers its manslaughter offenses by degree rather than calling them voluntary or involuntary. Manslaughter in the first degree applies to anyone who does any of the following (Minn. Stat. 609.20):

• (1) Heat of passion. "intentionally causes the death of another person in the heat of passion provoked by such words or acts of another as would provoke a person of ordinary self-control under like circumstances, provided that the crying of a child does not constitute provocation."
• (2) Assault or lesser-crime deaths. Violates section 609.224 and causes the death of another, or causes a death while committing or attempting a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor "with such force and violence that death of or great bodily harm to any person was reasonably foreseeable, and murder in the first or second degree was not committed thereby."
• (3) Coercion. Intentionally causes a death "because the actor is coerced by threats made by someone other than the actor's coconspirator and which cause the actor reasonably to believe that the act performed by the actor is the only means of preventing imminent death to the actor or another."
• (4) Schedule III, IV or V drug deaths. "proximately causes the death of another, without intent to cause death by, directly or indirectly, unlawfully selling, giving away, bartering, delivering, exchanging, distributing, or administering a controlled substance classified in Schedule III, IV, or V."
• (5) Malicious punishment of a child. Causes a death while committing or attempting malicious punishment of a child (section 609.377), "and murder in the first, second, or third degree is not committed thereby."

Manslaughter in the second degree covers a person who causes the death of another by any of five means (Minn. Stat. 609.205):

"(1) by the person's culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to another; or (2) by shooting another with a firearm or other dangerous weapon as a result of negligently believing the other to be a deer or other animal; or (3) by setting a spring gun, pit fall, deadfall, snare, or other like dangerous weapon or device; or (4) by negligently or intentionally permitting any animal, known by the person to have vicious propensities or to have caused great or substantial bodily harm in the past, to run uncontrolled off the owner's premises, or negligently failing to keep it properly confined; or (5) by committing or attempting to commit a violation of section 609.378 (neglect or endangerment of a child), and murder in the first, second, or third degree is not committed thereby." Minn. Stat. 609.205

The section adds that, if proven by a preponderance of the evidence, "it shall be an affirmative defense to criminal liability under clause (4) that the victim provoked the animal to cause the victim's death."

Minnesota manslaughter and homicide offenses at a glance

Each of these sections sets its own maximum term and fine, and Minn. Stat. 609.02 subd. 2 defines a felony as "a crime for which a sentence of imprisonment for one year or more may be imposed." The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines then rank each offense by severity level, as described below. Our guide to how Minnesota sentences each felony explains the wider system.

Is manslaughter a felony in Minnesota, and what is the sentence?

Yes. Every form of first- and second-degree manslaughter and of criminal vehicular homicide is a felony, because each carries a statutory maximum of 10 years or more, well over the one-year line in Minn. Stat. 609.02 subd. 2. The maximums are ceilings: up to 15 years for manslaughter in the first degree, up to 10 years for manslaughter in the second degree, and up to 10 or 15 years for criminal vehicular homicide.

Sentencing Guidelines severity levels

The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Offense Severity Reference Table (section 5.A) places the manslaughter and vehicular homicide offenses at these levels. The durations shown are the grid figures (section 4.A) for a person with a criminal history score of 0; the grid sets different durations at other criminal history scores, and these are guideline durations, not statutory minimums. At severity levels 8 and 9 the Grid presumes a commitment to prison. At severity level 5 with a criminal history score of 0 it presumes a stayed sentence, under which the court may impose up to 364 days of confinement and other sanctions as conditions of probation; the Guidelines add that certain offenses in that part of the Grid always carry a presumptive prison commitment (sections 2.C and 2.E).

An executed prison sentence has two parts: a minimum term of imprisonment equal to two-thirds of the total executed sentence and a supervised release term equal to the remaining one-third (Minn. Stat. 244.101, as described in Guidelines section 4.A).

Weapon mandatory minimums

Minn. Stat. 609.11 subd. 9 lists "manslaughter in the first or second degree" among the offenses carrying mandatory minimum sentences. Under subdivision 5(a), a defendant convicted of a listed offense "in which the defendant or an accomplice, at the time of the offense, had in possession or used, whether by brandishing, displaying, threatening with, or otherwise employing, a firearm, shall be committed to the commissioner of corrections for not less than three years, nor more than the maximum sentence provided by law."

The firearm minimum is five years for a second or subsequent offense (subd. 5(a)). Where a dangerous weapon other than a firearm was used, the minimum is one year and one day, and three years for a second or subsequent offense (subd. 4). On the prosecutor's motion or its own, the court may sentence without regard to these minimums if it finds substantial and compelling reasons, unless the defendant has a prior conviction for a listed offense in which the defendant used or possessed a firearm or other dangerous weapon (subd. 8).

Repeat violent offenders

Manslaughter in either degree, criminal vehicular homicide and the unborn-child manslaughter offenses are "violent crimes" under Minn. Stat. 609.1095 subd. 1(d). A person convicted of a violent crime that is a felony, whom the court finds has two or more prior felony convictions for violent crimes, must receive a prison sentence of at least the presumptive Guidelines length, and the court "shall impose and execute the prison sentence regardless of whether the guidelines presume an executed prison sentence" (subd. 3). When the judge is imposing an executed sentence based on a presumptive prison sentence under the Guidelines, the judge may also depart upward to the statutory maximum for an offender at least 18 with two or more prior violent-crime convictions whom the fact finder determines is a danger to public safety (subd. 2), or where the fact finder determines the offender has five or more prior felony convictions and the offense was part of a pattern of criminal conduct (subd. 4).

Crimes committed for the benefit of a gang

If a felony is committed for the benefit of a criminal gang under Minn. Stat. 609.229, "the statutory maximum for the crime is five years longer than the statutory maximum for the underlying crime," and ten years longer if the victim is a child under the age of 18 (subd. 3(a)).

Voluntary and involuntary manslaughter in Minnesota

Minnesota's statutes do not use the labels voluntary and involuntary manslaughter. Readers looking for those terms will find the closest matches here:

• What other states call voluntary manslaughter, an intentional killing in the heat of passion, is manslaughter in the first degree under 609.20(1). The coercion form, 609.20(3), is also an intentional killing.
• What other states call involuntary manslaughter, an unintended death caused by a dangerous lack of care, is mainly manslaughter in the second degree by culpable negligence under 609.205(1). Several deaths the statute does not describe as intentional are first degree instead: deaths from an assault under section 609.224 or a forceful misdemeanor (609.20(2)), Schedule III to V drug deaths (609.20(4)) and malicious punishment of a child (609.20(5)).

What culpable negligence means

The definitions section of the criminal code, Minn. Stat. 609.02, does not define "culpable negligence," "gross negligence" or "recklessly." The meaning comes from the courts. In State v. Frost, 342 N.W.2d 317 (Minn. 1983), the Minnesota Supreme Court explained the mental state for second-degree manslaughter:

"As Zupetz indicates, second-degree manslaughter under section 609.205(1) involves an element of awareness of the risk by the defendant. Stated differently, the statute requires proof of an objective element and a subjective element, the objective element being gross negligence and the subjective element being recklessness in the form of an actual conscious disregard of the risk created by the conduct." State v. Frost, 342 N.W.2d 317 (Minn. 1983)

The court affirmed the conviction. It held that the trial court's instructions, which described culpable negligence as "gross negligence coupled with an element of recklessness," could have better informed the jury of the awareness-of-risk element but were not such as to require a new trial.

Can a killing be reduced from murder to manslaughter in Minnesota?

Minnesota's statute does not describe heat of passion as a reduction of a murder charge. It defines an intentional killing in the heat of passion as its own offense, manslaughter in the first degree, under 609.20(1). The provocation must come from "such words or acts of another as would provoke a person of ordinary self-control under like circumstances," and the section sets two limits:

• "the crying of a child does not constitute provocation"; and
• "As used in this section, a 'person of ordinary self-control' does not include a person under the influence of intoxicants or a controlled substance."

The panic-defense ban

2024 Minnesota Laws, chapter 123, article 6, sections 5 and 6, added two parallel rules. Minn. Stat. 609.075 subd. 2 provides:

"It is not a defense to a crime that the defendant acted based on the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression." Minn. Stat. 609.075 subd. 2

Minn. Stat. 609.06 subd. 4 adds that force "may not be used against another based on the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression." Both sections took effect August 1, 2024, and apply to crimes committed on or after that date. Self-defense rules are covered on our Minnesota self-defense laws page.

Criminal vehicular homicide and DUI deaths in Minnesota

Minnesota has no offense named DUI manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter or vehicular homicide. A death caused by driving is criminal vehicular homicide under Minn. Stat. 609.2112 subd. 1 when the person "causes the death of a human being not constituting murder or manslaughter as a result of operating a motor vehicle" in one of these ways:

1. "in a grossly negligent manner";
2. "in a negligent manner while under the influence of" alcohol, a controlled substance, "cannabis flower, a cannabis product, a lower-potency hemp edible, a hemp-derived consumer product, artificially derived cannabinoids, or tetrahydrocannabinols," or any combination of those elements;
3. "while having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more";
4. "while having an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, as measured within two hours of the time of driving";
5. "in a negligent manner while under the influence of an intoxicating substance and the person knows or has reason to know that the substance has the capacity to cause impairment";
6. in a negligent manner while any amount of a Schedule I or II controlled substance or its metabolite is present in the person's body, "other than cannabis flower, a cannabis product, a lower-potency hemp edible, a hemp-derived consumer product, artificially derived cannabinoids, or tetrahydrocannabinols";
7. "where the driver who causes the collision leaves the scene of the collision in violation of section 169.09, subdivision 1 or 6"; or
8. where the death results from a vehicle defect after a peace officer previously cited or warned the person about it.

Under subdivision 2, it is an affirmative defense to a charge under clause (6) "that the defendant used the controlled substance according to the terms of a prescription issued for the defendant in accordance with sections 152.11 and 152.12."

The penalty is up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both. Under subdivision 1(b), "If a person is sentenced under paragraph (a) for a violation under paragraph (a), clauses (2) to (6), occurring within ten years of a qualified prior driving offense, the statutory maximum sentence of imprisonment is 15 years." A qualified prior driving offense includes a prior conviction for impaired driving under section 169A.20 "under the circumstances described in section 169A.24 or 169A.25," and a prior conviction under clauses (2) to (6) of criminal vehicular homicide, among other listed convictions (Minn. Stat. 609.2111(e)).

Boats, snowmobiles and aircraft

For criminal vehicular homicide, "motor vehicle" has the meaning in section 609.52 and includes attached trailers (Minn. Stat. 609.2111(b)). Section 609.52 defines it as "a self-propelled device for moving persons or property or pulling implements from one place to another, whether the device is operated on land, rails, water, or in the air." The older snowmobile and boat impaired-operation sections, 84.91 and 86B.331, were repealed in 2021 (1Sp2021 c 6 art 3 s 13). Operating an aircraft under the influence under Minn. Stat. 360.0752 is a gross misdemeanor and has no form graded by a death.

Manslaughter charges for driving deaths

The manslaughter sections also apply to deaths caused by driving: the licence-revocation statute refers to "manslaughter resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle under section 609.20 or 609.205" (Minn. Stat. 171.17 subd. 1(a)(1)).

Driver's licence revocation

Minn. Stat. 171.17 subd. 1(a) provides that "The commissioner must immediately revoke the license of a driver upon receiving a record of the driver's conviction of" offenses that include manslaughter resulting from the operation of a motor vehicle, "criminal vehicular homicide or injury under section 609.2112, 609.2113, or 609.2114," a violation of section 169A.20 or 609.487, and failure to stop and render aid under section 169.09 after a crash "resulting in the death or personal injury of another." For impaired-driving penalties when no one dies, see Minnesota DUI laws.

Reckless driving or racing

Reckless driving and racing are misdemeanors, but a person who drives recklessly or races "and causes great bodily harm or death to another is guilty of a gross misdemeanor" (Minn. Stat. 169.13 subd. 1(c)), punishable by up to 364 days, a fine of up to $3,000, or both (Minn. Stat. 609.03(2)).

Leaving the scene and fleeing police

Leaving the scene. The penalty depends on who caused the collision. A driver who caused it and leaves the scene in violation of section 169.09 subd. 1 or 6 falls under clause (7) of criminal vehicular homicide, up to 10 years. A driver "who violates subdivision 1 or 6 and who did not cause the collision" is guilty of a felony when "the collision results in the death of another," punishable by up to 3 years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both (Minn. Stat. 169.09 subd. 14(a)(1)). Our Minnesota hit-and-run laws page covers the driver's duties.

Fleeing a peace officer. Under Minn. Stat. 609.487 subd. 4, a person "who in the course of fleeing in a motor vehicle or subsequently by other means causes the death of a human being not constituting murder or manslaughter" may be sentenced, if the course of fleeing results in death, "to imprisonment for not more than 40 years or to payment of a fine of not more than $80,000, or both." On conviction, "the court shall notify the commissioner of public safety and order the commissioner to revoke the driver's license of the person" (subd. 5).

Other homicide offenses below murder

Unborn victims. Minnesota has a separate ladder of offenses for the death of an unborn child. Manslaughter of an unborn child in the first degree (Minn. Stat. 609.2664) is punishable by up to 15 years, a fine of up to $30,000, or both, and its first form covers a person who "intentionally causes the death of an unborn child in the heat of passion provoked by such words or acts of another as would provoke a person of ordinary self-control under like circumstances." Manslaughter of an unborn child in the second degree (Minn. Stat. 609.2665), up to 10 years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both, covers a death caused "by the actor's culpable negligence whereby the actor creates an unreasonable risk and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm to an unborn child or a person," along with forms for shooting the mother in the belief she is a deer, spring guns and snares, and a known vicious animal. Causing the death of an unborn child in the commission of a felony, or in a violation of one of the assault and vulnerable-adult sections it lists (609.224, 609.2242, 609.23, 609.231, 609.2325 or 609.233), is a separate felony under Minn. Stat. 609.268 subd. 1, up to 15 years, a fine of up to $30,000, or both; for this offense, "felony" does not include the homicide, assault and unborn-child sections the subdivision excludes. The ladder also has three murder offenses (609.2661 to 609.2663), with sentences of life, up to 40 years and up to 25 years; murder is outside this page.

Drug deaths. A death caused by unlawfully selling or giving a Schedule III, IV or V controlled substance is manslaughter in the first degree (609.20(4)). A death caused the same way with a Schedule I or II substance is graded as murder in the third degree under Minn. Stat. 609.195(b); see our overview of murder laws in the United States.

Child deaths. A death caused while committing malicious punishment of a child is manslaughter in the first degree (609.20(5)), and a death caused by child neglect or endangerment under section 609.378 is manslaughter in the second degree (609.205(5)), in each case where a higher degree of murder is not committed.

Hunting, traps and animals. The second-degree manslaughter statute covers negligently shooting someone believed to be a deer or other animal, setting a spring gun or similar device, and letting a known vicious animal run uncontrolled (609.205(2) to (4)).

Other offenses graded by a resulting death

• Criminal abuse of a vulnerable adult, Minn. Stat. 609.2325 subd. 3(1): if the act results in the death of a vulnerable adult, up to 15 years, a fine of up to $30,000, or both.
• Riot first degree, Minn. Stat. 609.71 subd. 1: a riot in which a death results, for a participant armed with a dangerous weapon, up to 20 years, a fine of up to $35,000, or both.
• Adulteration causing death, Minn. Stat. 609.687 subd. 3(1): up to 40 years, a fine of up to $100,000, or both.
• Labor trafficking resulting in death, Minn. Stat. 609.282 subd. 1: where the death was proximately caused by the trafficking conduct and murder in the first or second degree was not committed, up to 25 years, a fine of up to $40,000, or both.
• Reporting a fictitious emergency resulting in death or great bodily harm, Minn. Stat. 609.78 subd. 2a(1): up to 10 years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both.
• Failing to aid a person shot by the actor who dies or suffers great bodily harm, Minn. Stat. 609.662 subd. 2(b)(1): up to 2 years, a fine of up to $4,000, or both.
• Aiding suicide, Minn. Stat. 609.215 subd. 1: intentionally assisting another in taking the other's own life, up to 15 years, a fine of up to $30,000, or both. The revisor's note to the section states that the words "advises" and "encourages" were severed as unconstitutional in State v. Melchert-Dinkel, 844 N.W.2d 13 (Minn. 2014).

Recent changes

• August 1, 2023: 2023 Minnesota Laws, chapter 63, article 4, rewrote the impairment wording of criminal vehicular homicide (609.2112) to name cannabis flower, cannabis products, lower-potency hemp edibles, hemp-derived consumer products, artificially derived cannabinoids and tetrahydrocannabinols, and made matching changes in 609.2111, 609.2113 and 609.2114. The penalties did not change. The new wording applies to crimes committed on or after August 1, 2023.
• August 1, 2024: 2024 Minnesota Laws, chapter 123, article 6, sections 5 and 6, added the panic-defense ban in 609.06 subd. 4 and 609.075 subd. 2, for crimes committed on or after that date.
• 2025 and 2026 sessions: no act of either session amended 609.20, 609.205 or 609.2111 to 609.2114.

Federal law, 18 U.S.C. 1112, separately covers manslaughter on federal land and in other federal jurisdictions; the manslaughter laws hub explains it.

Related pages

• Manslaughter laws by state
• Minnesota felony and misdemeanor classes
• Minnesota DUI laws
• Minnesota hit-and-run laws
• The difference between first, second and third degree manslaughter
• Wisconsin manslaughter laws
• Iowa manslaughter laws

This article provides general legal information about Minnesota law as of 2026-10-17. It is not legal advice. For a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Minnesota.

Last updated: 2026-10-17.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is manslaughter a felony in Minnesota?

Yes. Manslaughter in the first degree carries up to 15 years (Minn. Stat. 609.20) and manslaughter in the second degree up to 10 years (609.205), and Minn. Stat. 609.02 subd. 2 defines a felony as a crime for which imprisonment of one year or more may be imposed.

What is the sentence for first-degree manslaughter in Minnesota?

Up to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $30,000, or both (Minn. Stat. 609.20). Under the Sentencing Guidelines, clauses (1), (2) and (5) are severity level 9 and clauses (3) and (4) are severity level 8.

What is the sentence for second-degree manslaughter in Minnesota?

Up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both (Minn. Stat. 609.205). The culpable-negligence and child-neglect forms are severity level 8 under the Sentencing Guidelines; the hunting, trap and animal forms are level 5, where with a criminal history score of 0 the Guidelines presume a stayed sentence.

Does Minnesota have voluntary and involuntary manslaughter?

Not by those names. An intentional killing in the heat of passion is manslaughter in the first degree (609.20(1)), and a death caused by culpable negligence is manslaughter in the second degree (609.205(1)).

What is the charge for a DUI death in Minnesota?

Minnesota has no offense named DUI manslaughter. A death caused by negligent impaired driving or by driving with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, where it does not constitute murder or manslaughter, is criminal vehicular homicide under Minn. Stat. 609.2112: up to 10 years, or up to 15 years within 10 years of a qualified prior driving offense.

Is a heat-of-passion killing manslaughter in Minnesota?

Yes, when the person intentionally causes the death in the heat of passion provoked by words or acts that would provoke a person of ordinary self-control under like circumstances (609.20(1)). The crying of a child is not provocation, and a person under the influence of intoxicants or a controlled substance is not a person of ordinary self-control.

Is selling drugs that cause a death manslaughter in Minnesota?

For a Schedule III, IV or V controlled substance, causing a death without intent to cause death by unlawfully selling or giving it is manslaughter in the first degree (609.20(4)). For a Schedule I or II substance, the same conduct is murder in the third degree (609.195(b)).

Does Minnesota ban the gay or trans panic defense?

Yes, for crimes committed on or after August 1, 2024. Minn. Stat. 609.075 subd. 2 provides that acting based on the discovery of, knowledge about or potential disclosure of the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression is not a defense to a crime.