ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Top administrators for Minnesota's sex offender treatment program say it lacks the staff and funding for regular evaluations and, that as a result, they don't know if some men confined for years still deserve to be held in high-security treatment centers.

The admission comes during the federal trial in a class-action lawsuit on behalf of more than 700 offenders who have been committed to the Minnesota Sex Offender Program indefinitely after finishing their prison terms. They say the program is unconstitutional because hardly anyone ever gets out and that the treatment is too often inadequate because of staff shortages and turnover.

The Star Tribune reports the program's executive director, Nancy Johnston, blames staff shortages, layers of bureaucracy and a lack of placement options in the community for the small number of treated offenders who have been released.

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