ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Lawmakers are reacting skeptically to the prospect that two violent sex offenders could be released from a state treatment program.

Officials with the Minnesota Sex Offender Program testified before a House public safety panel Tuesday, fielding questions on the offenders whose petitions for provisional discharge are working their way through the legal process.

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Program director Dennis Benson declined to name them, but court files identify them as John Rydberg and Thomas Duvall.

Public Safety Committee Chairman Tony Cornish says he has been hearing from constituents who can't believe either could get out.

The Republican from Good Thunder says he's satisfied that the sex offender program has never released anyone.

The program now has 605 offenders committed by the courts to treatment after prison.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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