ST. PAUL (AP) - Minnesota says it will move up to a dozen low-functioning and medically needy sex offenders to a less secure setting if a court approves.

The announcement comes as state Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson faces legal pressure to reform the two-decade-old sex offender program.

Jesson says the proposed move represents "steps to reform the program."

Several residents in the program are suing the state, claiming it violates their constitutional rights because no one ever gets released from the two high-security facilities in Moose Lake and St. Peter.

Jesson proposes moving some offenders who are intellectually disabled or with serious medical needs to the state facility in Cambridge.

She says if the court approves, the offenders would start moving in the summer or fall of 2014.

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