piers109uk/MN-Statutes huggingface dataset:
13.89 DISSEMINATION OF DATA TO PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS.
Data on clients and residents of facilities or programs licensed pursuant to sections 144.50 to 144.58, 245A.01 to 245A.16, 245C.01 to 245C.32, and 252.28, subdivision 2, may be disseminated to the protection and advocacy system established in this state pursuant to Part C of Public Law 98-527 to protect the legal and human rights of persons with developmental disabilities or other related conditions who live in residential facilities or programs for these persons if:
(1) the protection and advocacy system receives a complaint by or on behalf of that person; and
(2) the person does not have a legal guardian or the state or a designee of the state is the legal guardian of the person.
Data on an individual who has significant mental illness or emotional impairment and who is an inpatient or resident in a facility rendering care or treatment may be disseminated to the protection and advocacy system established in this state pursuant to Public Law 99-319 to protect the rights of persons who are mentally ill if:
(1) the protection and advocacy system receives a complaint by or on behalf of the person or there is probable cause to believe that the person has been subjected to abuse or neglect, as defined in Public Law 99-319;
(2) the person is by reason of a mental or physical condition unable to authorize the system to have access to data; and
(3) the person does not have a legal guardian or the state is the legal guardian of the person.
13.90 JUDICIARY EXEMPT.
For purposes of this section, "judiciary" means any office, officer, department, division, board, commission, committee, or agency of the courts of this state, whether or not of record, including but not limited to the Board of Law Examiners, the Lawyer's Professional Responsibility Board, the Board of Judicial Standards, the Lawyer's Trust Account Board, the State Law Library, the State Court Administrator's Office, the District Court Administrator's Office, and the Office of the Court Administrator.
The judiciary is not governed by this chapter. Access to data of the judiciary is governed by rules adopted by the supreme court.
13.95 ADMINISTRATIVE COURTS.
(a) For purposes of this section, the terms have the meanings given.
(b) "Administrative courts" means the Office of Administrative Hearings, Tax Court, and Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals.
(c) "Court services" include hearings, settlement conferences, mediation, and the writing of decisions and orders.
(d) "Health-related documents and data" means records, reports, or affidavits created by medical, health care, or scientific professionals that relate to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual, including but not limited to medical history, examinations, diagnoses and treatment, prepetition screening reports, or court-appointed examiner reports.
All notes and memoranda or drafts thereof prepared by a judge or employee of an administrative court and used in providing a court service are confidential or protected nonpublic data.
Health-related documents and data included in a court file are private data on individuals.
13.991 JUDICIAL OFFICIAL DATA; PERSONAL INFORMATION.
(a) Subject to paragraph (b), the personal information of all judicial officials collected, created, or maintained by a government entity is private data on individuals. For purposes of this section, the terms "personal information" and "judicial official" have the meanings given in section 480.40, subdivision 1.
(b) If the responsible authority or government entity violates this chapter, the remedies and penalties under this chapter are available only if the judicial official making a claim previously provided written notification to the responsible authority confirming on a form provided by the Minnesota judicial branch that they are entitled to protection under section 480.40. If the subject of the data is an adult child of a judicial official who does not reside with the judicial official, the remedies and penalties under this chapter are available only if the adult child previously provided written notification to the responsible authority confirming their status as the child of a judicial official. In the case of county records, the form shall be filed with the responsible authority that maintains the personal information for which the judicial officer is seeking protection. A form submitted under this section is private data on individuals. A notice filed under this paragraph expires five years following the date of filing, unless it is renewed prior to the expiration date.
(c) This section shall not apply to personal information contained in:
(1) real property records as defined in section 13.045, subdivision 1, clause (5);
(2) Uniform Commercial Code filings and tax liens maintained by the secretary of state; and
(3) any other records maintained by a government entity evidencing title to, or any lien, judgment, or other encumbrance on, real or personal property.
13B.01 DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this chapter, the following terms have the meanings given them.
"Benefit program" means a program administered by a public entity or agent of a public entity that provides cash or in-kind assistance in the form of payments, grants, subsidies, loans, loan guarantees, or any other form of financial assistance to individuals.
"Front end verification" means a computerized procedure operated by a public entity that checks the accuracy and truthfulness of data provided by an individual as part of an application with the public entity.
"Government data" has the meaning given the term in section 13.02, subdivision 7.
"Individual" has the meaning given the term in section 13.02, subdivision 8.
"Law enforcement agency" means an agency of the state, a political subdivision, or the University of Minnesota with the power to conduct criminal investigations or make arrests or an attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of criminal offenses.
"Matching program" means a computerized comparison of government data to government or nongovernment data for use by a public entity for purposes of determining the eligibility of individuals for a license, privilege, benefit program, or employment. Matching program does not include a comparison performed:
(1) by a public entity if all data used in the comparison are government data of one responsible authority within the public entity, other than personnel or payroll data;
(2) by a law enforcement agency after initiation of a law enforcement investigation for gathering evidence for a law enforcement proceeding against an identified individual;
(3) to produce aggregate statistical data without data that identify individuals in the final product; or
(4) to support a research or statistical project, the specific data of which may not be used to make decisions concerning the rights, benefits, or privileges of specific individuals.
"Public entity" means a state agency or statewide system as those terms are defined in section 13.02.
"Responsible authority" has the meaning given in section 13.02, subdivision 16.
13A.01 DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms have the meanings given them.
"Financial institution" means any office of a bank, savings bank, industrial loan company, trust company, savings and loan, building and loan, credit union, or consumer finance institution, located in the state.
"Financial record" means an original of, a copy of, or information known to have been derived from, any record held by a financial institution pertaining to a customer's relationship with the financial institution.
"Government authority" means any agency or department of the state or a local unit of government, or any officer, employee, or agent of it.
"Customer" means any natural person or authorized representative of that person who utilized or is utilizing any service of a financial institution, or for whom a financial institution is acting or has acted as a fiduciary, in relation to an account maintained in the person's name.
"Law enforcement inquiry" means a lawful investigation or official proceeding inquiring into a violation of, or failure to comply with, any criminal or civil statute or any rule or order issued pursuant to it.
13B.02 MATCHING AGREEMENTS.
Before participating in a matching program, the responsible authority in each public entity that participates in the matching program shall enter into a written agreement with the other person specifying:
(1) the rationale, purpose, and legal authority for conducting the program;
(2) a description of the data that will be matched, including each data element that will be used, the approximate number of records that will be matched, and the projected starting and completion dates of the matching program;
(3) procedures for retention and destruction of data created by the matching program consistent with section 138.17;
(4) procedures for ensuring the security of the data;
(5) prohibitions on duplication and redisclosure of data by the person who receives the data, unless authorized by the public entity that releases the data;
(6) procedures governing the use of the data provided by the public entity for the matching program, including procedures governing return to the public entity or destruction of the data consistent with section 138.17; and
(7) information on assessments that have been made on the accuracy of the data that will be used in the matching program.
13B.03 FRONT END VERIFICATION AND MATCHING PROGRAMS; RIGHTS OF SUBJECTS.
A public entity may not suspend, terminate, reduce, or make a final denial of employment or a license or other privilege or of assistance under a benefit program, or take other adverse action against an individual as a result of data produced by a matching program or front end verification, until the entity has independently verified the data. If independent verification shows that the data are correct, the entity shall give the individual written notice of its findings and an opportunity to contest the findings. The requirements of this section may be satisfied by verification, notice, hearing, and appeal rights governing the particular benefit program or employment or licensing procedure from which data were obtained to be used in the matching program.
13A.03 DELAYED NOTICE.
Upon application of the government authority, a customer notice pursuant to section 13A.02, subdivision 3, may be delayed by order of an appropriate court if the judge finds that:
(1) the law enforcement inquiry being conducted is within the lawful jurisdiction of the government authority seeking the financial records;
(2) there is reason to believe that the records being sought are relevant to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry; and
(3) there is reason to believe that the notice will result in (i) endangering life or physical safety of any person; (ii) flight from prosecution; (iii) destruction of or tampering with evidence; (iv) intimidation of potential witnesses; or (v) otherwise seriously jeopardizing an investigation or official proceeding or unduly delaying a trial or ongoing official proceeding.
An application for delay must be made with reasonable specificity.
If the court makes the findings required in subdivision 1, it shall enter an ex parte order granting the requested delay for a period not to exceed 180 days and an order prohibiting the financial institution from disclosing that records have been obtained. If the court finds that there is reason to believe that the notice may endanger the life or physical safety of any person, the court may specify that the delay be indefinite.
Extensions of the delay of notice of up to 90 days each may be granted by the court upon application.
Upon expiration of the period of delay of notification under this section, the customer shall be served with a copy of the notice required by section 13A.02, subdivision 3.
12A.10 HUMAN SERVICES.
As used in this section, "commissioner" means the commissioner of human services. Notwithstanding the limitations of section 12A.01 and the requirement in section 12A.03 that all appropriations must be used to assist with recovery, the commissioner may pay parties under contract, provider agreement, or other arrangement with the commissioner as of the date of a natural disaster, or the date when action was taken in anticipation of a possible natural disaster or other event that threatens the health and safety of individuals served by a program that receives funding from medical assistance for the costs of evacuation, transportation, medical, remedial, or personal care services provided to vulnerable residents. Costs eligible for payment under this section are those necessary to ensure the health and safety of medical assistance recipients during and up to 60 days following the disaster. Only costs that are not already paid for by another source are eligible. The commissioner may make payments for documented incremental costs incurred by a party, may determine an estimate of the costs at the sole discretion of the commissioner, or may use a combination of these two methods. If after receiving payment from the commissioner for a documented cost, the provider is able to acquire payment from another source for that cost, the provider shall reimburse the commissioner in the amount paid.
In a residential program, the commissioner shall make payment under this section based on an allocation of costs as determined under subdivision 1 between medical assistance recipients and all other residents. The allocation must not be done in a nursing facility. In a nursing facility the commissioner shall pay all of the costs determined under subdivision 1.
The commissioner shall pay costs under this section using money appropriated for medical assistance and shall seek federal cost sharing to the extent permitted under the Medicaid state plan or under waivers granted by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
In consultation with the commissioner of human services, the commissioner of health may waive timelines specified in section 144A.071, subdivision 4b, at any time when a partial or complete evacuation occurs in response to a natural disaster, a possible natural disaster, or another event that threatens the health and safety of residents of a nursing home. For a nursing home placing beds in or removing them from layaway under this subdivision, property payment rates must not be adjusted.
12A.02 DEFINITIONS.
The definitions in this section apply to this chapter.
"Appropriation" means an appropriation provided in law specifically to implement this chapter, including but not limited to a statutory appropriation to provide the required cost-share for federal disaster assistance under section 12.221.
"Commissioner" means the commissioner of the agency named in the section, unless otherwise specified.
"Disaster" means a presidential declaration of major disaster and the event or events cited in the declaration.
"Disaster area" means the area of Minnesota included in a presidential declaration of major disaster whether included in the original declaration or added later by federal government action.
"Local government" has the meaning given in section 12.03, subdivision 5f.
"Nonfederal share" means that portion of total FEMA Public Assistance Program costs that is no more than 25 percent and is not eligible for FEMA reimbursement.
12A.05 BOARD OF WATER AND SOIL RESOURCES.
The Board of Water and Soil Resources (board) may use appropriations to acquire easements from landowners on marginal or damaged lands in the disaster area to provide flood attenuation, to restore and protect soil and water resources, and to support related fish and wildlife habitat as provided in section 103F.515.
The board may use appropriations, as provided in law, to implement the program.
The board may establish a disaster recovery program and use appropriations to install, repair, or rehabilitate erosion and sediment control and water quality and watershed protection projects in the disaster area.
The board may use appropriations, as provided in law, to implement the disaster recovery program and to address critical conservation problems resulting from the disaster that are funded in whole or in part with state sources, to the extent that combined federal and state funding does not exceed 100 percent.
The board may waive the provisions of Minnesota Rules, chapter 8400, in the disaster area on land damaged by the disaster. All existing grant agreements in the disaster area may be extended for up to two years.
12A.08 HEALTH.
As used in this section, "commissioner" means the commissioner of health. In disaster-affected communities, the commissioner may provide for necessary assessment and evaluation of the following: access to health care; mental health concerns and needs; infectious disease concerns; indoor environments of public and nonprofit buildings and facilities including nursing homes and mass care facilities; food safety, lodging and shelter; public swimming pools; community and other drinking water systems; and private drinking water supply wells.
The commissioner may take necessary steps to remediate the effects of a disaster to ensure public health is maintained.
To implement the requirements of this section, the commissioner may cooperate with private health care providers and facilities, Tribal nations, and community health boards as defined in section 145A.02; provide grants to assist community health boards and Tribal nations; use volunteer services of individuals qualified to provide public health services; and enter into cooperative or mutual aid agreements to provide public health services.
12A.06 EDUCATION.
As used in this section, "commissioner" means the commissioner of education. The commissioner may pay disaster enrollment impact aid to a school district in an amount set in law times the number of adjusted pupil units lost as a result of the disaster. An eligible district must provide to the commissioner documentation of the number of pupils in average daily membership lost by grade level as a result of the disaster.
The commissioner may make grants to an eligible district for the costs of facilities cleanup, repair, and replacement that are related to the disaster and are not covered by the district's insurance settlement or through federal agency payments. Before a grant is awarded, the eligible school district must provide the commissioner with information as requested.
The commissioner may make grants to an eligible district for additional school operating costs related to the disaster that are not covered by the district's insurance settlement or through Federal Emergency Management Agency payments. Before a grant is awarded, the eligible school district must provide the commissioner with information as requested.
The commissioner may make grants to eligible districts for the increased costs associated with transporting students as a result of the disaster.
13B.05 REMEDIES.
The remedies and penalties in sections 13.08 and 13.09 apply to this chapter.
12A.09 HOUSING FINANCE.
The economic development and housing challenge program under section 462A.33 may provide for housing assistance in the disaster area as provided in this section.
Within the limits of state appropriations, assistance is provided to homeowners and rental property owners as forgivable loans up to a maximum set in law. Loans may be used for capital improvements to housing damaged by the disaster, including rehabilitation, replacement on the owner's site, or replacement on a different site within the disaster area. Loans are forgiven for owner-occupied housing if the home remains the borrower's primary residence for a period of time determined by the Housing Finance Agency to encourage continued residence in the community after the date of the loan. Loans are forgiven for rental properties if the rents remain affordable to the local work force for at least ten years after the date of the loan. The Housing Finance Agency may set income limits in excess of the limits established in section 462A.33, subdivision 5. Eligible applicants for assistance under this subdivision must apply for and accept assistance from federal programs.
Grants may be made under section 462A.21, subdivision 3b:
(1) to local units of government, including regional consortia, in the disaster area;
(2) to nonprofit organizations; and
(3) to federally recognized American Indian Tribes or subdivisions located in Minnesota, and Tribal housing corporations
working in the disaster area to assess housing and related needs, develop and implement community or regional plans to meet those needs, and provide capacity to implement recovery plans.
For assistance under subdivision 2, the requirements of section 462A.33, subdivision 3, and Minnesota Rules, parts 4900.3632 and 4900.3634, subpart 4, are waived.
Any repayments of loans made under this section must be deposited in the Housing Finance Agency's disaster relief contingency fund established in section 462A.21, subdivision 29.
12A.01 STATE RESPONSE TO NATURAL DISASTER.
This chapter provides a framework and procedures for state agencies to assist communities to recover from a natural disaster for areas of Minnesota that are included in a presidential declaration of major disaster.
12A.07 EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
As used in this section, "commissioner" means the commissioner of employment and economic development. The commissioner may use state appropriations for grants to local units of government for locally administered grants or loan programs as provided in this section for assistance to eligible organizations directly and adversely affected by the disaster. Funds may be used only to address physical damage to buildings and such personal property as machinery, equipment, fixtures, and furniture. A loan may not duplicate or replace equivalent assistance available from insurance, other organizations, or government agencies.
Criteria and requirements must be locally established with the approval of the commissioner. Local plans must specify the type of assistance to be provided to eligible organizations. Within the limits of the available grant amounts, assistance may be provided as loans with or without interest and as forgivable loans. The criteria must, at a minimum, specify that an organization receiving a forgivable loan must remain in the local community a minimum of five years after the date of the loan, after which the amount of loan forgiveness must follow a schedule provided by the commissioner for an additional five years. Loans made under this section must not be used to refinance debt that existed on the date of the disaster. Repayment of loan amounts is made to the local community consistent with subdivision 6. All assistance awards under this section must meet the requirements of section 116J.8731, subdivision 9.
Assistance through a local grant agreement may be provided to businesses, cooperatives, utilities, and nonprofit organizations including, but not limited to, those that provide residential, health care, child care, social, or other services on behalf of the Department of Human Services to residents of the disaster area.
The expenditure of any national emergency grant from the United States Department of Labor for a disaster is approved and the amount of the grant is appropriated to the commissioner for the purposes for which it was received.
To ensure the efficient use of disaster money, the commissioner must encourage contractors working on projects funded under this chapter to hire employees who are available through a grant under this subdivision, to the extent practicable.
For the purposes of subdivisions 1 to 4, sections 116J.8731, subdivisions 3, 4, 5, and 7; 116J.993; 116J.994; and 116J.995 are waived. Businesses that receive grants or loans under this subdivision must set goals for jobs retained and wages paid within the disaster area.
Any repayments of loans to the local government unit under this section shall be forwarded to the commissioner and deposited in the disaster contingency account in section 116J.8731, subdivision 8.
12A.12 NATURAL RESOURCES.
As used in this section, "commissioner" means the commissioner of natural resources. The commissioner may use state appropriations to rehabilitate and replace state facilities damaged by the disaster and to restore natural resources in the disaster area.
The commissioner may use state appropriations for the state's share of flood hazard mitigation grants for capital improvements to prevent or alleviate flood damage under section 103F.161 in the disaster area. The commissioner shall determine project priorities, as appropriate, based on need.
To the extent that the cost of a project funded under this subdivision in a given municipality exceeds two percent of the median household income in the municipality, multiplied by the number of households in the municipality, the commissioner may also use the appropriation for the local share of the project.
The commissioner may use appropriations for expenditures in the disaster area, including removing flood debris from public waters and installing and repairing flood warning gauges.
The commissioner may use appropriations to provide cost share for renovating or removing publicly owned dams in the disaster area under sections 103G.511 and 103G.515.
The maximum grant award under section 103F.161, subdivision 2, is waived for grants for the disaster area.
12A.04 AGRICULTURE.
The commissioner of agriculture may use state appropriations for disaster assistance. The commissioner, in consultation with the chairs of the house of representatives and senate committees with responsibility for agriculture finance, must develop eligibility criteria to distribute disaster assistance to affected agricultural producers according to need. Assistance may be provided for, but is not limited to, the following: livestock investment grants, organic certification assistance, forage production loss offsets for livestock producers, no-interest disaster recovery loans, other costs related to the disaster, and mental health counseling support to farm families and business operators through farm business management programs. To be eligible for disaster assistance under this section, a producer must operate an agricultural operation in the disaster area.
12A.15 PUBLIC SAFETY.
State appropriations may be used to pay 100 percent of the nonfederal share for state agencies, local governments, and utility cooperatives under section 12.221. An appropriation from the bond proceeds fund may be used as cost-share for federal disaster assistance for publicly owned capital improvement projects.
Within the limits of general fund appropriations in law, the commissioner may make grants to counties for costs related to the burial and removal of debris resulting from the disaster from residences and farms. The commissioner may require documentation of costs. Grants are available for debris removal and burial costs not covered by private insurance or federal reimbursement.
The commissioner may use appropriations to provide technical assistance to local jurisdictions or to make grants to counties, regional consortia, and nonprofit organizations working in the disaster area to provide assistance in coordinating long-term recovery activities related to the disaster.
State and federal disaster assistance distributed by the commissioner of public safety is not subject to the contract approval procedures of chapter 16A, 16B, or 16C, or any other law. The commissioner of public safety may adopt internal procedures to administer and monitor these aids and grants.
12A.14 PUBLIC FACILITIES AUTHORITY.
The Public Facilities Authority may make grants to local units of government to assist with the cost of rehabilitation and replacement of publicly owned infrastructure, including storm sewers, wastewater systems, municipal utility services, and drinking water systems. The grants must be used for costs related to the disaster for damage that occurred on or after the date of the disaster. A general fund appropriation may be used for grants to assess underground wastewater and stormwater collection systems for damages related to the disaster or for feasibility studies to address the possibility of extending municipal service to residential areas with septic systems damaged as a result of the disaster.
For the purposes of this section, criteria, limitations, and repayment requirements in sections 446A.07, 446A.072, and 446A.081 are waived.
12A.11 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
The Minnesota Historical Society may use state appropriations for the costs of cleanup, renovation, repair, and replacement of historic structures or other historic resources damaged by the disaster.
12A.03 STATE ASSISTANCE.
Appropriations for programs and projects under this chapter must be made in law. Appropriations from the bond proceeds fund must be spent to acquire and to better publicly owned land and buildings and other public improvements of a capital nature. All appropriations must be used to assist communities within the disaster area to recover.
State assistance under this chapter may be made available for relief in a disaster area for costs that are not eligible for assistance through the FEMA Public Assistance Program or the FEMA Individual Assistance Program, and may not duplicate or replace assistance available from other federal government agencies, including the Small Business Administration, private insurance, or flood insurance.
State assistance may not duplicate or supplement eligible FEMA Public Assistance Program assistance. For eligible Public Assistance Program costs, any state cost-share money made available for that assistance must be disbursed by the Department of Public Safety to a state agency, local government, or other applicant. State assistance distributed by a state agency, other than the Department of Public Safety, to a local government or other applicant for disaster costs that are eligible for FEMA Public Assistance Program assistance constitutes an advance of funds. Such advances must be repaid to the applicable state agency when the applicant has received the FEMA Public Assistance Program assistance, and whatever state cost-share money may be made available for that assistance, from the Department of Public Safety.
A commissioner who provides non-FEMA Public Assistance Program grants or other assistance under this chapter to local government units or eligible entities must report to the appropriate finance chairs in the house of representatives and the senate on the criteria and requirements used by local government units or their agencies in the grants, loans, or assistance programs.
Unused general fund money appropriated for a project or program in this chapter may be transferred, for assistance in the disaster area, to another program or project funded in this chapter. Appropriation transfers must be used to cover unmet needs in a program or project under this chapter. The commissioner of management and budget must approve all transfers under this section and must report each transfer to the chairs of the senate Finance Committee and house of representatives Ways and Means Committee.
12A.13 POLLUTION CONTROL AGENCY.
Notwithstanding sections 115C.08, subdivision 4, and 115C.09, subdivision 3i, the commissioner may use an appropriation, as provided in law, from the petroleum tank release cleanup fund to make grants to safely rehabilitate buildings if a portion of the rehabilitation cost is attributable to petroleum contamination resulting from the disaster or to buy out property substantially damaged by a petroleum tank release resulting from the disaster.
12A.16 TRANSPORTATION.
The commissioner may use appropriations from the trunk highway fund for transportation infrastructure operation and maintenance related to a disaster.
The commissioner may use appropriations from the emergency relief account in the trunk highway fund for infrastructure repair, maintenance, and operation related to a disaster.
The commissioner is responsible to reconstruct and repair trunk highways and trunk highway bridges located in the disaster area and damaged by the disaster.
The commissioner may make grants to local governments for the capital costs of repairing, reconstructing, or replacing local roads and bridges, including necessary demolition and design costs, damaged or destroyed by the disaster. Grants may also be used for reasonable costs to mitigate damage from future disasters when to do so is part of a project to repair, reconstruct, or replace infrastructure damaged in the disaster. Before the commissioner releases grant money, a grantee must submit final plans to the commissioner for each project under this subdivision. The commissioner must determine project priorities, review project plans in light of those priorities, and, if necessary, require changes to the project plans to ensure the most prudent use of limited state resources.
The commissioner, in consultation with the commissioner of public safety, must develop guidelines for local governments to use to respond to natural disasters in order to maximize the use of federal disaster assistance. The guidelines must address the use of local employees and equipment and contracted employees and equipment in the disaster response and the relative eligibility for federal reimbursement and clarify agency roles and responsibilities for damage estimates used for developing emergency state appropriations.
The requirements of section 174.50, subdivisions 5 to 7, are waived for grants under subdivision 3.
14.001 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.
The purposes of the Administrative Procedure Act are:
(1) to provide oversight of powers and duties delegated to administrative agencies;
(2) to increase public accountability of administrative agencies;
(3) to ensure a uniform minimum procedure;
(4) to increase public access to governmental information;
(5) to increase public participation in the formulation of administrative rules;
(6) to increase the fairness of agencies in their conduct of contested case proceedings; and
(7) to simplify the process of judicial review of agency action as well as increase its ease and availability.
In accomplishing its objectives, the intention of this chapter is to strike a fair balance between these purposes and the need for efficient, economical, and effective government administration. The chapter is not meant to alter the substantive rights of any person or agency. Its impact is limited to procedural rights with the expectation that better substantive results will be achieved in the everyday conduct of state government by improving the process by which those results are attained.
13C.01 ACCESS TO CONSUMER REPORTS PREPARED BY CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCIES.
(a) A consumer who is the subject of a consumer report maintained by a consumer reporting agency is entitled to request and receive by mail, for a charge not to exceed $3, a copy of the consumer report once in any 12-month period. The mailing must contain a statement of the consumer's right to dispute and correct any errors and of the procedures set forth in the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, United States Code, title 15, sections 1681 et seq., for that purpose. The consumer reporting agency shall respond to a request under this subdivision within 30 days.
(b) A consumer who exercises the right to dispute and correct errors is entitled, after doing so, to request and receive by mail, without charge, a copy of the consumer report in order to confirm that the consumer report was corrected.
(c) A consumer is entitled to a free copy of a consumer report if the consumer satisfies the procedures set forth in the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, United States Code, title 15, sections 1681 et seq.
[Repealed, 1993 c 292 s 6]
A consumer reporting agency or any other business entity may not sell to, or exchange with, a third party, unless the third party holds an existing mortgage loan on the property, the existence of a credit inquiry arising from a consumer mortgage loan application when the sale or exchange is triggered by an inquiry made in response to an application for credit. This subdivision does not apply to information provided by a mortgage originator or servicer to a third party providing services in connection with the mortgage loan origination or servicing; a proposed or actual securitization; secondary market sale, including sales of servicing rights; or similar transaction related to the consumer mortgage loan.
13C.001 DEFINITIONS.
The definitions in this section apply to this chapter.
"Consumer" means an individual.
(a) "Consumer report" means a written, oral, or other communication of information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a consumer's credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living that is used or expected to be used or collected in whole or in part for:
(1) the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumer's eligibility for credit or insurance to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes;
(2) employment purposes; or
(3) other purposes authorized under United States Code, title 15, section 1681b.
(b) Consumer report does not include:
(1) a report containing information solely as to transactions or experiences between the consumer and the person making the report;
(2) an authorization or approval of a specific extension of credit directly or indirectly by the issuer of a credit card or similar device; or
(3) a report in which a person who has been requested by a third party to make a specific extension of credit directly or indirectly to a consumer conveys a decision with respect to the request, if the third party advises the consumer of the name and address of the person to whom the request was made and the person makes the disclosures to the consumer required under United States Code, title 15, section 1681m.
"Consumer reporting agency" means a person that, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer reports to third parties.
"Employment purposes" means evaluating a consumer for hiring, compensation, promotion, reassignment, retention, or with respect to other terms and conditions of employment.
"Investigative consumer report" means a consumer report in which information on a consumer's character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living is obtained through personal interviews with neighbors, friends, or associates of the consumer or with others with whom the consumer is acquainted or who may have knowledge concerning the information. "Investigative consumer report" does not include specific factual information on a consumer's credit record obtained directly from a creditor of the consumer or from a consumer reporting agency when the information was obtained directly from a creditor of the consumer or from the consumer.
15.001 APPLICATION OF LAWS 2005, CHAPTER 56, TERMINOLOGY CHANGES.
State agencies shall use the terminology changes specified in Laws 2005, chapter 56, section 1, when printed material and signage are replaced and new printed material and signage are obtained. State agencies do not have to replace existing printed material and signage to comply with Laws 2005, chapter 56, sections 1 and 2. Language changes made according to Laws 2005, chapter 56, sections 1 and 2, shall not expand or exclude eligibility to services.
13D.01 MEETINGS MUST BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC; EXCEPTIONS.
All meetings, including executive sessions, must be open to the public
(a) of a state
(1) agency,
(2) board,
(3) commission, or
(4) department,
when required or permitted by law to transact public business in a meeting;
(b) of the governing body of a
(1) school district however organized,
(2) unorganized territory,
(3) county,
(4) statutory or home rule charter city,
(5) town, or
(6) other public body;
(c) of any
(1) committee,
(2) subcommittee,
(3) board,
(4) department, or
(5) commission,
of a public body; and
(d) of the governing body or a committee of:
(1) a statewide public pension plan defined in section 356A.01, subdivision 24; or
(2) a local public pension plan governed by sections 424A.091 to 424A.096, or chapter 354A, or Laws 2013, chapter 111, article 5, sections 31 to 42.
This chapter does not apply
(1) to meetings of the commissioner of corrections;
(2) to a state agency, board, or commission when it is exercising quasi-judicial functions involving disciplinary proceedings; or
(3) as otherwise expressly provided by statute.
Before closing a meeting, a public body shall state on the record the specific grounds permitting the meeting to be closed and describe the subject to be discussed.
(a) The votes of the members of the state agency, board, commission, or department; or of the governing body, committee, subcommittee, board, department, or commission on an action taken in a meeting required by this section to be open to the public must be recorded in a journal or minutes.
(b) The vote of each member must be recorded on each appropriation of money, except for payments of judgments, claims, and amounts fixed by statute.
The journal or any minutes used to record votes of a meeting subject to this chapter must be open to the public during all normal business hours where records of the public body are kept.
(a) In any meeting which under subdivisions 1, 2, 4, and 5, and section 13D.02 must be open to the public, at least one copy of any printed materials relating to the agenda items of the meeting prepared or distributed by or at the direction of the governing body or its employees and:
(1) distributed at the meeting to all members of the governing body;
(2) distributed before the meeting to all members; or
(3) available in the meeting room to all members;
shall be available in the meeting room for inspection by the public while the governing body considers their subject matter.
(b) This subdivision does not apply to materials classified by law as other than public as defined in chapter 13, or to materials relating to the agenda items of a closed meeting held in accordance with the procedures in section 13D.03 or other law permitting the closing of meetings.
15.01 DEPARTMENTS OF THE STATE.
The following agencies are designated as the departments of the state government: the Department of Administration; the Department of Agriculture; the Department of Children, Youth, and Families; the Department of Commerce; the Department of Corrections; the Department of Education; the Department of Employment and Economic Development; the Department of Health; the Department of Human Rights; the Department of Human Services; the Department of Information Technology Services; the Department of Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation; the Department of Labor and Industry; the Department of Management and Budget; the Department of Military Affairs; the Department of Natural Resources; the Department of Public Safety; the Department of Revenue; the Department of Transportation; the Department of Veterans Affairs; and their successor departments.
13D.001 DEFINITION.
For the purposes of this chapter, the term defined in this section has the meaning given.
"Interactive technology" means a device, software program, or other application that allows individuals in different physical locations to see and hear one another.
15.012 STATE AGENCIES; DESIGNATION BY TYPE.
A multimember state agency hereafter created whose membership includes two or more appointed members shall be named according to the following:
(a) An agency in the executive branch, other than a department, whose primary purpose is to perform prescribed official or representative functions shall be designated a "board." To be classified as a board, an agency must have at least one of the following powers: (i) the power to perform administrative acts, which may include the expenditure of state money, (ii) the power to issue and revoke licenses or certifications, (iii) the power to make rules, or (iv) the power to adjudicate contested cases or appeals.
(b) An agency in the executive branch whose primary purpose is to advise state officers, departments, boards, or other agencies shall be designated a "committee." To be classified as a committee, an agency must have none of the powers available to boards other than the power to compensate its members.
(c) A committee of which at least one-half of the members are required to be certain officers or representatives of specified businesses, occupations, industries, political subdivisions, organizations, or other groupings of persons other than geographical regions shall be designated a "council."
(d) An agency in the legislative branch composed exclusively of members of the legislature shall be designated a "legislative commission."
(e) An agency in the executive branch other than a department whose primary purpose is to issue bonds for the financing, ownership and development of facilities within the state shall be designated an "authority."
(f) A committee or council scheduled upon its creation to expire two years after the effective date of the act creating it or the date of appointment of its members, whichever is later, unless a shorter term is specified in statute, shall be designated an "advisory task force."
14.002 STATE REGULATORY POLICY.
The legislature recognizes the important and sensitive role for administrative rules in implementing policies and programs created by the legislature. However, the legislature finds that some regulatory rules and programs have become overly prescriptive and inflexible, thereby increasing costs to the state, local governments, and the regulated community and decreasing the effectiveness of the regulatory program. Therefore, whenever feasible, state agencies must develop rules and regulatory programs that emphasize superior achievement in meeting the agency's regulatory objectives and maximum flexibility for the regulated party and the agency in meeting those goals.
13C.017 SECURITY FREEZE; CHANGES TO INFORMATION; WRITTEN CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.
If a security freeze is in place, a consumer reporting agency may not change any of the following official information in a consumer report without sending a written confirmation of the change to the consumer within 30 days of the change being posted to the consumer's file: name, date of birth, Social Security number, and address. Written confirmation is not required for technical modifications of a consumer's official information, including name and street abbreviations, complete spellings, or transposition of numbers or letters. In the case of an address change, the written confirmation shall be sent to both the new address and to the former address.