as introduced - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 02/09/2010 01:55am
A bill for an act
relating to judiciary; proposing an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution,
article VI, section 8, to require all vacancies in the office of judge to be elected;
excluding a judge's unfinished term of office from allowable service for
retirement; permitting judges to retire at the end of the term in which the judge
reaches the age of 70; amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 490.121,
subdivisions 4, 21d.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
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An amendment to the Minnesota Constitution is proposed to the people. If the
amendment is adopted, article VI, section 8, will read:
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Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of judge the deleted text begin governor shall appoint
in the manner provided by law a qualified person to fill the vacancydeleted text end new text begin office shall remain
vacantnew text end until a successor is elected and qualified. The successor shall be elected for a
six year term at the deleted text begin nextdeleted text end new text begin firstnew text end general election occurring deleted text begin more than one year after the
appointmentdeleted text end new text begin after the office of judge becomes vacantnew text end .
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The proposed amendment must be submitted to the people at the 2010 general
election. The question submitted must be:
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"Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to require a vacancy in the office of
judge to remain open until the voters can elect a judge to the vacant position for a new
term of office at the general election?
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Yes
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No
.
"
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Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 490.121, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
(a) "Allowable service" means any calendar month,
subject to the service credit limit in subdivision 22, served as a judge at any time, during
which the judge received compensation for that service from the state, municipality,
or county, whichever applies, and for which the judge made any required member
contribution. It also includes any month served as a referee in probate for all referees in
probate who were in office before January 1, 1974.
(b) "Allowable service" also means a period of authorized leave of absence for
which the judge has made a payment in lieu of contributions, not in an amount in excess
of the service credit limit under subdivision 22. To obtain the service credit, the judge
shall pay an amount equal to the normal cost of the judges retirement plan on the date of
return from the leave of absence, as determined in the most recent actuarial report for the
plan filed with the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement, multiplied by the
judge's average monthly salary rate during the authorized leave of absence and multiplied
by the number of months of the authorized leave of absence, plus annual compound
interest at the rate of 8.5 percent from the date of the termination of the leave to the date
on which payment is made. The payment must be made within one year of the date on
which the authorized leave of absence terminated. Service credit for an authorized leave
of absence is in addition to a uniformed service leave under section 490.1211.
(c) "Allowable service" does not mean service as a retired judge.
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(d) Notwithstanding other law to the contrary, "allowable service" also does not
mean service for any part of a term of office during which a judge leaves office for any
reason before the expiration date of the full term of office. A judge may request the house
of representatives and senate committees having jurisdiction over judges retirement to
review the denial of allowable service for that particular judge under this paragraph.
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This section is effective August 1, 2009, and applies to judges
retiring on or after that date.
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Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 490.121, subdivision 21d, is amended to read:
"Mandatory retirement date" means the
deleted text begin last day of the month indeleted text end new text begin expiration date of the full term of office duringnew text end which a judge has
attained 70 years of age.
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This section is effective August 1, 2009, and applies to judges
retiring on or after that date.
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