2008 Minnesota Statutes

176.285 SERVICE OF PAPERS AND NOTICES; ELECTRONIC FILING.

Service of papers and notices shall be by mail or otherwise as the commissioner or the chief administrative law judge may by rule direct. Where service is by mail, service is effected at the time mailed if properly addressed and stamped. If it is so mailed, it is presumed the paper or notice reached the party to be served. However, a party may show by competent evidence that that party did not receive it or that it had been delayed in transit for an unusual or unreasonable period of time. In case of nonreceipt or delay, an allowance shall be made for the party's failure to assert a right within the prescribed time.

Where a statute or rule authorizes or requires a document to be filed with or served on an agency, the document may be filed electronically if electronic filing is authorized by the agency and if the document is transmitted in the manner and in the format specified by the agency. Where a statute or rule authorizes or requires a person's signature on a document to be filed with or served on an agency, the signature may be transmitted electronically, if authorized by the agency and if the signature is transmitted in the manner and format specified by the agency. The commissioner may require that a document authorized or required to be filed with the commissioner, department, or division be filed electronically in the manner and format specified by the commissioner, except that an employee must not be required to file a document electronically unless the document is filed by an attorney on behalf of an employee. An agency may serve a document electronically if the recipient agrees to receive it in an electronic format. The department or court may adopt rules for the certification of signatures.

When the electronic filing of a legal document with the department marks the beginning of a prescribed time for another party to assert a right, the prescribed time for another party to assert a right shall be lengthened by two calendar days when it can be shown that service to the other party was by mail.

The commissioner and the chief administrative law judge shall ensure that proof of service of all papers and notices served by their respective agencies is placed in the official file of the case.

For purposes of this section, "agency" means the workers' compensation division, the Department of Labor and Industry, the commissioner of the Department of Labor and Industry, the Office of Administrative Hearings, the chief administrative law judge, or the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals. "Document" includes documents, reports, notices, orders, papers, forms, information, and data elements that are authorized or required to be filed with an agency or the commissioner or that are authorized or required to be served on or by an agency or the commissioner.

Except as otherwise modified by this section, the provisions of chapter 325L apply to electronic signatures and the electronic transmission of documents under this section.

History:

1953 c 755 s 43; 1973 c 388 s 87; 1983 c 290 s 143; 1984 c 640 s 32; 1995 c 231 art 2 s 96; 2008 c 250 s 15