1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to criminal procedure; permitting government 
  1.3             agencies that provide documents to the public defender 
  1.4             to charge a reasonable copying fee; amending Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes 1996, section 611.271. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 611.271, is 
  1.8   amended to read: 
  1.9      611.271 [COPIES OF DOCUMENTS; FEES.] 
  1.10     (a) The court administrators of courts, the prosecuting 
  1.11  attorneys of counties and municipalities, and the law 
  1.12  enforcement agencies of the state and its political subdivisions 
  1.13  shall furnish, upon the request of the district public defender, 
  1.14  the state public defender, or an attorney working for a public 
  1.15  defense corporation under section 611.216, copies of any 
  1.16  documents in their possession at no charge to the public 
  1.17  defender, including the following:  police reports, photographs, 
  1.18  copies of existing grand jury transcripts, audiotapes, 
  1.19  videotapes, copies of existing transcripts of audiotapes or 
  1.20  videotapes and, in child protection cases, reports prepared by 
  1.21  local welfare agencies.  
  1.22     (b) The agency providing the documents may charge the 
  1.23  public defender a reasonable fee for copying the requested 
  1.24  documents. 
  1.25     (c) Nothing in this section shall compel production of 
  2.1   documents that are not discoverable under the rules of court, 
  2.2   court order, or chapter 13.