1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to partition fences; making the state 
  1.3             responsible for a share of costs of certain fences; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 344.03, 
  1.5             subdivision 1. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 344.03, 
  1.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [ADJOINING OWNERS.] If all or a part of 
  1.10  adjoining Minnesota land is improved and used, and one or both 
  1.11  of the owners of the land desires the land to be partly or 
  1.12  totally fenced, the land owners or occupants shall build and 
  1.13  maintain a partition fence between their lands in equal shares.  
  1.14  The requirement in this section and the procedures in this 
  1.15  chapter apply to the department of natural resources state when 
  1.16  it owns land, including county administered state-owned land, 
  1.17  adjoining privately owned land subject to this section and 
  1.18  chapter and the landowner desires the land permanently fenced 
  1.19  for the purpose of restraining livestock.  This section does not 
  1.20  apply to land acquired by the department of transportation under 
  1.21  section 161.20, subdivision 2, for highway right-of-way 
  1.22  purposes, except land acquired for wetland banking or mineral 
  1.23  extraction.