1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to marriage; providing for a reduced marriage 
  1.3             license fee for couples who obtain premarital 
  1.4             education; increasing filing fee for marriage 
  1.5             dissolution proceedings; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.6             1998, sections 357.021, subdivision 2; and 517.08, 
  1.7             subdivisions 1b and 1c. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 357.021, 
  1.10  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 2.  [FEE AMOUNTS.] The fees to be charged and 
  1.12  collected by the court administrator shall be as follows: 
  1.13     (1) In every civil action or proceeding in said court, 
  1.14  including any case arising under the tax laws of the state that 
  1.15  could be transferred or appealed to the tax court, the 
  1.16  plaintiff, petitioner, or other moving party shall pay, when the 
  1.17  first paper is filed for that party in said action, a fee of 
  1.18  $122. 
  1.19     The defendant or other adverse or intervening party, or any 
  1.20  one or more of several defendants or other adverse or 
  1.21  intervening parties appearing separately from the others, shall 
  1.22  pay, when the first paper is filed for that party in said 
  1.23  action, a fee of $122, except the fee in a marriage dissolution 
  1.24  proceeding is $172. 
  1.25     The party requesting a trial by jury shall pay $75. 
  1.26     The fees above stated shall be the full trial fee 
  2.1   chargeable to said parties irrespective of whether trial be to 
  2.2   the court alone, to the court and jury, or disposed of without 
  2.3   trial, and shall include the entry of judgment in the action, 
  2.4   but does not include copies or certified copies of any papers so 
  2.5   filed or proceedings under chapter 103E, except the provisions 
  2.6   therein as to appeals. 
  2.7      (2) Certified copy of any instrument from a civil or 
  2.8   criminal proceeding, $10, and $5 for an uncertified copy. 
  2.9      (3) Issuing a subpoena, $3 for each name. 
  2.10     (4) Issuing an execution and filing the return thereof; 
  2.11  issuing a writ of attachment, injunction, habeas corpus, 
  2.12  mandamus, quo warranto, certiorari, or other writs not 
  2.13  specifically mentioned, $10. 
  2.14     (5) Issuing a transcript of judgment, or for filing and 
  2.15  docketing a transcript of judgment from another court, $7.50. 
  2.16     (6) Filing and entering a satisfaction of judgment, partial 
  2.17  satisfaction, or assignment of judgment, $5. 
  2.18     (7) Certificate as to existence or nonexistence of 
  2.19  judgments docketed, $5 for each name certified to. 
  2.20     (8) Filing and indexing trade name; or recording basic 
  2.21  science certificate; or recording certificate of physicians, 
  2.22  osteopaths, chiropractors, veterinarians, or optometrists, $5. 
  2.23     (9) For the filing of each partial, final, or annual 
  2.24  account in all trusteeships, $10. 
  2.25     (10) For the deposit of a will, $5. 
  2.26     (11) For recording notary commission, $25, of which, 
  2.27  notwithstanding subdivision 1a, paragraph (b), $20 must be 
  2.28  forwarded to the state treasurer to be deposited in the state 
  2.29  treasury and credited to the general fund. 
  2.30     (12) Filing a motion or response to a motion for 
  2.31  modification of child support, a fee fixed by rule or order of 
  2.32  the supreme court.  
  2.33     (13) All other services required by law for which no fee is 
  2.34  provided, such fee as compares favorably with those herein 
  2.35  provided, or such as may be fixed by rule or order of the court. 
  2.36     (14) In addition to any other filing fees under this 
  3.1   chapter, a surcharge in the amount of $75 must be assessed in 
  3.2   accordance with section 259.52, subdivision 14, for each 
  3.3   adoption petition filed in district court to fund the fathers' 
  3.4   adoption registry under section 259.52. 
  3.5      The fees in clauses (3) and (4) need not be paid by a 
  3.6   public authority or the party the public authority represents. 
  3.7      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 517.08, 
  3.8   subdivision 1b, is amended to read: 
  3.9      Subd. 1b.  [TERM OF LICENSE; FEE; PREMARITAL EDUCATION.] (a)
  3.10  The court administrator shall examine upon oath the party 
  3.11  applying for a license relative to the legality of the 
  3.12  contemplated marriage.  If at the expiration of a five-day 
  3.13  period, on being satisfied that there is no legal impediment to 
  3.14  it, the court administrator shall issue the license, containing 
  3.15  the full names of the parties before and after marriage, and 
  3.16  county and state of residence, with the district court seal 
  3.17  attached, and make a record of the date of issuance.  The 
  3.18  license shall be valid for a period of six months.  In case of 
  3.19  emergency or extraordinary circumstances, a judge of the 
  3.20  district court of the county in which the application is made, 
  3.21  may authorize the license to be issued at any time before the 
  3.22  expiration of the five days.  Except as provided in paragraph 
  3.23  (b), the court administrator shall collect from the applicant a 
  3.24  fee of $70 for administering the oath, issuing, recording, and 
  3.25  filing all papers required, and preparing and transmitting to 
  3.26  the state registrar of vital statistics the reports of marriage 
  3.27  required by this section.  If the license should not be used 
  3.28  within the period of six months due to illness or other 
  3.29  extenuating circumstances, it may be surrendered to the court 
  3.30  administrator for cancellation, and in that case a new license 
  3.31  shall issue upon request of the parties of the original license 
  3.32  without fee.  A court administrator who knowingly issues or 
  3.33  signs a marriage license in any manner other than as provided in 
  3.34  this section shall pay to the parties aggrieved an amount not to 
  3.35  exceed $1,000. 
  3.36     (b) The marriage license fee for parties who have completed 
  4.1   at least 12 hours of premarital education is $20.  In order to 
  4.2   qualify for the reduced fee, the parties must submit an 
  4.3   affidavit stating that they have received premarital education 
  4.4   from a licensed or ordained minister of any religious 
  4.5   denomination or a person authorized to practice marriage and 
  4.6   family therapy under section 148B.33.  The education must 
  4.7   include a discussion of the seriousness of marriage, the 
  4.8   teaching of conflict management skills, and of the desirability 
  4.9   of seeking marital counseling in times of marital difficulties. 
  4.10     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 517.08, 
  4.11  subdivision 1c, is amended to read: 
  4.12     Subd. 1c.  [DISPOSITION OF LICENSE FEE.] Of the marriage 
  4.13  license fee collected pursuant to subdivision 1b, paragraph (a), 
  4.14  the court administrator shall pay $55 to the state treasurer to 
  4.15  be deposited as follows: 
  4.16     (1) $50 in the general fund; 
  4.17     (2) $3 in the special revenue fund to be appropriated to 
  4.18  the commissioner of children, families, and learning for 
  4.19  supervised visitation facilities under section 119A.37; and 
  4.20     (3) $2 in the special revenue fund to be appropriated to 
  4.21  the commissioner of health for developing and implementing the 
  4.22  MN ENABL program under section 145.9255. 
  4.23     Of the $20 fee under subdivision 1b, paragraph (b), $15 
  4.24  must be retained by the county and the remainder must be 
  4.25  distributed as provided in clauses (2) and (3).