1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to commerce; prohibiting tampering with 
  1.3             clock-hour meters on farm tractors; prescribing 
  1.4             criminal and civil penalties; providing remedies; 
  1.5             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.6             chapter 325E. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [325E.165] [DEFINITIONS.] 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [SCOPE.] For the purposes of sections 
  1.10  325E.165 to 325E.168, the terms defined in this section have the 
  1.11  meanings given them. 
  1.12     Subd. 2.  [FARM TRACTOR.] "Farm tractor" means a 
  1.13  self-propelled vehicle that is designed primarily for pulling or 
  1.14  propelling agricultural machinery and implements and is used 
  1.15  principally in the occupation or business of farming, including 
  1.16  an implement of husbandry, as defined in section 169.01, 
  1.17  subdivision 55, that is self-propelled. 
  1.18     Subd. 3.  [OWNER.] "Owner" means a person, other than a 
  1.19  secured party, having the property in or title to a farm 
  1.20  tractor.  The term includes a person entitled to the use and 
  1.21  possession of a farm tractor subject to a security interest in 
  1.22  another person, but excludes a lessee under a lease not intended 
  1.23  as security. 
  1.24     Subd. 4.  [PERSON.] "Person" means an individual, firm, 
  1.25  partnership, incorporated and unincorporated association, or 
  1.26  other legal or commercial entity. 
  2.1      Sec. 2.  [325E.166] [CLOCK-HOUR METERS; PROHIBITED ACTS.] 
  2.2      Subdivision 1.  [TAMPERING.] No person shall knowingly 
  2.3   tamper with, adjust, alter, change, set back, disconnect, or, 
  2.4   with intent to defraud, fail to connect the clock-hour meter of 
  2.5   a farm tractor, or cause any of the foregoing to occur to a 
  2.6   clock-hour meter of a farm tractor, so as to reflect fewer hours 
  2.7   than the farm tractor has actually been in operation. 
  2.8      Subd. 2.  [OPERATION WITH DISCONNECTED OR NONFUNCTIONAL 
  2.9   METER.] No person shall, with intent to defraud, operate a farm 
  2.10  tractor on any street or highway knowing that the clock-hour 
  2.11  meter of the farm tractor is disconnected or nonfunctional. 
  2.12     Subd. 3.  [DEVICE.] No person shall advertise for sale, 
  2.13  sell, use, or install on any part of a farm tractor or on a 
  2.14  clock-hour meter in a farm tractor a device that causes the 
  2.15  clock-hour meter to register any hours of operation other than 
  2.16  the true hours of operation. 
  2.17     Subd. 4.  [DISCLOSURE.] No person shall sell or offer for 
  2.18  sale a farm tractor with knowledge that the mileage registered 
  2.19  on the clock-hour meter has been altered so as to reflect fewer 
  2.20  hours than the farm tractor has actually been in operation, 
  2.21  without disclosing the fact to prospective purchasers. 
  2.22     Subd. 5.  [CONSPIRACY.] No person shall conspire with 
  2.23  another person to violate this section or section 325E.167. 
  2.24     Subd. 6.  [EXCEPTION.] Nothing in this section prevents the 
  2.25  service, repair, or replacement of a clock-hour meter, if the 
  2.26  hours of operation indicated remain the same as before the 
  2.27  service, repair, or replacement.  Where the clock-hour meter is 
  2.28  incapable of registering the same hours of operation as before 
  2.29  the service, repair, or replacement, the clock-hour meter must 
  2.30  be adjusted to read zero and a written notice must be attached 
  2.31  to the left door frame of the farm tractor by the owner or an 
  2.32  agent specifying the hours of operation before repair or 
  2.33  replacement of the clock-hour meter and the date on which it was 
  2.34  repaired or replaced.  No person shall remove or alter the 
  2.35  notice under this subdivision. 
  2.36     Sec. 3.  [325E.167] [TRANSFER OF FARM TRACTOR; DISCLOSURE.] 
  3.1      No person shall transfer a farm tractor without disclosing 
  3.2   in writing to the transferee the true hours of operation 
  3.3   registered on the clock-hour meter reading, or that the actual 
  3.4   hours of operation are unknown, if the clock-hour meter reading 
  3.5   is known by the transferor to be different from the true hours 
  3.6   of operation.  The attorney general shall adopt rules 
  3.7   prescribing the manner in which the written disclosure must be 
  3.8   made.  No transferor shall violate any rules adopted under this 
  3.9   section or knowingly give a false statement to a transferee in 
  3.10  making any disclosure required by the rules. 
  3.11     Sec. 4.  [325E.168] [PENALTIES; REMEDIES.] 
  3.12     Subdivision 1.  [CRIMINAL PENALTY.] A person who is found 
  3.13  to have violated sections 325E.165 to 325E.168 is guilty of a 
  3.14  gross misdemeanor. 
  3.15     Subd. 2.  [CIVIL PENALTY.] In addition to the penalties 
  3.16  provided in subdivision 1, any person who is found to have 
  3.17  violated sections 325E.165 to 325E.168 is subject to the 
  3.18  penalties in section 8.31. 
  3.19     Subd. 3.  [PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.] A person injured by a 
  3.20  violation of sections 325E.165 to 325E.168 may recover the 
  3.21  actual damages sustained together with costs and disbursements, 
  3.22  including reasonable attorney fees.  The court in its discretion 
  3.23  may increase the award of damages to an amount not to exceed 
  3.24  three times the actual damages sustained or $1,500, whichever is 
  3.25  greater.