1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to judgments; regulating stays of execution 
  1.3             on money judgments; limiting bond amounts; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 550.36. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 550.36, is 
  1.7   amended to read: 
  1.8      550.36 [STAY OF EXECUTION ON MONEY JUDGMENT; LIMITATION ON 
  1.9   BOND AMOUNT.] 
  1.10     (a) Subject to the limitation in paragraph (b), execution 
  1.11  of a judgment for the payment of money only shall be stayed for 
  1.12  six months during the course of all appeals or discretionary 
  1.13  appellate reviews of a judgment if, within ten days after the 
  1.14  entry thereof, the judgment debtor shall file with the court 
  1.15  administrator a bond, running to the judgment creditor, the 
  1.16  creditor's personal representatives and assigns, in double the 
  1.17  amount of the judgment, to be approved by the court, and 
  1.18  conditioned for the payment of the judgment, with interest 
  1.19  during the time for which the stay is granted.  Interest shall 
  1.20  be computed in the same manner and at the same rate provided for 
  1.21  interest on verdicts in section 549.09.  Within two days 
  1.22  thereafter notice that such bond has been filed, with a copy of 
  1.23  the same, shall be served on the judgment creditor, if the 
  1.24  creditor be a resident of the county, or upon the creditor's 
  1.25  agent or attorney, if the creditor has one, and the judgment 
  2.1   creditor may except to the sufficiency of the bond; and, upon 
  2.2   the creditor's application upon notice or order to show cause, 
  2.3   the court, if it find the bond insufficient, may order execution 
  2.4   to issue notwithstanding the same, unless the judgment debtor 
  2.5   give such further bond as it shall deem sufficient.  If the 
  2.6   condition of any such bond be not performed, the execution shall 
  2.7   issue for the amount of the judgment, with interest and costs, 
  2.8   against the judgment debtor and the sureties.  When an execution 
  2.9   issues against sureties the officer shall certify in the return 
  2.10  what amount, if any, was collected from them and the date 
  2.11  thereof.  If a stay be granted after execution issued, any levy 
  2.12  made thereon shall be released and the execution shall be 
  2.13  returned and the reason noted by the officer. 
  2.14     (b)(1) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) or any other provision 
  2.15  of law or court rule to the contrary, if a plaintiff in a civil 
  2.16  action obtains a judgment under any legal theory that requires 
  2.17  any defendant to make payments in order to comply with the 
  2.18  judgment, the amount of the appeal bond necessary to stay 
  2.19  execution during the course of all appeals or discretionary 
  2.20  reviews of that judgment by an appellate court shall be set in 
  2.21  accordance with applicable laws or court rules, except that the 
  2.22  total appeal bond that is required of all appellants shall not 
  2.23  exceed $100,000,000 regardless of the value of the judgment. 
  2.24     (2) Notwithstanding clause (1), if a judgment creditor 
  2.25  proves by a preponderance of the evidence that a judgment debtor 
  2.26  is dissipating assets outside the ordinary course of business to 
  2.27  avoid payment of a judgment, a court may enter orders that: 
  2.28     (i) are necessary to protect the judgment creditor; and 
  2.29     (ii) require the judgment debtor to post a bond that is 
  2.30  equal to the total amount of the judgment. 
  2.31     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.] 
  2.32     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment 
  2.33  and applies to all cases pending on or filed after that date.