HF 128

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to crime; prohibiting physical searches of 
  1.3             suspected shoplifters by merchants or merchant 
  1.4             employees; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 
  1.5             629.366, subdivision 1. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 629.366, 
  1.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [CIRCUMSTANCES JUSTIFYING DETENTION.] (a) A 
  1.10  merchant or merchant's employee may detain a person if the 
  1.11  merchant or employee has reasonable cause to believe: 
  1.12     (1) that the person has taken, or is taking, an article of 
  1.13  value without paying for it, from the possession of the merchant 
  1.14  in the merchant's place of business or from a vehicle or 
  1.15  premises under the merchant's control; 
  1.16     (2) that the taking is done with the intent to wrongfully 
  1.17  deprive the merchant of the property or the use or benefit of 
  1.18  it; or 
  1.19     (3) that the taking is done with the intent to appropriate 
  1.20  the use of the property to the taker or any other person.  
  1.21     (b) Subject to the limitations in paragraph (a), a merchant 
  1.22  or merchant's employee may detain a person for any of the 
  1.23  following purposes: 
  1.24     (1) to require the person to provide identification or 
  1.25  verify identification; 
  2.1      (2) to inquire as to whether the person possesses 
  2.2   unpurchased merchandise taken from the merchant and, if so, to 
  2.3   receive the merchandise; 
  2.4      (3) to inform a peace officer; or 
  2.5      (4) to institute criminal proceedings against the person. 
  2.6      (c) The person detained shall be informed promptly of the 
  2.7   purpose of the detention and may not be subjected to any 
  2.8   physical search, unnecessary or unreasonable force, nor to or 
  2.9   interrogation against the person's will.  A merchant or 
  2.10  merchant's employee may not detain a person for more than one 
  2.11  hour unless: 
  2.12     (1) the merchant or employee is waiting to surrender the 
  2.13  person to a peace officer, in which case the person may be 
  2.14  detained until a peace officer has accepted custody of or 
  2.15  released the person; or 
  2.16     (2) the person is a minor, or claims to be, and the 
  2.17  merchant or employee is waiting to surrender the minor to a 
  2.18  peace officer or the minor's parent, guardian, or custodian, in 
  2.19  which case the minor may be detained until the peace officer, 
  2.20  parent, guardian, or custodian has accepted custody of the minor.
  2.21     (d) If at any time the person detained requests that a 
  2.22  peace officer be summoned, the merchant or merchant's employee 
  2.23  must notify a peace officer immediately.