HF 1167

1st Engrossment - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to victims; increasing parental liability 
  1.3             owed to a victim for acts of certain juvenile 
  1.4             offenders; amending certain laws to enhance victim 
  1.5             rights; amending Minnesota Statutes 2002, sections 
  1.6             260B.163, subdivision 1; 260B.171, subdivision 4; 
  1.7             611A.01. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 260B.163, 
  1.10  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.11     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL.] (a) Except for hearings arising 
  1.12  under section 260B.425, hearings on any matter shall be without 
  1.13  a jury and may be conducted in an informal manner, except that a 
  1.14  child who is prosecuted as an extended jurisdiction juvenile has 
  1.15  the right to a jury trial on the issue of guilt.  The rules of 
  1.16  evidence promulgated pursuant to section 480.0591 and the law of 
  1.17  evidence shall apply in adjudicatory proceedings involving a 
  1.18  child alleged to be delinquent, an extended jurisdiction 
  1.19  juvenile, or a juvenile petty offender, and hearings conducted 
  1.20  pursuant to section 260B.125 except to the extent that the rules 
  1.21  themselves provide that they do not apply.  
  1.22     (b) When a continuance or adjournment is ordered in any 
  1.23  proceeding, the court may make any interim orders as it deems in 
  1.24  the best interests of the minor in accordance with the 
  1.25  provisions of sections 260B.001 to 260B.421. 
  1.26     (c) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the 
  2.1   court shall exclude the general public from hearings under this 
  2.2   chapter and shall admit only those persons who, in the 
  2.3   discretion of the court, have a direct interest in the case or 
  2.4   in the work of the court.  The court shall permit the victim of 
  2.5   a child's delinquent act and the parents or guardians of minor 
  2.6   victims to attend any related delinquency proceeding, except 
  2.7   that the court may exclude the victim and the parents or 
  2.8   guardians of minor victims: 
  2.9      (1) as a witness under the Rules of Criminal Procedure; and 
  2.10     (2) from portions of a certification hearing to discuss 
  2.11  psychological material or other evidence that would not be 
  2.12  accessible to the public. 
  2.13  The court shall open the hearings to the public in delinquency 
  2.14  or extended jurisdiction juvenile proceedings where the child is 
  2.15  alleged to have committed an offense or has been proven to have 
  2.16  committed an offense that would be a felony if committed by an 
  2.17  adult and the child was at least 16 years of age at the time of 
  2.18  the offense, except that the court may exclude the public from 
  2.19  portions of a certification hearing to discuss psychological 
  2.20  material or other evidence that would not be accessible to the 
  2.21  public in an adult proceeding. 
  2.22     (d) In all delinquency cases a person named in the charging 
  2.23  clause of the petition as a person directly damaged in person or 
  2.24  property shall be entitled, upon request, to be notified by the 
  2.25  court administrator in writing, at the named person's last known 
  2.26  address, of (1) the date of the certification or adjudicatory 
  2.27  hearings, and (2) the disposition of the case.  
  2.28     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 260B.171, 
  2.29  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  2.30     Subd. 4.  [PUBLIC INSPECTION OF RECORDS.] (a) Legal records 
  2.31  arising from proceedings or portions of proceedings that are 
  2.32  public under section 260B.163, subdivision 1, are open to public 
  2.33  inspection. 
  2.34     (b) Except as otherwise provided by this section, none of 
  2.35  the records of the juvenile court and none of the records 
  2.36  relating to an appeal from a nonpublic juvenile court 
  3.1   proceeding, except the written appellate opinion, shall be open 
  3.2   to public inspection or their contents disclosed except: 
  3.3      (1) by order of a court; or 
  3.4      (2) as required by sections 245A.04, 611A.03, 611A.04, 
  3.5   611A.06, and 629.73. 
  3.6      (c) The victim of any alleged delinquent act may, upon the 
  3.7   victim's request, obtain the following information, unless it 
  3.8   reasonably appears that the request is prompted by a desire on 
  3.9   the part of the requester information will be used by the victim 
  3.10  to engage in unlawful activities: 
  3.11     (1) the name and age of the juvenile; 
  3.12     (2) the act for which the juvenile was petitioned and date 
  3.13  of the offense; and 
  3.14     (3) the disposition, including, but not limited to, 
  3.15  dismissal of the petition, diversion, probation and conditions 
  3.16  of probation, detention, fines, or restitution. 
  3.17     (d) The records of juvenile probation officers and county 
  3.18  home schools are records of the court for the purposes of this 
  3.19  subdivision.  Court services data relating to delinquent acts 
  3.20  that are contained in records of the juvenile court may be 
  3.21  released as allowed under section 13.84, subdivision 6.  This 
  3.22  subdivision applies to all proceedings under this chapter, 
  3.23  including appeals from orders of the juvenile court, except that 
  3.24  this subdivision does not apply to proceedings under section 
  3.25  260B.335 or 260B.425 when the proceeding involves an adult 
  3.26  defendant.  The court shall maintain the confidentiality of 
  3.27  adoption files and records in accordance with the provisions of 
  3.28  laws relating to adoptions.  In juvenile court proceedings any 
  3.29  report or social history furnished to the court shall be open to 
  3.30  inspection by the attorneys of record and the guardian ad litem 
  3.31  a reasonable time before it is used in connection with any 
  3.32  proceeding before the court. 
  3.33     (e) When a judge of a juvenile court, or duly authorized 
  3.34  agent of the court, determines under a proceeding under this 
  3.35  chapter that a child has violated a state or local law, 
  3.36  ordinance, or regulation pertaining to the operation of a motor 
  4.1   vehicle on streets and highways, except parking violations, the 
  4.2   judge or agent shall immediately report the violation to the 
  4.3   commissioner of public safety.  The report must be made on a 
  4.4   form provided by the department of public safety and must 
  4.5   contain the information required under section 169.95. 
  4.6      (f) A county attorney may give a law enforcement agency 
  4.7   that referred a delinquency matter to the county attorney a 
  4.8   summary of the results of that referral, including the details 
  4.9   of any juvenile court disposition.  
  4.10     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 611A.01, is 
  4.11  amended to read: 
  4.12     611A.01 [DEFINITIONS.] 
  4.13     For the purposes of sections 611A.01 to 611A.06: 
  4.14     (a) "crime" means conduct that is prohibited by local 
  4.15  ordinance and results in bodily harm to an individual; or 
  4.16  conduct that is included within the definition of "crime" in 
  4.17  section 609.02, subdivision 1, or would be included within that 
  4.18  definition but for the fact that (i) the person engaging in the 
  4.19  conduct lacked capacity to commit the crime under the laws of 
  4.20  this state, or (ii) the act was alleged or found to have been 
  4.21  committed by a juvenile; 
  4.22     (b) "victim" means a natural person who incurs loss or harm 
  4.23  as a result of a crime, including a good faith effort to prevent 
  4.24  a crime, and for purposes of sections 611A.04 and 611A.045, also 
  4.25  includes (i) a corporation that incurs loss or harm as a result 
  4.26  of a crime, (ii) a government entity that incurs loss or harm as 
  4.27  a result of a crime, and (iii) any other entity authorized to 
  4.28  receive restitution under section 609.10 or 609.125.  If the 
  4.29  victim is a minor, "victim" shall also include the victim's 
  4.30  parents or guardians for the purposes of this chapter.  If the 
  4.31  victim is a natural person and is deceased, "victim" means the 
  4.32  deceased's surviving spouse or next of kin; and 
  4.33     (c) "juvenile" has the same meaning as given to the term 
  4.34  "child" in section 260B.007, subdivision 3.