SF 772

1st Engrossment - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to corrections; clarifying and extending the 
  1.3             jurisdiction of the ombudsman; prohibiting ombudsman's 
  1.4             staff from being compelled to testify in any 
  1.5             proceeding; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 
  1.6             241.42, subdivision 2; and 241.44, subdivision 1. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 241.42, 
  1.9   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subd. 2.  "Administrative agency" or "agency" means any 
  1.11  division, official, or employee of the Minnesota department of 
  1.12  corrections, the commissioner of corrections, the board of 
  1.13  pardons, and regional correction or detention facilities or 
  1.14  agencies for correction or detention programs including those 
  1.15  programs or facilities operating under chapter 401, any regional 
  1.16  or local correctional facility licensed or inspected by the 
  1.17  commissioner of corrections, whether public or private, 
  1.18  established and operated for the detention and confinement of 
  1.19  adults or juveniles, including, but not limited to, programs or 
  1.20  facilities operating under chapter 401, adult halfway homes, 
  1.21  group foster homes, secure juvenile detention facilities, 
  1.22  juvenile residential facilities, municipal holding facilities, 
  1.23  juvenile temporary holdover facilities, regional or local jails, 
  1.24  lockups, work houses, work farms, and detention and treatment 
  1.25  facilities, but does not include: 
  1.26     (a) any court or judge; 
  2.1      (b) any member of the senate or house of representatives of 
  2.2   the state of Minnesota; 
  2.3      (c) the governor or the governor's personal staff; 
  2.4      (d) any instrumentality of the federal government of the 
  2.5   United States; or 
  2.6      (e) any political subdivision of the state of Minnesota; 
  2.7      (f) any interstate compact. 
  2.8      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 241.44, 
  2.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.10     Subdivision 1.  [POWERS.] The ombudsman may: 
  2.11     (a) prescribe the methods by which complaints are to be 
  2.12  made, reviewed, and acted upon; provided, however, that the 
  2.13  ombudsman may not levy a complaint fee; 
  2.14     (b) determine the scope and manner of investigations to be 
  2.15  made; 
  2.16     (c) Except as otherwise provided, determine the form, 
  2.17  frequency, and distribution of conclusions, recommendations, and 
  2.18  proposals; provided, however, that the governor or a 
  2.19  representative may, at any time the governor deems it necessary, 
  2.20  request and receive information from the ombudsman.  Neither the 
  2.21  ombudsman nor any member of the ombudsman's staff member shall 
  2.22  be compelled to testify or to produce evidence in any court 
  2.23  judicial or administrative proceeding with respect to any matter 
  2.24  involving the exercise of the ombudsman's official duties except 
  2.25  as may be necessary to enforce the provisions of sections 241.41 
  2.26  to 241.45; 
  2.27     (d) investigate, upon a complaint or upon personal 
  2.28  initiative, any action of an administrative agency; 
  2.29     (e) request and shall be given access to information in the 
  2.30  possession of an administrative agency deemed necessary for the 
  2.31  discharge of responsibilities; 
  2.32     (f) examine the records and documents of an administrative 
  2.33  agency; 
  2.34     (g) enter and inspect, at any time, premises within the 
  2.35  control of an administrative agency; 
  2.36     (h) subpoena any person to appear, give testimony, or 
  3.1   produce documentary or other evidence which the ombudsman deems 
  3.2   relevant to a matter under inquiry, and may petition the 
  3.3   appropriate state court to seek enforcement with the subpoena; 
  3.4   provided, however, that any witness at a hearing or before an 
  3.5   investigation as herein provided, shall possess the same 
  3.6   privileges reserved to such a witness in the courts or under the 
  3.7   laws of this state; 
  3.8      (i) bring an action in an appropriate state court to 
  3.9   provide the operation of the powers provided in this 
  3.10  subdivision.  The ombudsman may use the services of legal 
  3.11  assistance to Minnesota prisoners for legal counsel.  The 
  3.12  provisions of sections 241.41 to 241.45 are in addition to other 
  3.13  provisions of law under which any remedy or right of appeal or 
  3.14  objection is provided for any person, or any procedure provided 
  3.15  for inquiry or investigation concerning any matter. Nothing in 
  3.16  sections 241.41 to 241.45 shall be construed to limit or affect 
  3.17  any other remedy or right of appeal or objection nor shall it be 
  3.18  deemed part of an exclusionary process; and 
  3.19     (j) be present at commissioner of corrections parole and 
  3.20  parole revocation hearings and deliberations.