SF 1271

1st Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to economic development; adjusting marriage
and marriage dissolution fees to fund employment
opportunities; appropriating money; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2004, sections 357.021, subdivisions 1a, 2;
517.08, subdivisions 1b, 1c.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 357.021,
subdivision 1a, is amended to read:

Subd. 1a.

Transmittal of fees to commissioner of
finance.

(a) Every person, including the state of Minnesota and
all bodies politic and corporate, who shall transact any
business in the district court, shall pay to the court
administrator of said court the sundry fees prescribed in
subdivision 2. Except as provided in paragraph (d), the court
administrator shall transmit the fees monthly to the
commissioner of finance for deposit in the state treasury and
credit to the general fund. new text begin $30 of each fee collected in a
dissolution action under subdivision 2, clause (1), must be
deposited by the commissioner of finance in the special revenue
fund to be appropriated to the commissioner of employment and
economic development for the displaced homemaker program under
section 116L.96.
new text end

(b) In a county which has a screener-collector position,
fees paid by a county pursuant to this subdivision shall be
transmitted monthly to the county treasurer, who shall apply the
fees first to reimburse the county for the amount of the salary
paid for the screener-collector position. The balance of the
fees collected shall then be forwarded to the commissioner of
finance for deposit in the state treasury and credited to the
general fund. In a county in a judicial district under section
480.181, subdivision 1, paragraph (b), which has a
screener-collector position, the fees paid by a county shall be
transmitted monthly to the commissioner of finance for deposit
in the state treasury and credited to the general fund. A
screener-collector position for purposes of this paragraph is an
employee whose function is to increase the collection of fines
and to review the incomes of potential clients of the public
defender, in order to verify eligibility for that service.

(c) No fee is required under this section from the public
authority or the party the public authority represents in an
action for:

(1) child support enforcement or modification, medical
assistance enforcement, or establishment of parentage in the
district court, or in a proceeding under section 484.702;

(2) civil commitment under chapter 253B;

(3) the appointment of a public conservator or public
guardian or any other action under chapters 252A and 525;

(4) wrongfully obtaining public assistance under section
256.98 or 256D.07, or recovery of overpayments of public
assistance;

(5) court relief under chapter 260;

(6) forfeiture of property under sections 169A.63 and
609.531 to 609.5317;

(7) recovery of amounts issued by political subdivisions or
public institutions under sections 246.52, 252.27, 256.045,
256.25, 256.87, 256B.042, 256B.14, 256B.15, 256B.37, 260B.331,
and 260C.331, or other sections referring to other forms of
public assistance;

(8) restitution under section 611A.04; or

(9) actions seeking monetary relief in favor of the state
pursuant to section 16D.14, subdivision 5.

(d) The fees collected for child support modifications
under subdivision 2, clause (13), must be transmitted to the
county treasurer for deposit in the county general fund. The
fees must be used by the county to pay for child support
enforcement efforts by county attorneys.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 357.021,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Fee amounts.

The fees to be charged and
collected by the court administrator shall be as follows:

(1) In every civil action or proceeding in said court,
including any case arising under the tax laws of the state that
could be transferred or appealed to the Tax Court, the
plaintiff, petitioner, or other moving party shall pay, when the
first paper is filed for that party in said action, a fee of
$235 new text begin , except in marriage dissolution actions the fee is $265 new text end .

The defendant or other adverse or intervening party, or any
one or more of several defendants or other adverse or
intervening parties appearing separately from the others, shall
pay, when the first paper is filed for that party in said
action, a fee of $235 new text begin , except in marriage dissolution actions
the fee is $265 new text end .

The party requesting a trial by jury shall pay $75.

The fees above stated shall be the full trial fee
chargeable to said parties irrespective of whether trial be to
the court alone, to the court and jury, or disposed of without
trial, and shall include the entry of judgment in the action,
but does not include copies or certified copies of any papers so
filed or proceedings under chapter 103E, except the provisions
therein as to appeals.

(2) Certified copy of any instrument from a civil or
criminal proceeding, $10, and $5 for an uncertified copy.

(3) Issuing a subpoena, $12 for each name.

(4) Filing a motion or response to a motion in civil,
family, excluding child support, and guardianship cases, $55.

(5) Issuing an execution and filing the return thereof;
issuing a writ of attachment, injunction, habeas corpus,
mandamus, quo warranto, certiorari, or other writs not
specifically mentioned, $40.

(6) Issuing a transcript of judgment, or for filing and
docketing a transcript of judgment from another court, $30.

(7) Filing and entering a satisfaction of judgment, partial
satisfaction, or assignment of judgment, $5.

(8) Certificate as to existence or nonexistence of
judgments docketed, $5 for each name certified to.

(9) Filing and indexing trade name; or recording basic
science certificate; or recording certificate of physicians,
osteopaths, chiropractors, veterinarians, or optometrists, $5.

(10) For the filing of each partial, final, or annual
account in all trusteeships, $40.

(11) For the deposit of a will, $20.

(12) For recording notary commission, $100, of which,
notwithstanding subdivision 1a, paragraph (b), $80 must be
forwarded to the commissioner of finance to be deposited in the
state treasury and credited to the general fund.

(13) Filing a motion or response to a motion for
modification of child support, a fee fixed by rule or order of
the Supreme Court.

(14) All other services required by law for which no fee is
provided, such fee as compares favorably with those herein
provided, or such as may be fixed by rule or order of the court.

(15) In addition to any other filing fees under this
chapter, a surcharge in the amount of $75 must be assessed in
accordance with section 259.52, subdivision 14, for each
adoption petition filed in district court to fund the fathers'
adoption registry under section 259.52.

The fees in clauses (3) and (5) need not be paid by a
public authority or the party the public authority represents.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 517.08,
subdivision 1b, is amended to read:

Subd. 1b.

Term of license; fee; premarital education.

(a) The local registrar shall examine upon oath the party
applying for a license relative to the legality of the
contemplated marriage. If at the expiration of a five-day
period, on being satisfied that there is no legal impediment to
it, including the restriction contained in section 259.13, the
local registrar shall issue the license, containing the full
names of the parties before and after marriage, and county and
state of residence, with the county seal attached, and make a
record of the date of issuance. The license shall be valid for
a period of six months. In case of emergency or extraordinary
circumstances, a judge of the district court of the county in
which the application is made, may authorize the license to be
issued at any time before the expiration of the five days.
Except as provided in paragraph (b), the local registrar shall
collect from the applicant a fee of deleted text begin $85 deleted text end new text begin $95 new text end for administering
the oath, issuing, recording, and filing all papers required,
and preparing and transmitting to the state registrar of vital
statistics the reports of marriage required by this section. If
the license should not be used within the period of six months
due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, it may be
surrendered to the local registrar for cancellation, and in that
case a new license shall issue upon request of the parties of
the original license without fee. A local registrar who
knowingly issues or signs a marriage license in any manner other
than as provided in this section shall pay to the parties
aggrieved an amount not to exceed $1,000.

(b) The marriage license fee for parties who have completed
at least 12 hours of premarital education is deleted text begin $20 deleted text end new text begin $40 new text end . In order
to qualify for the reduced fee, the parties must submit a signed
and dated statement from the person who provided the premarital
education confirming that it was received. The premarital
education must be provided by a licensed or ordained minister or
the minister's designee, a person authorized to solemnize
marriages under section 517.18, or a person authorized to
practice marriage and family therapy under section 148B.33. The
education must include the use of a premarital inventory and the
teaching of communication and conflict management skills.

(c) The statement from the person who provided the
premarital education under paragraph (b) must be in the
following form:

"I, (name of educator), confirm that (names of both
parties) received at least 12 hours of premarital education that
included the use of a premarital inventory and the teaching of
communication and conflict management skills. I am a licensed
or ordained minister, a person authorized to solemnize marriages
under Minnesota Statutes, section 517.18, or a person licensed
to practice marriage and family therapy under Minnesota
Statutes, section 148B.33."

The names of the parties in the educator's statement must
be identical to the legal names of the parties as they appear in
the marriage license application. Notwithstanding section
138.17, the educator's statement must be retained for seven
years, after which time it may be destroyed.

(d) If section 259.13 applies to the request for a marriage
license, the local registrar shall grant the marriage license
without the requested name change. Alternatively, the local
registrar may delay the granting of the marriage license until
the party with the conviction:

(1) certifies under oath that 30 days have passed since
service of the notice for a name change upon the prosecuting
authority and, if applicable, the attorney general and no
objection has been filed under section 259.13; or

(2) provides a certified copy of the court order granting
it. The parties seeking the marriage license shall have the
right to choose to have the license granted without the name
change or to delay its granting pending further action on the
name change request.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 517.08,
subdivision 1c, is amended to read:

Subd. 1c.

Disposition of license fee.

(a) Of the
marriage license fee collected pursuant to subdivision 1b,
paragraph (a), $15 must be retained by the county. The local
registrar must pay $70 to the commissioner of finance to be
deposited as follows:

(1) $50 in the general fund;

(2) $3 in the special revenue fund to be appropriated to
the commissioner of education for parenting time centers under
section 119A.37;

(3) $2 in the special revenue fund to be appropriated to
the commissioner of health for developing and implementing the
MN ENABL program under section 145.9255;

(4) deleted text begin $10 deleted text end new text begin $20 new text end in the special revenue fund to be appropriated
to the commissioner of employment and economic development for
the displaced homemaker program under section 116L.96; and

(5) $5 in the special revenue fund to be appropriated to
the commissioner of human services for the Minnesota Healthy
Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood Initiative under section
256.742.

(b) Of the deleted text begin $20 deleted text end new text begin $40 new text end fee under subdivision 1b, paragraph (b),
$15 must be retained by the county. The local registrar must
pay deleted text begin $5 deleted text end new text begin $25 new text end to the commissioner of finance to be deleted text begin distributed
deleted text end new text begin deposited new text end as new text begin follows:
new text end

new text begin (1) $5 as new text end provided in paragraph (a), clauses (2) and (3) new text begin ;
and
new text end

new text begin (2) $20 in the special revenue fund to be appropriated to
the commissioner of employment and economic development for the
displaced homemaker program under section 116L.96 new text end .

(c) The increase in the marriage license fee under
paragraph (a) provided for in Laws 2004, chapter 273, and
disbursement of the increase in that fee to the special fund for
the Minnesota Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood
Initiative under paragraph (a), clause (5), is contingent upon
the receipt of federal funding under United States Code, title
42, section 1315, for purposes of the initiative.