Minnesota Legislature
SF 2718
1st Engrossment - 88th Legislature (2013 - 2014) Posted on 04/25/2014 01:09pm
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A bill for an act
relating to judiciary; modifying the review process of district judge disposition
for compliance with 90-day disposition requirement; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2012, section 546.27, subdivision 2, by adding a subdivision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 546.27, is amended by adding a
subdivision to read:
new text begin Subd. 1a. new text end
new text begin Applicable compliance procedures. new text end
new text begin
Unless different procedures for
ensuring compliance with subdivision 1 are set by the Rules of the Board on Judicial
Standards, the procedures in subdivision 2 shall be used.
new text end
Sec. 2.
Minnesota Statutes 2012, section 546.27, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2.
Board deleted text begin ofdeleted text end new text begin onnew text end Judicial Standards review.
deleted text begin At least annually,deleted text end new text begin The chief judges
of the judicial districts andnew text end the Board on Judicial Standards shall review the compliance
of deleted text begin eachdeleted text end district deleted text begin judgedeleted text end new text begin judgesnew text end with the provisions of subdivision 1new text begin as provided in this
subdivisionnew text end . To facilitate this review, the director of the state judicial information system
shall deleted text begin notify the executive secretary of the state Board on Judicial Standards when a matter
exceedsdeleted text end new text begin provide monthly reports to the chief judges identifying matters that have exceeded
new text end 90 days without a disposition. deleted text begin The board shall notify the commissioner of management
and budget of each judge not in compliance. If the board finds that a judge has compelling
reasons for noncompliance, it may decide not to issue the notice.deleted text end Upon deleted text begin notification that
deleted text end new text begin the first 90-day infraction, the director shall notify the chief judge of the judge's district
that new text end a judge is not in compliancedeleted text begin , the commissioner of management and budget shall
not pay the salary of that judge. The board may cancel a notice of noncompliance upon
finding that a judge is in compliance, but in no event shall a judge be paid a salary for the
period in which the notification of noncompliance was in effectdeleted text end .new text begin The chief judge shall take
appropriate action to remedy the infraction. Upon a second 90-day infraction occurring on
or before five years from the date of the first infraction by the same judge, the director shall
again refer the matter to the chief judge. Within 45 days of the referral, the chief judge
shall develop a written plan with the judge to remedy the 90-day infraction and avoid
future 90-day infractions and notify the Board on Judicial Standards of the development of
the written plan. If the notification concerns a matter that was assigned to the chief judge,
the director shall notify the assistant chief judge of the district who shall develop a written
plan. At a minimum, the written plan must include measures taken to release timely
decisions, timelines for substantial compliance, and audit procedures to monitor progress.
If at any time the judge fails to follow the written plan, the chief judge, assistant chief
judge, or appointment shall notify the Board on Judicial Standards for further action. Upon
a third 90-day infraction on or before five years from the date of the first 90-day infraction,
the chief judge, assistant chief judge, or appointment shall notify the Board on Judicial
Standards, which shall take appropriate action. This section does not affect the chief
judge's duty under the Minnesota Code of Judicial Conduct to take appropriate action in
response to violations of the code. Should the board receive a complaint alleging a serious
violation of this section, the board's authority to review and act shall not be limited.
new text end