as introduced - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am
1.1 A bill for an act 1.2 relating to administrative rules; restricting the 1.3 amount of fines that may be imposed by rule; proposing 1.4 coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 14. 1.5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 1.6 Section 1. [14.045] [LIMIT ON PENALTIES.] 1.7 Subdivision 1. [LIMIT ON PENALTIES.] An agency may not 1.8 levy a total fine or penalty of more than $700 for a single 1.9 violation unless the agency has specific statutory authority to 1.10 levy a fine in excess of that amount. For purposes of the limit 1.11 in this section, an act or occurrence is a single violation even 1.12 if it continues for more than one day or affects more than one 1.13 person. 1.14 Subd. 2. [CRIMINAL PENALTY.] An agency may not establish a 1.15 criminal penalty unless the agency has specific statutory 1.16 authority to do so. 1.17 Subd. 3. [FACTORS.] (a) If a statute gives an agency 1.18 discretion over the amount of a fine, the agency must take the 1.19 following factors into account in determining the amount of the 1.20 fine: 1.21 (1) the willfulness of the violation; 1.22 (2) the gravity of the violation, including damage to 1.23 humans, animals, and the natural resources of the state; 1.24 (3) the history of past violations; 1.25 (4) the number of violations; 2.1 (5) the economic benefit gained by the person by allowing 2.2 or committing the violation; and 2.3 (6) other factors that justice may require. 2.4 (b) For a violation after an initial violation, the 2.5 following factors must be considered in addition to the factors 2.6 in paragraph (a): 2.7 (1) similarity of previous violations to the current 2.8 violation to be penalized; 2.9 (2) time elapsed since the last violation; 2.10 (3) number of previous violations; and 2.11 (4) response of the person to the most recent previous 2.12 violation identified. 2.13 Subd. 4. [EFFECT ON OTHER LAW.] This section does not 2.14 affect the right of an agency to deny a permit, revoke a 2.15 license, or take similar action, other than the imposition of a 2.16 fine, even if the cost of the denial, revocation, or other 2.17 action to the affected party exceeds $700. 2.18 Subd. 5. [EFFECTIVE DATE.] This section applies only to 2.19 fines and penalties imposed under rules adopted after August 1, 2.20 1996.