Minnesota Session Laws - 1987, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1987 

                        CHAPTER 331-H.F.No. 706 
           An act relating to juveniles; clarifying certain 
          recent changes to the juvenile court act; clarifying 
          the hearing and records procedures of the juvenile 
          court; providing for the enforcement of juvenile court 
          restitution orders; permitting administrative 
          docketing of certain unpaid county reimbursements; 
          clarifying certain crime victim notification and 
          protection laws; amending Minnesota Statutes 1986, 
          sections 260.155, subdivisions 1 and 1a; 260.156; 
          260.161; 260.185, by adding a subdivision; 548.091, 
          subdivision 1; 595.02, subdivision 4; 609.115, 
          subdivision 1; 609.3471; 611A.031; and 611A.035; 
          proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
          chapter 611A; repealing Minnesota Statutes 1986, 
          sections 609.115, subdivisions 1b and 1c; and 636.08. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 260.155, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL.] Except for hearings arising 
under section 260.261, hearings on any matter shall be without a 
jury and may be conducted in an informal manner.  The rules of 
evidence promulgated pursuant to section 480.0591 and the law of 
evidence shall apply in adjudicatory proceedings involving a 
child alleged to be delinquent, a habitual truant, a runaway, a 
juvenile petty offender, or a juvenile alcohol or controlled 
substance offender, and hearings conducted pursuant to section 
260.125 except to the extent that the rules themselves provide 
that they do not apply.  Hearings may be continued or adjourned 
from time to time and, in the interim, the court may make any 
orders as it deems in the best interests of the minor in 
accordance with the provisions of sections 260.011 to 260.301.  
The court shall exclude the general public from these hearings 
and shall admit only those persons who, in the discretion of the 
court, have a direct interest in the case or in the work of the 
court; except that, the court shall open the hearings to the 
public in delinquency proceedings where the child is alleged to 
have committed an offense or has been proven to have committed 
an offense that would be a felony if committed by an adult and 
the child was at least 16 years of age at the time of the 
hearing.  In all delinquency cases a person named in the 
charging clause of the petition as a person directly damaged in 
person or property shall be entitled, upon request, to be 
notified by the court administrator in writing, at the named 
person's last known address, of (1) the date of the reference or 
adjudicatory hearings, and (2) the disposition of the case.  
Adoption hearings shall be conducted in accordance with the 
provisions of laws relating to adoptions. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 260.155, 
subdivision 1a, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 1a.  [RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN PROCEEDINGS.] A child 
who is the subject of a petition, and the parents, guardian, 
or lawful custodian of the child, and any grandparent of the 
child with whom the child has resided within the past two years, 
have the right to participate in all proceedings on a petition.  
Any grandparent of the child has a right to participate in the 
proceedings to the same extent as a parent, if the child has 
lived with the grandparent within the two years preceding the 
filing of the petition.  At the first hearing following the 
filing of a petition, the court shall ask whether the child has 
lived with a grandparent within the last two years, except that 
the court need not make this inquiry if the petition states that 
the child did not live with a grandparent during this time 
period.  Failure to notify a grandparent of the proceedings is 
not a jurisdictional defect. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 260.156, is 
amended to read:  
    260.156 [CERTAIN OUT-OF-COURT STATEMENTS ADMISSIBLE.] 
    An out-of-court statement made by a child under the age of 
ten years, or a child over the age of ten years of age or older 
who is mentally impaired, as defined under section 609.341, 
subdivision 6, alleging, explaining, denying, or describing any 
act of sexual contact or penetration performed with or on the 
child or any act of physical abuse or neglect of the child by 
another, not otherwise admissible by statute or rule of 
evidence, is admissible in evidence in any dependency or, 
neglect, neglected and in foster care, or domestic child abuse 
proceeding or any proceeding for termination of parental rights 
if:  
    (a) the court finds that the time, content, and 
circumstances of the statement and the reliability of the person 
to whom the statement is made provide sufficient indicia of 
reliability; and 
    (b) the proponent of the statement notifies other parties 
of an intent to offer the statement and the particulars of the 
statement sufficiently in advance of the proceeding at which the 
proponent intends to offer the statement into evidence, to 
provide the parties with a fair opportunity to meet the 
statement.  
    For purposes of this section, an out-of-court statement 
includes a video, audio, or other recorded statement. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 260.161, is 
amended to read:  
    260.161 [RECORDS.] 
    Subdivision 1.  The juvenile court judge shall keep such 
minutes and in such manner as the judge court deems necessary 
and proper.  The court shall keep and maintain records 
pertaining to delinquent adjudications until the person reaches 
the age of 23 years and shall release the records on an 
individual to a requesting adult court for purposes of 
sentencing, or to an adult court or juvenile court as required 
by the right of confrontation of either the United States 
Constitution or the Minnesota Constitution.  The juvenile court 
shall provide, upon the request of any other juvenile court, 
copies of the records concerning adjudications involving the 
particular child.  The court shall also keep an index in which 
files pertaining to juvenile matters shall be indexed under the 
name of the juvenile child.  After the name of each file shall 
be shown the file number and, if ordered by the court, the book 
and page of the register in which the documents pertaining to 
such file are listed.  The court shall also keep a register 
properly indexed in which shall be listed under the name of 
the juvenile child all documents filed pertaining thereto to the 
child and in the order filed.  The list shall show the name of 
the document and the date of filing thereof.  The juvenile court 
legal records shall be deposited in files and shall include the 
petition, summons, notice, findings, orders, decrees, judgments, 
and motions and such other matters as the court deems necessary 
and proper.  The legal records maintained in this file shall be 
open at all reasonable times to the inspection of any minor 
child to whom the records relate, and to the minor's child's 
parent and guardian. 
    Subd. 2.  Except as provided in this subdivision and in 
subdivision 1, and except for legal records arising from 
proceedings that are public under section 260.155, subdivision 
1, none of the records of the juvenile court, including legal 
records and none of the records relating to an appeal from a 
nonpublic juvenile court proceeding, except the written 
appellate opinion, shall be open to public inspection or their 
contents disclosed except (a) by order of the a court or (b) as 
required by sections 611A.03, 611A.04, and 611A.06.  The records 
of juvenile probation officers and county home schools are 
records of the court for the purposes of this subdivision.  This 
subdivision applies to all proceedings under this chapter, 
including appeals from orders of the juvenile court, except that 
this subdivision does not apply to proceedings under 
sections section 260.255 and, 260.261, or 260.315 when the 
proceeding involves an adult defendant.  The court shall 
maintain the confidentiality of adoption files and records in 
accordance with the provisions of laws relating to adoptions.  
In juvenile court proceedings any report or social history 
furnished to the court shall be open to inspection by the 
attorneys of record and the guardian ad litem a reasonable time 
before it is used in connection with any proceeding before the 
court. 
    Subd. 3.  Peace officers' records of children shall be kept 
separate from records of persons 18 years of age or older and 
shall not be open to public inspection or their contents 
disclosed to the public except by order of the juvenile court or 
as authorized under chapter 13; except that traffic 
investigation reports may be open to inspection by a person who 
has sustained physical harm or economic loss as a result of the 
traffic accident.  No photographs of a child taken into custody 
for any purpose may be taken without the consent of the juvenile 
court unless the child is alleged to have violated section 
169.121 or 169.129.  Any person violating any of the provisions 
of this subdivision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.  
     Subd. 4.  [COURT RECORD RELEASED TO PROSECUTOR.] If a 
prosecutor has probable cause to believe that a person has 
committed a gross misdemeanor violation of section 169.121 or 
has violated section 169.129, and that a prior juvenile court 
adjudication forms, in part, the basis for the current 
violation, the prosecutor may file an application with the court 
having jurisdiction over the criminal matter attesting to this 
probable cause determination and seeking the relevant juvenile 
court records.  The court shall transfer the application to the 
juvenile court where the requested records are maintained, and 
the juvenile court shall release to the prosecutor any records 
relating to the person's prior juvenile traffic adjudication, 
including a transcript, if any, of the court's advisory of the 
right to counsel and the person's exercise or waiver of that 
right. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 260.185, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
     Subd. 3a.  [ENFORCEMENT OF RESTITUTION ORDERS.] If the 
court orders payment of restitution as a condition of probation 
and the child fails to pay the restitution ordered before 60 
days before the term of probation expires, the child's probation 
officer shall file a petition for violation of probation or 
shall ask the court to hold a hearing to determine whether the 
conditions of probation should be changed.  The court shall 
schedule and hold this hearing before the child's term of 
probation expires. 
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 548.091, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  [DOCKETING OF JUDGMENT.] A judgment for 
unpaid amounts under a judgment or decree of dissolution or 
legal separation, determination of parentage, an order under 
chapter 518C, or an order under section 256.87, or an order 
under section 260.251, any of which provide for installment or 
periodic payments of child support, maintenance, or both 
reimbursement to a county for the cost of care, examination, or 
treatment of a child, or any combination of those items, shall 
be entered and docketed by the court administrator only when 
ordered by the court or when the following conditions are met:  
    (a) The obligee or the public authority determines that the 
obligor is at least 30 days in arrears;  
    (b) The obligee or public authority serves a copy of an 
affidavit of default and notice of intent to enter judgment on 
the obligor by mail at the obligor's last known post office 
address.  Service shall be deemed complete upon mailing in the 
manner designated.  The affidavit shall state the full name, 
occupation, place of residence, and last known post office 
address of the obligor, the name and post office address of the 
obligee, the date of the first unpaid amount, the date of the 
last unpaid amount, and the total amount unpaid;  
    (c) The obligor fails within 20 days after mailing of the 
notice either to pay all unpaid amounts or to request a hearing 
on the issue of whether arrears claimed owing have been paid and 
to seek, ex parte, a stay of entry of judgment; and 
    (d) Not less than 20 days after service on the obligor in 
the manner provided, the obligee or public authority files with 
the court administrator the affidavit of default together with 
proof of service and, if payments have been received by the 
obligee or public authority since execution of the affidavit of 
default, a supplemental affidavit setting forth the amount of 
payment received.  
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 595.02, 
subdivision 4, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 4.  [COURT ORDER.] (a) In a proceeding in which a 
child less than ten years of age is alleging, denying, or 
describing an act of physical abuse or an act of sexual contact 
or penetration performed with or on the child by another, the 
court may, upon its own motion or upon the motion of any party, 
order that the testimony of the child be taken in a room other 
than the courtroom or in the courtroom and televised at the same 
time by closed-circuit equipment, or recorded for later showing 
to be viewed by the jury in the proceeding.  
    (b) At the taking of testimony under this subdivision, only 
the judge, the attorneys for the defendant and for the state, 
any person whose presence would contribute to the welfare and 
well-being of the child, and persons necessary to operate the 
recording or closed-circuit equipment and, in a child protection 
proceeding under chapter 260 or a dissolution or custody 
proceeding under chapter 518, the attorneys for those parties 
with a right to participate may be present with the child during 
the child's testimony.  
    (c) The court shall permit the defendant in a criminal or 
delinquency matter to observe and hear the testimony of the 
child in person.  If the court, upon its own motion or the 
motion of any party, determines that the presence of the 
defendant during testimony taken pursuant to this subdivision 
would psychologically traumatize the witness so as to render the 
witness unavailable to testify, the court may order that the 
testimony be taken in a manner that:  
    (1) the defendant can see and hear the testimony of the 
child in person and communicate with counsel, but the child 
cannot see or hear the defendant; or 
    (2) the defendant and child can view each other by video or 
television monitor from separate rooms. 
      Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 609.115, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [PRESENTENCE INVESTIGATION.] When a 
defendant has been convicted of a misdemeanor or gross 
misdemeanor, the court may, and when the defendant has been 
convicted of a felony, the court shall, before sentence is 
imposed, cause a presentence investigation and written report to 
be made to the court concerning the defendant's individual 
characteristics, circumstances, needs, potentialities, criminal 
record and social history, the circumstances of the offense and 
the harm caused by it to others and to the community.  The 
report shall also include the information relating to crime 
victims required under section 12, subdivision 1.  If the court 
directs, the report shall include an estimate of the prospects 
of the defendant's rehabilitation and recommendations as to the 
sentence which should be imposed.  In misdemeanor cases the 
report may be oral. 
    When a defendant has been convicted of a felony, and before 
sentencing, the court shall cause a sentencing worksheet to be 
completed to facilitate the application of the Minnesota 
sentencing guidelines.  The worksheet shall be submitted as part 
of the presentence investigation report.  
    The investigation shall be made by a probation officer of 
the court, if there is one, otherwise by the commissioner of 
corrections.  The officer conducting the presentence or 
predispositional investigation shall make reasonable and good 
faith efforts to contact the victim of that crime and to provide 
that victim with the information required under section 12, 
subdivision 2. 
    Pending the presentence investigation and report, the court 
with the consent of the commissioner may commit the defendant to 
the custody of the commissioner of corrections who shall return 
the defendant to the court when the court so orders. 
    Presentence investigations shall be conducted and summary 
hearings held upon reports and upon the sentence to be imposed 
upon the defendant in accordance with this section, section 
244.10, and the rules of criminal procedure. 
    Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 609.3471, is 
amended to read:  
    609.3471 [RECORDS PERTAINING TO VICTIM IDENTITY 
CONFIDENTIAL.] 
    Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no 
data contained in records or reports relating to petitions, 
complaints, or indictments issued pursuant to section 609.342, 
clause (a), (b), (g), or (h); 609.343, clause (a), (b), (g), or 
(h); 609.344, clause (a), (b), (e), (f), or (g); or 609.345, 
clause (a), (b), (e), (f), or (g) which specifically identifies 
the victim shall be accessible to the public, except by order of 
the court.  Nothing in this section authorizes denial of access 
to any other data contained in the records or reports, including 
the identity of the defendant. 
    Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 611A.031, is 
amended to read:  
    611A.031 [VICTIM INPUT REGARDING PRETRIAL DIVERSION.] 
    A prosecutor shall make every reasonable effort to notify 
and seek input from the victim prior to the referral referring a 
person into a pretrial diversion program in lieu of prosecution 
for a violation of sections 609.185, 609.19, 609.195, 609.20, 
609.205, 609.221, 609.222, 609.223, 609.224, 609.24, 609.245, 
609.25, 609.255, 609.342, 609.343, 609.344, 609.345, 609.365, 
609.498, 609.561, 609.582, subdivision 1, and 609.687. 
    Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 611A.035, is 
amended to read:  
    611A.035 [CONFIDENTIALITY OF VICTIM'S ADDRESS.] 
    No victim or witness providing testimony in court 
proceedings may be compelled to state the victim's his or her 
home or employment address on the record in open court unless 
the court finds that the testimony would be relevant evidence. 
      Sec. 12.  [611A.037] [PRESENTENCE INVESTIGATION; VICTIM 
IMPACT; NOTICE.] 
     Subdivision 1.  [VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT.] A presentence 
investigation report prepared under section 609.115 shall 
include the following information relating to victims: 
     (a) a summary of the damages or harm and any other problems 
generated by the criminal occurrence; 
     (b) a concise statement of what disposition the victim 
deems appropriate for the defendant or juvenile court 
respondent, including reasons given, if any, by the victim in 
support of the victim's opinion; and 
     (c) an attachment to the report, consisting of the victim's 
written objections, if any, to the proposed disposition if the 
victim provides the officer conducting the presentence 
investigation with this written material within a reasonable 
time prior to the disposition. 
    Subd. 2.  [NOTICE TO VICTIM.] The officer conducting a 
presentence or predispositional investigation shall make 
reasonable and good faith efforts to contact the victim of that 
crime and to provide that victim with the following information: 
(i) the charge or juvenile court petition to which the defendant 
has been convicted or pleaded guilty, or the juvenile respondent 
has admitted in court or has been found to have committed by the 
juvenile court, and of any plea agreement between the 
prosecution and the defense counsel; (ii) the victim's right to 
request restitution pursuant to section 611A.04; (iii) the time 
and place of the sentencing or juvenile court disposition and 
the victim's right to be present; and (iv) the victim's right to 
object in writing to the court, prior to the time of sentencing 
or juvenile court disposition, to the proposed sentence or 
juvenile dispositional alternative, or to the terms of the 
proposed plea agreement.  To assist the victim in making a 
recommendation under clause (iv), the officer shall provide the 
victim with information about the court's options for sentencing 
and other dispositions.  Failure of the officer to comply with 
this subdivision does not give any rights or grounds for 
postconviction or postjuvenile disposition relief to the 
defendant or juvenile court respondent, nor does it entitle a 
defendant or a juvenile court respondent to withdraw a plea of 
guilty. 
    Sec. 13.  [REPEALER.] 
    Minnesota Statutes 1986, sections 609.115, subdivisions 1b 
and 1c; and 636.08, are repealed. 
    Approved May 29, 1987