Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Minnesota Session Laws - 1996, Regular Session
Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language
KEY: stricken = old language to be removed
underscored = new language to be added
CHAPTER 394-H.F.No. 2298
An act relating to government efficiency; extending
the effective period of certain exemptions granted by
the board of government innovation and cooperation;
authorizing multimember school board election
districts; amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, sections
122.23, subdivisions 2 and 18; 205A.12, subdivisions 2
and 5; and 465.797, by adding a subdivision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 122.23,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. (a) Upon a resolution of a school board in the
area proposed for consolidation or upon receipt of a petition
therefor executed by 25 percent of the voters resident in the
area proposed for consolidation or by 50 such voters, whichever
is lesser, the county auditor of the county which contains the
greatest land area of the proposed new district shall forthwith
cause a plat to be prepared. The resolution or petition shall
show the approximate area proposed for consolidation.
(b) The resolution or petition may propose the following:
(1) that the bonded debt of the component districts will be
paid according to the levies previously made for that debt under
chapter 475, or that the taxable property in the newly created
district will be taxable for the payment of all or a portion of
the bonded debt previously incurred by any component district as
provided in subdivision 16;
(2) that obligations for a capital loan or an energy loan
made according to section 216C.37 or sections 298.292 to 298.298
outstanding in a preexisting district as of the effective date
of consolidation remain solely with the preexisting district
that obtained the loan, or that all or a portion of the loan
obligations will be assumed by the newly created or enlarged
district and paid by the newly created or enlarged district on
behalf of the preexisting district that obtained the loan;
(3) that referendum levies previously approved by voters of
the component districts pursuant to section 124A.03, subdivision
2, or its predecessor provision, be combined as provided in
section 122.531, subdivision 2a or 2b, or that the referendum
levies be discontinued;
(4) that the board of the newly created district consist of
the number of members determined by the component districts,
which may be six or seven members elected according to
subdivision 18, or any number of existing school board members
of the component districts, and a method to gradually reduce the
membership to six or seven; or
(5) that separate election districts from which school
board members will be elected, the boundaries of these election
districts, and the initial term of the member elected from each
of these election districts be established.
The resolution must provide for election of board members
from one of the following options: single-member districts;
multimember districts; at large; or a combination of these
options. The resolution must include a plan for the orderly
transition to the option chosen.
A group of districts that operates a cooperative secondary
facility funded under section 124.494 may also propose a
temporary school board structure as specified in section
124.494, subdivision 7.
If a county auditor receives more than one request for a
plat and the requests involve parts of identical districts, the
auditor shall forthwith prepare a plat which in the auditor's
opinion best serves the educational interests of the inhabitants
of the districts or areas affected.
(c) The plat shall show:
(1) Boundaries of the proposed district, as determined by
the county auditor, and present district boundaries,
(2) The location of school buildings in the area proposed
as a new district and the location of school buildings in
adjoining districts,
(3) The boundaries of any proposed separate election
districts, and
(4) Other pertinent information as determined by the county
auditor.
Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 122.23,
subdivision 18, is amended to read:
Subd. 18. (a) The county auditor shall determine a date,
not less than 20 30 nor more than 60 days from the date that the
order setting the effective date of the consolidation according
to subdivision 13 was issued, upon which date shall be held a
special election in the district for the purpose of electing a
board of six members for terms as follows: two until the July 1
one year after the effective date of the consolidation, two
until the expiration of one year from said July 1, and two until
the expiration of two years from said July 1, to hold office of
four years and until a successor is elected and qualifies
according to provisions of law governing the election of board
members in independent districts. If the resolution or petition
for consolidation pursuant to subdivision 2 proposed that the
board of the newly created district consists of seven members,
then seven members shall be elected at this election for the
terms provided in this clause except that three members shall
hold office until the expiration of two years from said July 1.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, three members of the first board
must be elected to terms that expire on the first Monday in
January following the first regularly scheduled school district
general election that occurs more than six months after the
election of the first board and three members must be elected to
terms that expire on the first Monday in January following the
second school district general election that occurs more than
six months after the election of the first board. If the first
board consists of seven members, then four members may be
elected at either the first or second regularly scheduled school
district general election following the election of the first
board. If the resolution or petition for consolidation pursuant
to subdivision 2 proposed the establishment of separate election
districts, these members shall be elected from separate election
districts according to the provisions of that resolution or
petition and of chapter 205A.
(b) The county auditor shall give ten days' posted notice
of election in the area in which the election is to be held and
also if there be a newspaper published in the proposed new
district, one weeks' published notice shall be given. The
notice shall specify the time, place, and purpose of the
election.
(c) Any person desiring to be a candidate for a school
election shall file an application with the county auditor to
have the applicant's name placed on the ballot for such office,
specifying the term for which the application is made. The
application shall be filed not less than 12 21 days before the
election.
(d) The county auditor shall prepare, at the expense of the
county, necessary ballots for the election of officers, placing
thereon the names of the proposed candidates for each office.
The ballots shall be marked and signed as official ballots and
shall be used exclusively at the election. The county auditor
shall determine the number of voting precincts and the
boundaries of each. The county auditor shall determine the
location of polling places and the hours the polls shall be open
and shall appoint three election judges for each polling place
who shall act as clerks of election. Election judges shall
certify ballots and results to the county auditor for tabulation
and canvass.
(e) After making a canvass and tabulation, the county
auditor shall issue a certificate of election to the candidate
for each office who received the largest number of votes cast
for the office. The county auditor shall deliver such
certificate to the person entitled thereto by certified mail,
and each person so certified shall file an acceptance and oath
of office with the county auditor within 30 days of the date of
mailing of the certificate. A person who fails to qualify prior
to the time specified shall be deemed to have refused to serve,
but such filing may be made at any time before action to fill
vacancy has been taken.
(f) The board of each district included in the new enlarged
district shall continue to maintain school therein until the
effective date of the consolidation. Such boards shall have
power and authority only to make such contracts, to do such
things as are necessary to maintain properly the schools for the
period prior to that date, and to certify to the county auditor
according to levy limitations applicable to the component
districts the taxes collectible in the calendar year when the
consolidation becomes effective.
(g) It shall be the immediate duty of the newly elected
board of the new enlarged district, when the members thereof
have qualified and the board has been organized, to plan for the
maintenance of the school or schools of the new district for the
next school year, to enter into the necessary negotiations and
contracts for the employment of personnel, purchase of equipment
and supplies, and other acquisition and betterment purposes,
when authorized by the voters to issue bonds under the
provisions of chapter 475; and on the effective date of the
consolidation to assume the full duties of the care, management
and control of the new enlarged district. The board of the new
enlarged district shall give due consideration to the
feasibility of maintaining such existing attendance centers and
of establishing such other attendance centers, especially in
rural areas, as will afford equitable and efficient school
administration and assure the convenience and welfare of the
pupils residing in the enlarged district. The obligations of
the new board to teachers employed by component districts shall
be governed by the provisions of section 122.532. The
obligations of the new board to nonlicensed employees employed
by component districts is governed by subdivision 18a.
Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 205A.12,
subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2. [ELECTION.] Except in a school district located
wholly or partly within a city of the first class, upon
resolution of the board, made on its own motion or on
presentation of a petition substantially in the form required in
section 205A.13, signed by at least 50 electors of the district
or ten percent of the number of votes cast in the most recent
regular school board election, whichever is larger, the board
shall adopt a proposal to divide the district into as many
separate election districts as there are members of the board,
which. The proposal must designate one of the following options
for election of members: single-member districts, from which
one board member each must be elected; multimember districts,
from which two or three members each must be elected; a
combination of single-member and multimember districts; or a
combination of single-member or multimember districts, or both,
and election of one or more members at large. The proposal must
be submitted to an election under this chapter. If the election
is initiated by petition, the resolution calling the election
must be adopted within six months after the date of receipt of
the petition. Only one election within any two-year period may
be held under this section.
Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 205A.12,
subdivision 5, is amended to read:
Subd. 5. [BOARD ELECTIONS.] If the proposal for the
establishment of election districts is approved by the voters,
the board shall specify the election districts from which
vacancies shall be filled as they occur until such time as each
board member represents an election district. A candidate for
school board in a subsequent election must file an affidavit of
candidacy to be elected as a school board member for the
election district in which the candidate resides. If there are
as many election districts as there are members of the board,
one and only one member of the board shall be elected from each
election district. In school districts where one or more board
members are elected by election districts, candidates must
indicate on the affidavit of candidacy the number of the
district from which they seek election or, if appropriate, that
they seek election from one of the offices elected at large. If
the election districts have two or three members each, the terms
of the members must be staggered. Each board member must be a
resident of the election district for which elected but the
creation of an election district or a change in election
district boundaries shall not disqualify a board member from
serving for the remainder of a term.
Sec. 5. Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 465.797, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:
Subd. 5a. [EXEMPTIONS GRANTED IN 1995.] Notwithstanding
subdivision 5, exemptions from enforcement of law granted by the
board during calendar year 1995 remain in effect until June 30,
1999. This subdivision expires June 30, 1999.
Sec. 6. [EFFECTIVE DATE.]
This act is effective the day following final enactment.
Presented to the governor March 26, 1996
Signed by the governor March 28, 1996, 10:15 a.m.
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes