Minnesota Session Laws - 2002, Regular Session

                            CHAPTER 247-H.F.No. 3584 
                  An act relating to judgments; changing the formula for 
                  certain calculations; amending Minnesota Statutes 
                  2000, section 549.09, subdivision 1. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 549.09, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [WHEN OWED; RATE.] (a) When a judgment or 
        award is for the recovery of money, including a judgment for the 
        recovery of taxes, interest from the time of the verdict, award, 
        or report until judgment is finally entered shall be computed by 
        the court administrator or arbitrator as provided in clause (c) 
        and added to the judgment or award.  
           (b) Except as otherwise provided by contract or allowed by 
        law, preverdict, preaward, or prereport interest on pecuniary 
        damages shall be computed as provided in clause (c) from the 
        time of the commencement of the action or a demand for 
        arbitration, or the time of a written notice of claim, whichever 
        occurs first, except as provided herein.  The action must be 
        commenced within two years of a written notice of claim for 
        interest to begin to accrue from the time of the notice of 
        claim.  If either party serves a written offer of settlement, 
        the other party may serve a written acceptance or a written 
        counteroffer within 30 days.  After that time, interest on the 
        judgment or award shall be calculated by the judge or arbitrator 
        in the following manner.  The prevailing party shall receive 
        interest on any judgment or award from the time of commencement 
        of the action or a demand for arbitration, or the time of a 
        written notice of claim, or as to special damages from the time 
        when special damages were incurred, if later, until the time of 
        verdict, award, or report only if the amount of its offer is 
        closer to the judgment or award than the amount of the opposing 
        party's offer.  If the amount of the losing party's offer was 
        closer to the judgment or award than the prevailing party's 
        offer, the prevailing party shall receive interest only on the 
        amount of the settlement offer or the judgment or award, 
        whichever is less, and only from the time of commencement of the 
        action or a demand for arbitration, or the time of a written 
        notice of claim, or as to special damages from when the special 
        damages were incurred, if later, until the time the settlement 
        offer was made.  Subsequent offers and counteroffers supersede 
        the legal effect of earlier offers and counteroffers.  For the 
        purposes of clause (2), the amount of settlement offer must be 
        allocated between past and future damages in the same proportion 
        as determined by the trier of fact.  Except as otherwise 
        provided by contract or allowed by law, preverdict, preaward, or 
        prereport interest shall not be awarded on the following:  
           (1) judgments, awards, or benefits in workers' compensation 
        cases, but not including third-party actions; 
           (2) judgments or awards for future damages; 
           (3) punitive damages, fines, or other damages that are 
        noncompensatory in nature; 
           (4) judgments or awards not in excess of the amount 
        specified in section 491A.01; and 
           (5) that portion of any verdict, award, or report which is 
        founded upon interest, or costs, disbursements, attorney fees, 
        or other similar items added by the court or arbitrator. 
           (c) The interest shall be computed as simple interest per 
        annum.  The rate of interest shall be based on the secondary 
        market yield of one year United States treasury bills, 
        calculated on a bank discount basis as provided in this section. 
           On or before the 20th day of December of each year the 
        state court administrator shall determine the rate from the 
        secondary market yield on one year United States treasury 
        bills one-year constant maturity treasury yield for the most 
        recent calendar month, reported on a monthly basis in the latest 
        statistical release of the board of governors of the federal 
        reserve system.  This yield, rounded to the nearest one percent, 
        or four percent, whichever is greater, shall be the annual 
        interest rate during the succeeding calendar year.  The state 
        court administrator shall communicate the interest rates to the 
        court administrators and sheriffs for use in computing the 
        interest on verdicts and shall make the interest rates available 
        to arbitrators. 
           When a judgment creditor, or the judgment creditor's 
        attorney or agent, has received a payment after entry of 
        judgment, whether the payment is made voluntarily by or on 
        behalf of the judgment debtor, or is collected by legal process 
        other than execution levy where a proper return has been filed 
        with the court administrator, the judgment creditor, or the 
        judgment creditor's attorney, before applying to the court 
        administrator for an execution shall file with the court 
        administrator an affidavit of partial satisfaction.  The 
        affidavit must state the dates and amounts of payments made upon 
        the judgment after the most recent affidavit of partial 
        satisfaction filed, if any; the part of each payment that is 
        applied to taxable disbursements and to accrued interest and to 
        the unpaid principal balance of the judgment; and the accrued, 
        but the unpaid interest owing, if any, after application of each 
        payment. 
           (d) This section does not apply to arbitrations between 
        employers and employees under chapter 179 or 179A.  An 
        arbitrator is neither required to nor prohibited from awarding 
        interest under chapter 179 or under section 179A.16 for 
        essential employees. 
           Presented to the governor March 20, 2002 
           Signed by the governor March 21, 2002, 3:10 p.m.