Minnesota Session Laws - 2016, Regular Session

CHAPTER 148--H.F.No. 3328

An act

relating to claims against the state; providing for payment of awards under the Imprisonment and Exoneration Remedies Act; clarifying legislative consideration of exoneration compensation awards; providing for payment of injury and medical claims against the Department of Corrections; appropriating money; providing for claims for loss, damage, or destruction of property of patients or inmates of a state institution; establishing a claim limit of $7,000 for settlement by the commissioners of human services, veterans affairs, or corrections for property claims made by patients or inmates and medical claims made by conditionally released offenders; increasing claims filing fee;

amending Minnesota Statutes 2014, sections 3.736, subdivision 3; 3.739, subdivision 2; 3.749; 611.367; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 3.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

ARTICLE 1

IMPRISONMENT AND EXONERATION REMEDIES ACT

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 611.367, is amended to read:

611.367 COMPENSATING EXONERATED PERSONS; APPROPRIATIONS PROCESS.

The compensation panel established in section 611.363 shall forward deleted text begin a final deleted text end new text begin an new text end award of damages under section 611.365 to the commissioner of management and budget. The commissioner shall submit the amount of the deleted text begin final deleted text end award to the legislature for consideration new text begin as an appropriation new text end during the next session of the legislature.

Sec. 2.

new text begin EXONERATION AWARDS. new text end

new text begin The amounts in this section are appropriated in fiscal year 2017 from the general fund to the commissioner of management and budget for full payment of awards of damages under the Imprisonment and Exoneration Remedies Act, Minnesota Statutes, sections 611.362 to 611.368. This appropriation is available until June 30, 2017, for payment to: new text end

new text begin (1) Michael Ray Hansen, $916,828.76; new text end

new text begin (2) Koua Fong Lee, $395,148.13; and new text end

new text begin (3) Roger Lee Olsen, $475,000. new text end

ARTICLE 2

INJURY AND MEDICAL CLAIMS

Section 1.

new text begin DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS. new text end

new text begin The amounts in this section are appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of corrections in fiscal year 2017 for full and final payment under Minnesota Statutes, sections 3.738 and 3.739, of claims against the state for losses suffered while incarcerated in a state correctional facility or for injuries suffered by and medical services provided to persons injured while performing community service or sentence-to-service work for correctional purposes or while incarcerated in a state correctional facility. This appropriation is available until June 30, 2017: new text end

new text begin (1) for sentence-to-service and community work service claims under $500 and other claims already paid by the department, $608.79; new text end

new text begin (2) for payment to Laron Brown for permanent injuries to his left middle finger sustained while performing assigned duties at Minnesota Correctional Facility - Faribault, $2,250; new text end

new text begin (3) for payment to medical providers for treatment of Alexsander Cedarblade for injuries sustained while performing sentence-to-service work in Isanti County, $2,398.28; new text end

new text begin (4) for payment to medical providers for treatment of Nathan Eckstein for injuries sustained while performing sentence-to-service work in Brown County, $1,083.58; and new text end

new text begin (5) for payment to Michael Merrill for permanent injuries to his neck sustained while performing assigned duties at Minnesota Correctional Facility - Stillwater, $4,800. new text end

ARTICLE 3

CLAIMS PROCEDURES AND LIMITS

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 3.736, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Exclusions.

Without intent to preclude the courts from finding additional cases where the state and its employees should not, in equity and good conscience, pay compensation for personal injuries or property losses, the legislature declares that the state and its employees are not liable for the following losses:

(a) a loss caused by an act or omission of a state employee exercising due care in the execution of a valid or invalid statute or rule;

(b) a loss caused by the performance or failure to perform a discretionary duty, whether or not the discretion is abused;

(c) a loss in connection with the assessment and collection of taxes;

(d) a loss caused by snow or ice conditions on a highway or public sidewalk that does not abut a publicly owned building or a publicly owned parking lot, except when the condition is affirmatively caused by the negligent acts of a state employee;

(e) a loss caused by wild animals in their natural state, except as provided in section 3.7371;

(f) a loss other than injury to or loss of property or personal injury or death;

(g) a loss caused by the condition of unimproved real property owned by the state, which means land that the state has not improved, state land that contains idled or abandoned mine pits or shafts, and appurtenances, fixtures, and attachments to land that the state has neither affixed nor improved;

(h) a loss involving or arising out of the use or operation of a recreational motor vehicle, as defined in section 84.90, subdivision 1, within the right-of-way of a trunk highway, as defined in section 160.02, except that the state is liable for conduct that would entitle a trespasser to damages against a private person;

(i) a loss incurred by a user arising from the construction, operation, or maintenance of the outdoor recreation system, as defined in section 86A.04, or for a loss arising from the construction, operation, maintenance, or administration of grants-in-aid trails as defined in section 85.018, or for a loss arising from the construction, operation, or maintenance of a water access site created by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, except that the state is liable for conduct that would entitle a trespasser to damages against a private person. For the purposes of this clause, a water access site, as defined in section 86A.04 or created by the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, that provides access to an idled, water filled mine pit, also includes the entire water filled area of the pit and, further, includes losses caused by the caving or slumping of the mine pit walls;

(j) a loss of benefits or compensation due under a program of public assistance or public welfare, except if state compensation for loss is expressly required by federal law in order for the state to receive federal grants-in-aid;

(k) a loss based on the failure of a person to meet the standards needed for a license, permit, or other authorization issued by the state or its agents;

(l) a loss based on the usual care and treatment, or lack of care and treatment, of a person at a state hospital or state corrections facility where reasonable use of available appropriations has been made to provide care;

(m) loss, damage, or destruction of property of a patient or inmate of a state institution new text begin new text end new text begin except new text end new text begin as provided under section 3.7381 new text end ;

(n) a loss for which recovery is prohibited by section 169A.48, subdivision 2;

(o) a loss caused by an aeration, bubbler, water circulation, or similar system used to increase dissolved oxygen or maintain open water on the ice of public waters, that is operated under a permit issued by the commissioner of natural resources;

(p) a loss incurred by a visitor to the Minnesota Zoological Garden, except that the state is liable for conduct that would entitle a trespasser to damages against a private person;

(q) a loss arising out of a person's use of a logging road on public land that is maintained exclusively to provide access to timber on that land by harvesters of the timber, and is not signed or otherwise held out to the public as a public highway; and

(r) a loss incurred by a user of property owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by the Minnesota National Guard or the Department of Military Affairs, except that the state is liable for conduct that would entitle a trespasser to damages against a private person.

The state will not pay punitive damages.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2016. new text end

Sec. 2.

new text begin [3.7381] LOSS, DAMAGE, OR DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY; STATE INSTITUTIONS; CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES. new text end

new text begin (a) The commissioners of human services, veterans affairs, or corrections, as appropriate, shall determine, adjust, and settle, at any time, claims and demands of $7,000 or less arising from negligent loss, damage, or destruction of property of a patient of a state institution under the control of the commissioner of human services or the commissioner of veterans affairs or an inmate of a state correctional facility. new text end

new text begin (b) A claim of more than $7,000, or a claim that was not paid by the appropriate department may be presented to, heard, and determined by the appropriate committees of the senate and the house of representatives and, if approved, shall be paid pursuant to legislative claims procedure. new text end

new text begin (c) The procedure established by this section is exclusive of all other legal, equitable, and statutory remedies. new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2016. new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 3.739, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Evaluation and payment of claims.

Claims of deleted text begin $500 deleted text end new text begin $7,000 new text end or less subject to this section shall be investigated by the state or local agency responsible for supervising the work to determine if the claim is valid and if the loss is covered by the claimant's insurance. The investigating agency shall submit all appropriate claims to the Department of Corrections. Subject to the limitations contained in subdivision 2a, the department shall pay the portion of an approved claim that is not covered by the claimant's insurance. This payment shall be made within a reasonable time. On or before the first day of each legislative session, the department shall submit to the appropriate committees of the senate and the house of representatives a list of the claims paid by it during the preceding calendar year and shall be reimbursed by legislative appropriation for the claims paid. For the purposes of this paragraph, in the case of a juvenile claimant the term "claimant's insurance" includes the insurance of the juvenile's parents if the juvenile is covered by the insurance.

A claim in excess of deleted text begin $500 deleted text end new text begin $7,000 new text end , and a claim that was not paid by the department may be presented to, heard, and determined by the appropriate committees of the senate and the house of representatives and, if approved, shall be paid pursuant to legislative claims procedure.

No juvenile claimant receiving payment under this section may be identified by name either in the list of claimants submitted by the department or in the legislative appropriation.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2016. new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 3.749, is amended to read:

3.749 LEGISLATIVE CLAIMS; FILING FEE.

A person filing a claim with the joint senate-house of representatives Subcommittee on Claims must pay a filing fee of deleted text begin $5 deleted text end new text begin $8 new text end . The money must be deposited by the clerk of the subcommittee in the state treasury and credited to the general fund. A claimant who is successful in obtaining an award from the subcommittee shall be reimbursed for the fee paid.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2016. new text end

Presented to the governor May 20, 2016

Signed by the governor May 22, 2016, 4:50 p.m.