1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to public safety; expanding the crime of forgery;amending Minnesota 
1.3 	Statutes 2018, section 609.63, subdivision 1.
1.4 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.5 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 609.63, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.6 		Subdivision 1.Crime defined; intent to defraud. Whoever, with intent to injure or 
1.7 	defraud, does any of the following is guilty of forgery and may be sentenced to imprisonment 
1.8 	for not more than three years or to payment of a fine of not more than $5,000, or both:
1.9 	(1) uses a false writing, knowing it to be false, for the purpose of identification or 
1.10 	recommendation; or
1.11 	(2) without consent, places, or possesses with intent to place, upon any merchandise an 
1.12 	identifying label or stamp which is or purports to be that of another craftsperson, tradesperson, 
1.13 	packer, or manufacturer, or disposes or possesses with intent to dispose of any merchandise 
1.14 	so labeled or stamped; or
1.15 	(3) falsely makes or alters a membership card purporting to be that of a fraternal, business, 
1.16 	professional, or other association, or of any labor union, or possesses any such card knowing 
1.17 	it to have been thus falsely made or altered; or
1.18 	(4) falsely makes or alters a writing, or possesses a falsely made or altered writing, 
1.19 	evidencing a right to transportation on a common carrier; or
1.20 	(5) destroys, mutilates, or by alteration, false entry or omission, falsifies any record, 
1.21 	account, or other document relating to a private business; or
2.1 	(6) without authority of law, destroys, mutilates, or by alteration, false entry, or omission, 
2.2 	falsifies any record, account, or other document relating to a person, corporation, or business, 
2.3 	or filed in the office of, or deposited with, any public office or officer; or
2.4 	(7) destroys a writing or object to prevent it from being produced at a trial, hearing, or 
2.5 	other proceeding authorized by law~~.~~; or
2.6 	(8) places, or possesses with intent to place, upon any merchandise or supplies a label 
2.7 	or stamp that falsely represents that the merchandise or supplies have been tested, certified, 
2.8 	or listed by a testing agency or laboratory or comply with applicable state or municipal 
2.9 	building codes or fire safety codes.

2.10 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective August 1, 2019, and applies to crimes 
2.11 	committed on or after that date.