1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to courts; authorizing use of the Revenue 
  1.3             Recapture Act for collection of conciliation court 
  1.4             judgments; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 
  1.5             270A.03, subdivision 2; 270A.04, subdivision 3; 
  1.6             270A.07, subdivisions 2 and 4; 270A.09, subdivision 1; 
  1.7             270A.10; and 270A.11; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.8             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 491A. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 270A.03, 
  1.11  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 2.  [CLAIMANT AGENCY.] "Claimant agency" means any 
  1.13  state agency, as defined by section 14.02, subdivision 2, the 
  1.14  regents of the University of Minnesota, any district court of 
  1.15  the state, any county, any statutory or home rule charter city 
  1.16  presenting a claim for a municipal hospital or a public library, 
  1.17  a hospital district, any public agency responsible for child 
  1.18  support enforcement, any public agency responsible for the 
  1.19  collection of court-ordered restitution, and any public agency 
  1.20  established by general or special law that is responsible for 
  1.21  the administration of a low-income housing program.  "Claimant 
  1.22  agency" also includes a court that has issued an order on behalf 
  1.23  of a conciliation court judgment creditor under section 8. 
  1.24     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 270A.04, 
  1.25  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.26     Subd. 3.  [INFORMATION REQUIRED.] For each debt submitted, 
  1.27  the claimant agency shall provide the commissioner with the name 
  2.1   and social security number of the debtor and any other 
  2.2   identifying information required by rules promulgated by the 
  2.3   commissioner.  If the claimant agency is a court that issued an 
  2.4   order under section 8, the court shall provide the social 
  2.5   security number if it is available, but failure to provide the 
  2.6   social security number does not preclude the use of this chapter.
  2.7      Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 270A.07, 
  2.8   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  2.9      Subd. 2.  [SETOFF PROCEDURES.] (a) The commissioner, upon 
  2.10  receipt of notification, shall initiate procedures to detect any 
  2.11  refunds otherwise payable to the debtor.  When the commissioner 
  2.12  determines that a refund is due to a debtor whose debt was 
  2.13  submitted by a claimant agency, the commissioner shall first 
  2.14  deduct the fee in subdivision 1 and then remit the refund or the 
  2.15  amount claimed, whichever is less, to the agency.  In 
  2.16  transferring or remitting moneys to the claimant agency, the 
  2.17  commissioner shall provide information indicating the amount 
  2.18  applied against each debtor's obligation and, except in the case 
  2.19  of a court that issued an order under section 8, the debtor's 
  2.20  address listed on the tax return.  
  2.21     (b) The commissioner shall remit to the debtor the amount 
  2.22  of any refund due in excess of the debt submitted for setoff by 
  2.23  the claimant agency.  Notice of the amount setoff and address of 
  2.24  the claimant agency shall accompany any disbursement to the 
  2.25  debtor of the balance of a refund.  The notice shall also advise 
  2.26  the debtor of the right to contest the validity of the claim, 
  2.27  other than a claim based upon child support under section 
  2.28  518.171, 518.54, 518.551, or chapter 518C at a hearing, subject 
  2.29  to the restrictions in this paragraph.  The debtor must assert 
  2.30  this right by written request to the claimant agency, which 
  2.31  request the claimant agency must receive within 45 days of the 
  2.32  date of the notice.  This right does not apply to (1) issues 
  2.33  relating to the validity of the claim that have been previously 
  2.34  raised at a hearing under this section or section 270A.09; (2) 
  2.35  issues relating to the validity of the claim that were not 
  2.36  timely raised by the debtor under section 270A.08, subdivision 
  3.1   2; or (3) issues relating to the validity of the claim for which 
  3.2   a hearing is discretionary under section 270A.09. 
  3.3      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 270A.07, 
  3.4   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  3.5      Subd. 4.  [EFFECT OF TRANSFER OR PAYMENT.] (a) Except as 
  3.6   provided in paragraph (b), transfer or remittance of funds to a 
  3.7   claimant agency pursuant to this section constitutes payment of 
  3.8   the department's obligation to refund the sums as overpayments 
  3.9   of taxes or property tax credits or refunds.  Any action for the 
  3.10  setoff funds shall be made against the claimant agency pursuant 
  3.11  to section 270A.09.  
  3.12     (b) If the claimant agency is a court that issued an order 
  3.13  under section 8, and the department determines that the refund 
  3.14  should not have been withheld because the judgment had been 
  3.15  satisfied, the department may pay the refund to the debtor and 
  3.16  seek an adjustment from the court or the judgment creditor.  If 
  3.17  the debtor establishes that the order should not have been 
  3.18  issued because the debtor was exempt under section 8, 
  3.19  subdivision 1, paragraph (b), the department shall pay the 
  3.20  refund to the debtor and seek an adjustment from the court or 
  3.21  the judgment creditor. 
  3.22     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 270A.09, 
  3.23  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.24     Subdivision 1.  [HEARING.] (a) Except as provided in 
  3.25  paragraph (b), if a claimant agency receives written notice of a 
  3.26  debtor's intention to contest at hearing the claim upon which 
  3.27  the intended setoff is based, it shall initiate a hearing 
  3.28  according to contested case procedures established in the state 
  3.29  Administrative Procedure Act not later than 30 days after 
  3.30  receipt of the debtor's request for a hearing. 
  3.31     (b) If the claimant agency is a court that issued an order 
  3.32  under section 8, the hearing must be held pursuant to the rules 
  3.33  of civil procedure.  The only issue to be determined by the 
  3.34  court is the amount of the judgment that is unsatisfied. 
  3.35     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 270A.10, is 
  3.36  amended to read: 
  4.1      270A.10 [PRIORITY OF CLAIMS.] 
  4.2      If two or more debts, in a total amount exceeding the 
  4.3   debtor's refund, are submitted for setoff, the priority of 
  4.4   payment shall be as follows:  First, any delinquent tax 
  4.5   obligations of the debtor which are owed to the department shall 
  4.6   be satisfied.  Secondly, the refund shall be applied to debts 
  4.7   for child support based on the order in time in which the 
  4.8   commissioner received the debts.  Thirdly, the refund shall be 
  4.9   applied to payment of restitution obligations.  Fourthly, the 
  4.10  refund shall be applied to the remaining debts, other than a 
  4.11  debt based on a court order under section 8, based on the order 
  4.12  in time in which the commissioner received the debts.  Finally, 
  4.13  the refund must be applied to a debt based on a court order 
  4.14  under section 8. 
  4.15     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 270A.11, is 
  4.16  amended to read: 
  4.17     270A.11 [DATA PRIVACY.] 
  4.18     Private and confidential data on individuals may be 
  4.19  exchanged among the department, the taxpayer's rights advocate, 
  4.20  the attorney general, the claimant agency, and the debtor as 
  4.21  necessary to accomplish and effectuate the intent of sections 
  4.22  270A.01 to 270A.12, as provided by section 13.05, subdivision 4, 
  4.23  clause (b).  The department may disclose to the claimant agency 
  4.24  only the debtor's name, address, social security number and the 
  4.25  amount of the refund, and in the case of a joint return, the 
  4.26  name of the debtor's spouse, except that in the case of a 
  4.27  claimant agency that is a court that issued an order under 
  4.28  section 8, the department may disclose only the amount of the 
  4.29  refund.  Any person employed by, or formerly employed by, a 
  4.30  claimant agency who discloses any such information for any other 
  4.31  purpose, shall be subject to the civil and criminal penalties of 
  4.32  section 270B.18. 
  4.33     Sec. 8.  [491A.04] [ORDER FOR WITHHOLDING OF TAX REFUND 
  4.34  FROM CONCILIATION COURT JUDGMENT DEBTOR.] 
  4.35     Subdivision 1.  [PETITION.] (a) A conciliation court 
  4.36  judgment creditor may petition the district court for an order 
  5.1   providing that the amount of an unsatisfied conciliation court 
  5.2   judgment be withheld from any tax refund due the judgment debtor 
  5.3   as provided in chapter 270A, if: 
  5.4      (1) the judgment debtor is a natural person; 
  5.5      (2) the judgment debtor disclosure form was mailed under 
  5.6   section 491A.02, subdivision 9, and either 30 days have elapsed 
  5.7   since the judgment debtor returned the form, or the judgment 
  5.8   debtor failed to return the form; and 
  5.9      (3) the amount of the unsatisfied judgment is at least $100.
  5.10     The court administrator shall assist judgment creditors in 
  5.11  filing petitions under this subdivision and shall prepare a form 
  5.12  for use under paragraph (b).  The court administrator shall 
  5.13  establish procedures to notify judgment creditors of the option 
  5.14  of obtaining an order under this section. 
  5.15     (b) The petition served on the judgment debtor must include 
  5.16  a notice that the debtor's tax refund is not subject to 
  5.17  withholding if all of the debtor's earnings would be exempt 
  5.18  under section 550.37, subdivision 13, or if the debtor is a 
  5.19  recipient of public assistance funds that are exempt under 
  5.20  section 550.37, subdivision 14.  The notice must include a form 
  5.21  for claiming the exemption, which must be returned to the court. 
  5.22     Subd. 2.  [ORDER.] If the court finds that the requirements 
  5.23  of subdivision 1 are met and the debtor has not disclosed an 
  5.24  exemption under subdivision 1, paragraph (b), the court shall 
  5.25  order that the judgment be withheld from any tax refund due the 
  5.26  judgment debtor and forward the order to the department of 
  5.27  revenue. 
  5.28     Subd. 3.  [PAYMENT AND ENTRY OF SATISFACTION OF JUDGMENT.] 
  5.29  Upon receipt of money withheld under chapter 270A, the court 
  5.30  administrator shall transmit the payment to the judgment 
  5.31  creditor and enter partial or full satisfaction of the judgment 
  5.32  in the court's records.