1998 Minnesota Statutes

     629.72 Bail in cases of domestic assault or harassment. 

    Subdivision 1.    Definition; allowing detention in lieu 
 of citation; release.  (a) For purposes of this section, 
 "domestic abuse" has the meaning given in section 518B.01, 
 subdivision 2. 

    (b) Notwithstanding any other law or rule, an arresting 
 officer may not issue a citation in lieu of arrest and detention 
 to an individual charged with harassment or charged with 
 domestic abuse. 

    (c) Notwithstanding any other law or rule, an individual 
 who is arrested on a charge of harassing any person or of 
 domestic abuse must be brought to the police station or county 
 jail.  The officer in charge of the police station or the county 
 sheriff in charge of the jail shall issue a citation in lieu of 
 continued detention unless it reasonably appears to the officer 
 or sheriff that detention is necessary to prevent bodily harm to 
 the arrested person or another, or there is a substantial 
 likelihood the arrested person will fail to respond to a 
 citation. 

    (d) If the arrested person is not issued a citation by the 
 officer in charge of the police station or the county sheriff, 
 the arrested person must be brought before the nearest available 
 judge of the district court in the county in which the alleged 
 harassment or domestic abuse took place without unnecessary 
 delay as provided by court rule. 

    Subd. 2.    Judicial review; release; bail.  (a) The 
 judge before whom the arrested person is brought shall review 
 the facts surrounding the arrest and detention.  The prosecutor 
 or other appropriate person shall present relevant information 
 involving the victim's or the victim's family's account of the 
 alleged crime to the judge to be considered in determining the 
 arrested person's release.  The arrested person must be ordered 
 released pending trial or hearing on the person's personal 
 recognizance or on an order to appear or upon the execution of 
 an unsecured bond in a specified amount unless the judge 
 determines that release (1) will be inimical to public safety, 
 (2) will create a threat of bodily harm to the arrested person, 
 the victim of the alleged harassment or domestic abuse, or 
 another, or (3) will not reasonably assure the appearance of the 
 arrested person at subsequent proceedings.  

    (b) If the judge determines release is not advisable, the 
 judge may impose any conditions of release that will reasonably 
 assure the appearance of the person for subsequent proceedings, 
 or will protect the victim of the alleged harassment or domestic 
 abuse, or may fix the amount of money bail without other 
 conditions upon which the arrested person may obtain release.  
 If conditions of release are imposed, the judge shall issue a 
 written order for conditional release.  The court administrator 
 shall immediately distribute a copy of the order for conditional 
 release to the agency having custody of the arrested person and 
 shall provide the agency having custody of the arrested person 
 with any available information on the location of the victim in 
 a manner that protects the victim's safety.  Either the court or 
 its designee or the agency having custody of the arrested person 
 shall serve upon the defendant a copy of the order.  Failure to 
 serve the arrested person with a copy of the order for 
 conditional release does not invalidate the conditions of 
 release. 

    (c) If the judge imposes as a condition of release a 
 requirement that the person have no contact with the victim of 
 the alleged harassment or domestic abuse, the judge may also, on 
 its own motion or that of the prosecutor or on request of the 
 victim, issue an ex parte temporary restraining order under 
 section 609.748, subdivision 4, or an ex parte temporary order 
 for protection under section 518B.01, subdivision 7.  
 Notwithstanding section 518B.01, subdivision 7, paragraph (b), 
 or 609.748, subdivision 4, paragraph (c), the temporary order is 
 effective until the defendant is convicted or acquitted, or the 
 charge is dismissed, provided that upon request the defendant is 
 entitled to a full hearing on the restraining order under 
 section 609.748, subdivision 5, or on the order for protection 
 under section 518B.01.  The hearing must be held within seven 
 days of the defendant's request. 

    Subd. 2a.    Electronic monitoring as a condition of 
 pretrial release.  (a) Until the commissioner of corrections 
 has adopted standards governing electronic monitoring devices 
 used to protect victims of domestic abuse, the court, as a 
 condition of release, may not order a person arrested for a 
 crime described in section 609.135, subdivision 5a, paragraph 
 (b), to use an electronic monitoring device to protect a 
 victim's safety. 

    (b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a), district courts in the 
 tenth judicial district may order, as a condition of a release, 
 a person arrested on a charge of a crime described in section 
 609.135, subdivision 5a, paragraph (b), to use an electronic 
 monitoring device to protect the victim's safety.  The courts 
 shall make data on the use of electronic monitoring devices to 
 protect a victim's safety in the tenth judicial district 
 available to the commissioner of corrections to evaluate and to 
 aid in development of standards for the use of devices to 
 protect victims of domestic abuse.  

    Subd. 3.    Release.  If the arrested person is not 
 issued a citation by the officer in charge of the police station 
 or the county sheriff pursuant to subdivision 1, and is not 
 brought before a judge within the time limits prescribed by 
 court rule, the arrested person shall be released by the 
 arresting authorities, and a citation must be issued in lieu of 
 continued detention. 

    Subd. 4.    Service of restraining order or order for 
 protection.  If a restraining order is issued under section 
 609.748 or an order for protection is issued under section 
 518B.01 while the arrested person is still in detention, the 
 order must be served upon the arrested person during detention 
 if possible. 

    Subd. 5.    Violations of conditions of release.  The 
 judge who released the arrested person shall issue a warrant 
 directing that the person be arrested and taken immediately 
 before the judge, if the judge: 

    (1) receives an application alleging that the arrested 
 person has violated the conditions of release; and 

    (2) finds that probable cause exists to believe that the 
 conditions of release have been violated. 

    Subd. 6.    Notice regarding release of arrested person. 
  (a) Immediately after issuance of a citation in lieu of 
 continued detention under subdivision 1, or the entry of an 
 order for release under subdivision 2, but before the arrested 
 person is released, the agency having custody of the arrested 
 person or its designee must make a reasonable and good faith 
 effort to inform orally the alleged victim, local law 
 enforcement agencies known to be involved in the case, if 
 different from the agency having custody, and, at the victim's 
 request any local battered women's programs established under 
 section 611A.32 or sexual assault programs of: 

    (1) the conditions of release, if any; 

    (2) the time of release; 

    (3) the time, date, and place of the next scheduled court 
 appearance of the arrested person and the victim's right to be 
 present at the court appearance; and 

    (4) if the arrested person is charged with domestic abuse, 
 the location and telephone number of the area battered women's 
 shelter as designated by the department of corrections. 

    (b) As soon as practicable after an order for conditional 
 release is entered, the agency having custody of the arrested 
 person or its designee must personally deliver or mail to the 
 alleged victim a copy of the written order and written notice of 
 the information in paragraph (a), clauses (2) and (3). 

    Subd. 7.    Notice to victim regarding bail hearing.  
 When a person arrested for or a juvenile detained for domestic 
 assault or harassment is scheduled to be reviewed under 
 subdivision 2 for release from pretrial detention, the court 
 shall make a reasonable good faith effort to notify:  (1) the 
 victim of the alleged crime; (2) if the victim is incapacitated 
 or deceased, the victim's family; and (3) if the victim is a 
 minor, the victim's parent or guardian.  The notification must 
 include: 

    (a) the date and approximate time of the review; 

    (b) the location where the review will occur; 

    (c) the name and telephone number of a person that can be 
 contacted for additional information; and 

    (d) a statement that the victim and the victim's family may 
 attend the review. 

    HIST: 1978 c 724 s 3; 1983 c 226 s 2; 1984 c 433 s 2,3; 1985 c 
 265 art 10 s 1; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 115 s 1-3; 1991 c 272 s 17; 
 1992 c 571 art 6 s 24; 1993 c 326 art 2 s 31; 1995 c 226 art 7 s 
 20-22; 1996 c 380 s 1-3