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549.09 INTEREST ON VERDICTS, AWARDS, AND JUDGMENTS.
    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 paragraph (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 paragraph (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 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.
    Subd. 2. Accrual of interest. During each calendar year, interest shall accrue on the unpaid
balance of the judgment or award from the time that it is entered or made until it is paid, at the
annual rate provided in subdivision 1. The court administrator shall compute and add the accrued
interest to the total amount to be collected when the execution is issued and compute the amount
of daily interest accruing during the calendar year. The person authorized by statute to make the
levy shall compute and add interest from the date that the writ of execution was issued to the date
of service of the writ of execution and shall direct the daily interest to be computed and added
from the date of service until any money is collected as a result of the levy.
    Subd. 3. Deductions. If an affidavit is filed pursuant to subdivision 4, a judgment creditor,
or the judgment creditor's attorney or agent, is entitled to deduct from any payment made upon
a judgment, whether the payment is made voluntarily by or on behalf of the judgment debtor,
or is collected by legal process, all disbursements that are made taxable by statute or by rule of
court, that have been paid or incurred by the judgment creditor or the judgment creditor's attorney,
after the entry of judgment. Any remaining portion of the payment must be applied to the interest
that has accrued upon the unpaid principal balance of the judgment before any remaining part is
applied to reduce the unpaid principal balance of the judgment.
    Subd. 4. Affidavit. A judgment creditor, or the judgment creditor's attorney, may file an
affidavit specifying the nature and amount of taxable disbursements paid or incurred by the
judgment creditor, or the judgment creditor's attorney, after the entry of judgment. An execution
issued by the court administrator must include increased disbursements as are included in the
affidavit filed with the court administrator.
History: (9477) RL s 4344; 1909 c 371 s 1; 1979 c 105 s 1; 1980 c 509 s 179; 1984 c 399 s
1; 1984 c 472 s 2; 1986 c 455 s 81; 1Sp1986 c 3 art 1 s 82; 1987 c 273 s 3; 1988 c 503 s 1; 1991 c
266 s 10; 1991 c 321 s 7; 1992 c 363 art 1 s 8; 1993 c 321 s 5; 1994 c 465 art 1 s 58; 2002 c 247 s 1

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes