Opinion
Nos. CX-89-1863 and C4-94-1646.
Dated: November 19, 2009.
ORDER
In its report filed August 31, 2009, the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the General Rules of Practice recommended amendments to the General Rules of Practice for the District Courts and the Special Rules of Procedure Governing Proceedings under the Minnesota Commitment and Treatment Act. This court established a deadline of November 9, 2009, for submitting comments on the proposal. The court has reviewed the proposals and the submitted comments, and is fully advised in the premises.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1. The attached amendments to the General Rules of Practice for the District Courts and the Special Rules of Procedure Governing Proceedings under the Minnesota Commitment and Treatment Act be, and the same are, prescribed and promulgated to be effective on January 1, 2010.
2. The attached amendments shall apply to all actions pending on the effective date and to those filed thereafter.
3. The inclusion of Advisory Committee comments is made for convenience and does not reflect court approval of the comments made therein.
AMENDMENTS TO THE GENERAL RULES OF PRACTICE FOR THE DISTRICT COURTS [Note: new material is indicated by underscoring, except committee comments, which are all new; deleted material is indicated by strikethrough except that forms being transferred to the website are not indicated by strikethrough.]Forms Transfer to Website. The following forms are deleted from the Rules and shall be maintained by State Court Administration on the court's website.
1. Form 5, Pro Hac Vice
2. From 11.1, Confidential Information Form
3. Form 11.2, Sealed Financial Source Documents Cover Sheet
4. Form UCF-8 Statement of Claim and Summons
5. Form UCF-9 Judgment and Notice of Judgment
6. Form UCF-10 Defendant's Counterclaim
7. Form UCF-22 Financial Disclosure Form
8. Form 508.1 Conciliation Court Affidavit of Service
RULE 11. SUBMISSION OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION
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14 Rule 11.02. Restricted Identifiers
(a) Pleadings and Other Documents Submitted by a Party. No party shall submit restricted identifiers on any pleading or other document that is to be filed with the court except:
(i) on a separate form entitled Confidential Information Form (see Form 11.1appended to these rulesas published by the state court administrator) filed with the pleading or other document; or
(ii) on Sealed Financial Source Documents under Rule 11.03. The parties are solely responsible for ensuring that restricted identifiers do not otherwise appear on the pleading or other document filed with the court. The court administrator will not review each pleading or document filed by a party for compliance with this rule. The Confidential Information Form shall not be accessible to the public.
(b) Records Generated by the Court. Restricted identifiers maintained by the court in its register of actions (i.e., activity summary or similar information that lists the title, origination, activities, proceedings and filings in each case), calendars, indexes, and judgment docket shall not be accessible to the public. Courts shall not include restricted identifiers on judgments, orders, decisions, and notices except on the Confidential Information Form (Form 11.1), which shall not be accessible to the public.
Rule 11.03. Sealing Financial Source Documents
Financial source documents shall be submitted to the court under a cover sheet designated "Sealed Financial Source Documents" and substantially in the form set forth as Form 11.2 appended to these rules as published by the state court administrator. Financial source documents submitted with the required cover sheet are not accessible to the public except to the extent that they are admitted into evidence in a testimonial hearing or trial or as provided in Rule 11.05 of these rules. The cover sheet or copy of it shall be accessible to the public. Financial source documents that are not submitted with the required cover sheet and that contain restricted identifiers are accessible to the public, but the court may, upon motion or on its own initiative, order that any such financial source document be sealed.
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Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Rule 11 is amended to remove Forms 11.1 and 11.2 from the rules and to correct the reference to the forms in the rule. This amendment will allow for the maintenance and publication of the form by the state court administrator. The form, together with other court forms, can be found at http://www.mncourts.gov/.
Forms 11.1 and 11.2 should be deleted from the rules and maintained in the future on the court's website.
RULE 12. REQUIREMENT FOR COMPARABLE MEANS OF SERVICE
In all cases, a party serving a paper on a party and filing the same paper with the court must select comparable means of service and filing so that the papers are delivered substantially contemporaneously. This rule does not apply to service of a summons or a subpoena. Pleadings and other papers need not be filed until required by Minn. R. Civ. P. 5.05 and motions for sanctions may not be filed before the time allowed by Minn. R. Civ. P. 11.03(a) .
In emergency situations, where compliance with this rule is not possible, the facts of attempted compliance must be provided by affidavit.
Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Rule 12 is amended to add the last sentence of the first paragraph. The amendment is intended to clarify that the rule does not modify two facets of practice established before its adoption. It does not require that pleadings be filed before the time allowed under Rule 5.05, which generally makes it unnecessary to file pleadings until after a party files a pleading, thereby opening a court file. This rule is a part of Minnesota's "hip-pocket" service regime as established by Minn. R. Civ. P. 3. Rule 11 of the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure contains a 21-day "safe harbor" provision, requiring service of a motion for sanctions but prohibiting filing of the motion for 21 days. The amendment to Rule 12 of the general rules was not intended to modify that important provision.
RULE 13. REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE NOTICE OF CURRENT ADDRESS
Rule 13.01. Duty to Provide Notice
In all actions, it is the responsibility of the parties, or their counsel of record, to provide notice to all other parties and to the court administrator of their current address for delivery of notices, orders, and other papers in the case. Failure to provide this notice constitutes waiver of the right to notice until a current address is provided.
Rule 13.02. Elimination of Requirement to Provide Notice to Lapsed Address
In the event notices, pleadings or other papers are returned by the postal service after the court administrator's mailing to a party or attorney's address of record on two separate mailings, the administrator should make reasonable efforts to obtain a valid, current address. If those efforts are not successful, the administrator may omit making further mailings to that party or attorney in that action, and shall place appropriate notice in the court file or docket indicating that notices are not being mailed to all parties.
Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Rule 13 is a new rule intended to make explicit what has heretofore been expected of parties and their counsel: to keep the court apprised of a current address for mailing notices, orders, and other papers routinely mailed by the administrator to all parties. Where the court does not have a valid address, evidenced by two returned mailings, and cannot readily determine the correct address, the rule makes it unnecessary for the administrator to continue the futile mailing of additional papers until the party or attorney provides a current address.
The purpose of this rule is to require meaningful notice. If a party is a participant in the Secretary of State's address confidentiality program, there is no reason not to permit the use of that address to satisfy the requirement of this rule. See MINN. STAT. §§ 5B.01-.09 (2008).
RULE 111. SCHEDULING OF CASES
Rule 111.01. Scope
The purpose of this rule is to provide a uniform system for scheduling matters for disposition and trial in civil cases, excluding only the following:
(a) Conciliation court actions and conciliation court appeals where no jury trial is demanded;
(b) Family court matters governed by Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 301 through 312;
(c) Public assistance appeals under Minnesota Statutes, section 256.045, subdivision 7;
(d) Unlawful detainer actions pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, sections 504B.281, etseq.;
(e) Implied consent proceedings pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 169.123;
(f) Juvenile court proceedings;
(g) Civil commitment proceedings subject to the Special Rules of Procedure Governing Proceedings Under the Minnesota Commitment Act of 1982;
(h) Probate court proceedings;
(i) Periodic trust accountings pursuant to Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 417;
(j) Proceedings under Minnesota Statutes, section 609.748 relating to harassment restraining orders;
(k) Proceedings for registration of land titles pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, chapter 508;
(1) Election contests pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, chapter 209;and
(m) Applications to compel or stay arbitration under Minnesota Statutes, chapter 572; (n) consumer credit contract actions (see Case Type 3A, Minn. R. Civ. P. Form 23); and (o) mechanics' lien actions.
The court may invoke the procedures of this rule in any action where not otherwise required.
Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Rule 111.01 is amended to exempt consumer credit contract actions and mechanics lien actions from the case scheduling regime generally followed in civil proceedings. These changes are made because these cases are required to be filed but are often either not ready for case scheduling or are unlikely ever to require it. "Consumer credit contract actions" refer to those cases properly carrying the case type identifier "3A. Consumer Credit Contracts," which as specified in Form 23 of the Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure requires three things: (1) that the plaintiff is a corporation or other business organization, not an individual; (2) that the defendant is an individual; and (3) that the contract amount does not exceed $20,000.
RULE 304. SCHEDULING OF CASES
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Rule 304.02. The Party's Informational Statement
(a) Timing. Within 60 days after filing an action or, if a temporary hearing is scheduled within 60 days of the filing of the action, then within 60 days after a temporary hearing is initially scheduled to occur, whichever is later, each party shall submit, on a form to be available from the court and developed by the state court administrator, the information needed by the court to manage and schedule the case.
(b) Content. The information provided shall include:
(1) Whether minor children are involved, and if so:
(i) Whether custody is in dispute; and
(ii) Whether the case involves any issues seriously affecting the welfare of the children;
(2) Whether the case involves complex evaluation issues, and/or marital and nonmarital property issues;
(3) Whether the case needs to be expedited, and if so, the specific supporting facts;
(4) Whether the case is complex, and if so, the specific supporting facts;
(5) Specific facts about the case which will affect readiness for trial;
(6) Recommended alternative dispute resolution process, the timing of the process, the identity of the neutral selected by the parties or, if the neutral has not yet been selected, the deadline for selection of the neutral. If ADR is believed to be inappropriate, a description of the reasons supporting this conclusion;and
(7) Identification of interpreter services (specifying language and, if known, particular dialect) any party anticipates will be required for any witness or party; and
((c) Unrepresented Parties. Parties not represented by a lawyer may use forms developed specially by the state court administrator for unrepresented parties.78) A proposal for establishing any of the deadlines or dates to be included in a scheduling order pursuant to this rule.
Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Rule 304.02 is amended to include section (b)(7) adopted to implement the gathering of information about the potential need for interpreter services in a case, either for witnesses or for a party. See Minn. Gen. R. Prac. 8.13.
RULE 309. CONTEMPT
Rule 309.01. Initiation
(a) Moving Papers-Service; Notice. Contempt proceedingsshall may be initiated by notice of motion and motion or by an order to show cause served upon the person of the alleged contemnor together with motions accompanied by appropriate supporting affidavits.
The order to show cause shall direct the alleged contemnor to appear and show cause why he or she should not be held in contempt of court and why the moving party should not be granted the relief requested by the motion. If proceeding by notice of motion and motion, the motion may seek that relief directly.
The notice of motion and motion or the order to show cause shall contain at least the following:
(1) a reference to the specific order of the court alleged to have been violated and date of entry of the order;
(2) a quotation of the specific applicable provisions ordered; and
(3) the alleged failures to comply.
(b) Affidavits. The supportive affidavit of the moving party shall set forth each alleged violation of the order with particularity. Where the alleged violation is a failure to pay sums of money, the affidavit shall state the kind of payments in default and shall specifically set forth the payment dates and the amounts due, paid and unpaid for each failure.
The responsive affidavit shall set forth with particularity any defenses the alleged contemnor will present to the court. Where the alleged violation is a failure to pay sums of money, the affidavit shall set forth the nature, dates and amount of payments, if any.
The supportive affidavit and the responsive affidavit shall contain numbered paragraphs which shall be numbered to correspond to the paragraphs of the motion where possible.
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Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Rule 309.01 is amended in 2009 to remove an apparent requirement that any contempt proceeding be commenced by order to show cause. Although an order to show cause is an available mechanism for initiating contempt proceedings, the authorizing statute also recognizes that these proceedings may be commenced by motion accompanied by appropriate notice. See MINN. STAT. § 588.04. The amendment to Rule 309.01 is intended simply to recognize that both mechanisms are available. In many situations, proceeding by order to show cause is preferable. Use of an order to show cause, which is court process served with the same formality as a summons, permits the court to impose sanctions directly upon failure to comply. See MINN. STAT. § 588.04. It is the preferred means to commence a contempt proceeding if there is significant risk that the alleged contemnor is likely not to appear in response to a notice of motion.
RULE 503. COMPUTATION OF TIME
(a) General. All time periods shall be measured by starting to count on the first day after any event happens which by these rules starts the running of a time period. If the last day of the time period is anything other than a working week day, then the last day is the next working week day.
(b) Time Periods Less Than Seven Days. When the time period is less than seven days, only working week days shall be counted.
(c) Working Week Day. A "working week day" means a day which is not a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday. For purposes of this rule, a legal holiday includes all state level judicial branch holidays established pursuant to law and any other day on which county offices in the county in which the conciliation court is held are closed pursuant to law. or court order. With respect to service or filing by U. S. Mail, a day that the United States Mail does not operate is not a "working week day."
Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Rule 503(c) is amended to clarify that for service or filing by mail, if U. S. Postal Service offices are closed on a particular day, that day is not deemed a "working week day" for the purpose of the rule, effectively permitting the mailing to be made on the next day that is a "working week day." This change conforms the rule to the time calculation provision of Minn. R. Civ. P. 6.01, which in turn was amended in 2008 to conform the rule to the Minnesota Supreme Court decision in Commandeur LLC v. Howard Hartry, Inc., 724 N.W.2d 508 (Minn. 2006) (holding that where the last day of a time period occurred on Columbus Day, service by mail permitted by the rules was timely if mailed on the following day on which mail service was available).
RULE 507. STATEMENT OF CLAIM AND COUNTERCLAIM; CONTENTS; VERIFICATION
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(b) Uniform Statement of Claim or Counterclaim; Acceptance by Court. A statement of claim or counterclaim in the uniform formprescribed in the appendix to these rules as published by the state court administrator shall be accepted by any conciliation court administrator when properly completed and filed with the applicable fees, if any.
RULE 508. SUMMONS; TRIAL DATE
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(e) Proof of Service. Service by first class mail or certified mail shall be proven by an affidavit of service in form substantially similar to that contained in Form 508.1 published by the state court administrator. Service may be alternatively proven, when made by the court administrator, by any appropriate notation in the court record of the date, time, method, and address used by the administrator to effect service.
Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Rules 507, 508, and 518 are amended to remove Forms UCF-8, UCF-9, UCF-10, UCF-22, and 508.1 from the rules and to correct the reference to the forms in the rule. This amendment will allow for the maintenance and publication of the forms by the state court administrator. The forms, together with other court forms, can be found at http://www.mncourts.gov/.
Forms UCF-8, UCF-9, UCF-10, UCF-22, and 508.1 should be deleted from the rules and maintained in the future on the court's website.
RULE 517. PAYMENT OF JUDGMENT
Rule 517. Payment of Judgment
A nonprevailing party must make arrangements to pay the judgment directly to the prevailing party. In the event good faith efforts to pay the judgment are not successful or the prevailing party refuses to accept tendered payment, the nonprevailing party may bring a motion to allow payment into court. Upon order of the court, T the nonprevailing party may then pay all or any part of the judgment to the court administrator for benefit of the prevailing party. or may pay the prevailing party directly.
The court administrator shall enter on the court's records any payment made to the administrator or to the prevailing party directly when satisfied that the direct payments have been made.
Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Rule 517 is amended to modify the procedure for payment of a conciliation court judgment directly to the court administrator. As amended, the rule requires that payment be made directly by the nonprevailing party to the prevailing party, and permits payment into court only if reasonable attempts to make that payment are not successful or the prevailing party will not accept payment, in which case the nonprevailing party must bring a motion to allow payment into court,
RULE 518. DOCKETING OF JUDGMENT IN DISTRICT COURT; ENFORCEMENT
(a) Docketing. Except as otherwise provided in Rule 519 with respect to installment judgments, when a judgment has become finally effective as defined in Rule 515 of these rules the judgment creditor may obtain a transcript of the judgment from the court administrator on payment of the applicable statutory fee and file it in district court. Once filed in district court the judgment becomes and is enforceable as a judgment of district court, and the judgment will be docketed by the court administrator upon presentation of an affidavit of identification. No writ of execution or garnishment summons shall be issued out of conciliation court.
(b) Enforcement. Unless the parties have otherwise agreed, if a conciliation court judgment has been docketed in district courtfor a period of at least 30 days and the judgment is not satisfied, the district court shall upon request of the judgment creditor order the judgment debtor to mail to the judgment creditor information as to the nature, amount, identity, and location of all the debtor's assets, liabilities, and personal earnings. The information shall be provided on a form substantially similar to that published by the state court administrator prescribed by the Supreme Court (see form UCF-22 appended to these rules), and the information shall be sufficiently detailed to enable the judgment creditor to obtain satisfaction of the judgment by way of execution on nonexempt assets and earnings of the judgment debtor. The order shall contain a notice that failure to complete the form and mail it to the judgment creditor within ten days after service of the order may result in a citation for civil contempt of court. Cash bail posted as a result of being cited for civil contempt of court order under this rule may be ordered payable to the creditor to satisfy the judgment, either partially or fully.
Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Rule 518 is amended to remove the automatic thirty-day stay following docketing of a judgment in district court and the commencement of discovery regarding the judgment. The thirty-day stay does not serve a useful purpose in court administration, and simply results in a thirty-day delay in resolution of these matters. Accordingly, the committee recommends that it be removed from Rule 518. This change also makes the rule consistent with statute. See MINN. STAT. § 491A.02, subd. 9.RULE 707. TRANSCRIPTION OF PLEAS, SENTENCES, AND REVOCATION HEARINGS IN FELONY, GROSS MISDEMEANOR, AND EXTENDED JUVENILE JURISDICTION PROCEEDINGS, AND GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS
The following provisions relate to all pleas, sentences, and revocation hearings in all felony, gross misdemeanor, and extended juvenile jurisdiction proceedings, and all grand jury proceedings. Grand jury proceedings are secret as provided in Rule 18 of the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure and this rule must be construed to maintain secrecy in accordance with that rule.
(a) Court reporters and operators of electronic recording equipment shall file the stenographic notes or tape recordings of guilty plea,, or sentencing and revocation hearings with the court administrator within 90 days of sentencing, and the stenographic notes or tape recordings of grand jury proceedings shall be filed with the court administrator and maintained in a non-public portion of the file at the conclusion of grand jury hearings. The reporter or operator may retrieve the notes or recordings if necessary. Minn. Stat. § 486.03 (2002) is superceded to the extent that it conflicts with this procedure.
(b) All original grand jury transcripts shall be filed within 60 days of request by the court or prosecutor or receipt of an order from the appropriate court directing transcription and shall be made available to parties other than the court or prosecutor only in accordance with that court order. The court administrator must file and maintain all grand jury transcripts in a non-public portion of the file. The court may allow extension of this 60-day deadline upon a showing of good cause.
(b e) No charge may be assessed for preparation of a transcript for the district court's own use; any other personmay ordering a transcript as allowed under the rules shall be at the expense of that person.Transcripts ordered by the defendant or defense counsel shall be prepaid except when the defendant is represented by the public defender or assigned counsel or when the defendant makes a sufficient affidavit of an inability to pay and the court orders that the defendant be supplied with the transcript at the expense of the appropriate governmental unit. (d) If no district court file exists with respect to a grand jury proceeding, the administrator shall open a grand jury file upon the request of the prosecutor.
(e e) The maximum rate charged for the transcription of any proceeding shall be established, until July 1, 2005, by the Conference of Chief Judges, and thereafter by the Judicial Council. Minn. Stat. § 486.06 (2002) is superceded to the extent that it conflicts with this procedure.
Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Grand jury proceedings in Minnesota are secret. See Minn. R. Crim. P. 18.08. The court and prosecutors may obtain access to grand jury records and may order a transcript; any other transcription may occur only pursuant to Minn. R. Crim. P. 18.05, subd. 1. Rule 707 is amended to provide the rules for filing and maintaining transcripts of grand jury proceedings in the limited circumstances where the transcription is permitted or ordered. The court may also enter a protective order to prohibit further disclosure of the grand jury transcript. Minn. R. Crim. P. 18.05, subd. 2.
Rule 707(d) recognizes that there are circumstances where a grand jury is not separately convened for a particular case, and there is no separate file for that grand jury. This subdivision allows the prosecutor to request that a file be opened to serve as the repository for notes, records, or transcript from that proceeding.AMENDMENT TO THE SPECIAL RULES OF PROCEDURE GOVERNING PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE MINNESOTA COMMITMENT AND TREATMENT ACT RULE 14. LOCATION OF HEARING, RULES OF DECORUM, ALTERNATIVE METHODS OF PRESENTING EVIDENCE
The judge or judicial officer shall assure the decorum and orderliness of any hearing held pursuant to Minn. Stat. ch. 253B. The judge or judicial officer shall afford to respondent an opportunity to be dressed in conformity with the dignity of court appearances.
A hearing may be conducted or an attorney for a party, a party, or a witness may appear by telephone, audiovisual, or other electronic means if the party intending to use electronic means notifies the other party or parties at least seven days 24 hours in advance of the hearing and the court approves. If a witness will be testifying electronically, the notice must include the name, address, and telephone number where the witness may be reached in advance of the hearing. This rule does not supersede Minn. Stat. §§ 595.02 — 595.08 (competency and privilege). Respondent's counsel will be physically present with the patient. The court shall insure that the respondent has adequate opportunity to speak privately with counsel, including, where appropriate, suspension of the audio recording or allowing counsel to leave the conference table to communicate with the client in private.
Advisory Committee Comment — 2009 Amendment
Rule 14 is amended to change the amount of notice required to be given by a litigant desiring to have a matter heard by electronic means, typically either telephone or interactive television. The 24 hours required by the rule represents the bare minimum of what may be necessary to allow for necessary electronic equipment to be made available. This deadline can be adjusted by the court if necessary.