Minnesota Court of Appeals Help Topics

Introduction

Under the laws of Minnesota and applicable court rules, some decisions of the district (trial) courts and of governmental agencies or bodies (such as city councils, school boards, and state departments) can be appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Not all decisions are appealable immediately; often a party must wait until the district court or governmental body has decided all issues in the same case or proceeding before an appeal can be filed.

If there is a right to appeal, the party who appeals usually must show that the district court judge or governmental decision-maker made errors of law that affected the decision and that the Court of Appeals should reverse (overturn) the decision or remand (send it back) to the district court judge or governmental decision-maker for more proceedings.

Appeals are usually very different from proceedings before a district court, an administrative agency, or a child-support magistrate. On appeal:

• You must make all your arguments in writing.
• You cannot present witnesses.
• You cannot present new evidence.

You can make arguments only about issues that:

• you raised in the district court or other proceeding, and
• were decided (ruled on) by the judge or other decision-maker.
• You usually cannot make new arguments on appeal.

Most appeals do not focus on whether the district judge or decision-maker correctly determined the facts of the case. Instead, most appeals focus on the legal issues and whether the judge or decision-maker correctly applied the law after deciding any factual disputes. You must conduct research to see whether the trial court made legal errors that the court of appeals can correct. Just because you are unhappy with the decision, or a decision contains some minor mistakes, that does not mean that it is legally wrong.