Appellate Courts will begin transmitting all notices, orders, and opinions electronically.
Beginning no later than July 1, 2011, the appellate courts will send notices, orders, opinions, and correspondence related to pending cases to attorneys in those cases by e-mail rather than postal mail. All attorneys with pending appellate cases who have not already registered an e-mail address should do so immediately. Unrepresented parties with pending appellate cases may also participate in this e-notification system by registering an e-mail address. Please visit the Clerk of Appellate Courts page for instructions on how to register your e-mail address.
Opinion Policies
Minnesota Court of Appeals opinions are issued weekly and are available to the public at 10 a.m. CST/CDT every Monday.
On Wednesday of every week, the Court of Appeals will mail a notice that informs counsel, pro se parties, and court personnel associated with a case that an opinion will be released the following Monday. Opinions are available online or by visiting the Clerk of Appellate Courts, 305 Minnesota Judicial Center, 25 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, after the Monday release time. Copies of the opinions are mailed to involved parties on Mondays.
In certain time-sensitive cases, the Court of Appeals may issue opinions on a business day other than Monday. In these instances, involved parties will be contacted just prior to the special release.
Please visit the Minnesota State Law Library's Appellate Opinions Archive for previously released Court of Appeals Opinions.
Published Opinions
By statute, the Court of Appeals issues a published opinion only in the most important and complex cases. Published opinions include an extensive analysis of the facts and law. They will be considered and used by courts faced with similar issues in the future, and they are published in books found in most law libraries.
DECISIONS OF THE COURT OF APPEALS
FILED Monday, September 18, 2023
A22-0965 Partners in Nutrition d/b/a Partners in Quality Care Appeal of MDE Decision Child and Adult Care Food Program December 2021
A22-1613 Claims for Reimbursement (A22-0965), In re the Matter of: Partners in Nutrition d/b/a Partners in Quality Care's Consolidated
A22-1746 Appeals of MDE's May 27, 2022 Decision Terminating Agreement and Withholding Federal Award Payments, and the Related June 17,
2022 Site Applications Denial Decision, Child and Adult Care Food Program (A22-1613), Re: Partners in Nutrition d/b/a Partners in
Quality Care's Appeals of MDE- NPS's July 25, 2022 Decision Denying Claims for Reimbursement for November and December 2021
(on Remand) and January through May 2022, Child and Adult Care Food Program (A22-1746)
Minnesota Department of Education.
The Minnesota Department of Education may not rely on 2 Code of Federal Regulations sections 200.339-.340 (2023) to terminate an institution’s participation in the Children and Adult Care Food Program without complying with the program-specific procedural requirements of 7 Code of Federal Regulations section 226.6(c)(3) (2023).
Affirmed in part and reversed in part. Judge Theodora K. Gaïtas.
A22-1349 State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Ryan James Martens, Appellant.
Kanabec County District Court, Hon. Stoney L. Hiljus.
Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 260E.06, subd. 1(a) (2022), a mandated reporter must submit a maltreatment report if the mandated reporter knows or has reason to believe that a child has been maltreated within the preceding three years regardless of whether the child has reached the age of majority before the time of the report.
Affirmed. Judge Sarah Wheelock.
Unpublished Opinions
Unpublished opinions are issued in cases that are less complicated, that involve legal issues that have already been decided in published opinions, or that will affect only the parties to that particular case. These opinions are usually shorter, do not contain extensive discussion of the facts, and are not generally relied on by other courts to the same degree as published opinions.
NONPRECEDENTIAL OPINIONS
FILED Monday, September 18, 2023
Pursuant to Minn. R. Civ. App. P. 136.01, subd. 1 (c)
1. A22-1672
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Julianna K. Gutierrez, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Renee L. Worke.
Nicollet County District Court, Hon. Todd W. Westphal.
2. A22-1507
In the Matter of the Mary Kristen Francis Revocable Trust Agreement.
Affirmed. Judge Renee L. Worke.
Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Kristin Siegesmund.
3. A22-0426
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Brian Michael Garner, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Renee L. Worke.
Dissenting, Judge Kevin G. Ross.
Itasca County District Court, Hon. Heidi M. Chandler.
4. A22-0024
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Perry Evan Helms, Jr., Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Matthew E. Johnson.
Nobles County District Court, Hon. Sherry Haley.
5. A23-0083
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Emma Elizabeth Leblanc, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Louise Dovre Bjorkman.
Anoka County District Court, Hon. Suzanne Brown.
6. A23-0583
State of Minnesota, Appellant, vs. Daniel Michael Knoll, Respondent.
Reversed and remanded. Judge Tracy M. Smith.
Carver County District Court, Hon. Martin S. Fallon.
7. A22-1435
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. James Alfred Paatalo, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Tracy M. Smith.
Otter Tail County District Court, Hon. Johnathan Judd.
8. A22-0606
State of Minnesota, Appellant, vs. Donald Mark Gray, Respondent.
Reversed and remanded. Judge Tracy M. Smith.
Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Daniel C. Moreno.
9. A23-0052
Mark Schwandt, Respondent, vs. Park Christian School, Respondent, Josh Lee,
Respondent, Raymond Kvalvog, Appellant, American Family Mutual Insurance, Company,
S.I., Respondent, Secura Supreme Insurance Company, Respondent.
Affirmed. Judge Diane B. Bratvold.
Otter Tail County District Court, Hon. Laura Moehrle.
10. A22-1156
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Jacob Daniel McPheeters, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Diane B. Bratvold.
Hennepin County District Court, Hon. Carolina A. Lamas.
11. A23-0169
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Darcy Wayne Christianson, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Jeanne M. Cochran.
Becker County District Court, Hon. Gretchen Thilmony.
12. A23-0038, A23-0039, A23-0041, A23-0277
In re the Estate of: Darlene Legred, Deceased (A23-0038), and Brenda Legred, f/k/a
Brenda Godlove, Respondent, vs. Brent Legred, Appellant (A23-0039), and The Estate
of Darlene Legred, a/k/a Darlene I. Legred, Defendant, Merchants Bank, NA, Respondent,
and In re the Credit Shelter Trust Established pursuant to the Last Will and Testament of
Thilmer M. Legred dated November 25, 1996 (A23-0041), and Brenda Legred,
Respondent vs. Brent Legred, et al., Appellants (A23-0277).
Affirmed. Judge Randall J. Slieter.
Faribault County District Court, Hon. Troy Timmerman.
13. A22-0307
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Hatem Amin Younis, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Jennifer Frisch.
Washington County District Court, Hon. Ellen L. Maas.
14. A23-0318
Acuity, A Mutual Insurance Company, Respondent, vs. Kraus-Anderson Construction
Company, Appellant, vs. Borton Construction, Inc., Respondent.
Affirmed. Judge Carol A. Hooten.*
Winona County District Court, Hon. Nancy L. Buytendorp.
15. A22-1580
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Sovajie Marion Julian Temple, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Carol A. Hooten.*
Clay County District Court, Hon. Tammy L. Merkins.
16. A23-0344
In re the Guardianship of Travis Trong Khuong Nguyen.
Affirmed. Judge Michael L. Kirk.*
Olmsted County District Court, Hon. Joseph F. Chase.
17. A22-1656
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Sarah Jean Solien, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Michael L. Kirk.*
Yellow Medicine County District Court, Hon. Thomas W. Van Hon.
* Retired judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, serving by appointment pursuant to Minn. Const. art. VI, § 10.
Order Opinions
Cases that involve a few simple issues may be decided by order opinions, which include little discussion of the facts of the case and a brief analysis of the laws that are involved.
RECENT ORDER OPINIONS
September 18, 2023
1.
A23-0176
Heather Marie Miller, petitioner, Appellant, vs. Steven Bryce Meduna, Respondent.
Reversed and remanded. Judge Tracy M. Smith.
Olmsted County District Court, Hon. Christina Kilbo Stevens.
2.
A23-0173
State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Dean Allen Thordor, Appellant.
Reversed and remanded. Judge Tracy M. Smith.
Freeborn County District Court, Hon. Ross L. Leuning.
3.
A22-1522
Robyn Amber Seehusen, Respondent, vs. David Chandler Farr, Appellant.
Affirmed. Judge Edward J. Cleary.
*
Stearns County District Court, Hon. John P. Smith.
4.
A23-0350
In the Matter of the Application of Christina Marie Johnson for a Change of Name
obo Minor.
Affirmed. Judge Carol A. Hooten.*
Ramsey County District Court, Hon. Laura E. Nelson.
* Retired judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, serving by appointment pursuant to Minn. Const. art. VI, § 10.
Special Release Opinions
NO SPECIAL RELEASE OPINIONS FILED
Opinion Sets
Opinion sets contain all published, unpublished, and order opinions. The sets are compressed into files that must be unpacked before opening them.
Opinion Sets For Opinions
Filed Monday, September 18, 2023
Opinion Set in a Zipped PDF Format
- Click the above link.
- Save the unzipped file to your computer.
- Choose the "Open" option on the Download Complete screen.
- Extract the files to a location of your choice.
- Open the extracted file.