This information is intended for use by criminal justice agencies.
Since July 14, 2014, the MNCIS Offense Table has included individual offense codes for ordinance and administrative rule violations. The offense codes enable ordinance and administrative rule violations to be charged on a citation, complaint, or juvenile petition.
To verify whether the offense code(s) already exist in MNCIS and to obtain the offense code(s) information needed to modify or repeal existing offense code(s), generate a
MNCIS Offense Table for Ordinance and Administrative Rule Violations report for the jurisdiction before completing the request form or spreadsheet for multiple requests.
Use the
single request form for adding, modifying or repealing one or two offense codes.
Use the
spreadsheet for multiple ordinances.
Form Fields
Indicate whether you want to Add, Modify or Repeal an offense code.
- Add if the offense code does not exist in MNCIS (please verify by searching for codes already in MNCIS by running a MNCIS Offense Table for Ordinance and Administrative Rule Violations).
- Modify if the offense code in MNCIS needs to be changed, e.g., change the description or change the amount of a payable fine. Any other changes require an offense code to be repealed and then add a new offense code.
- Repeal if the offense code has been repealed.
- Repeal an existing offense code in MNCIS and Add a new one if:
- The number has changed or is being corrected, i.e., when a city code is recodified/renumbered.
- The degree of the offense code changes from a misdemeanor to a petty misdemeanor or from a petty misdemeanor to a misdemeanor.
- The offense code changes from court required to payable, or from payable to court required. (Note: All petty misdemeanor offenses are payable by Judicial Council Policy 506.1.)
Tip: Use the Search feature in MNCIS Offense Table for Ordinance and Administrative Rule Violations to identify the existing offense codes in MNCIS. Visit the Search tab for additional information.
Enter the name and title of person preparing the form.
Enter the date the form is submitted to Court Administration.
Enter the name of the subdivision of government that enacted the ordinance. Check the type of subdivision of government, City, County, Township or Other.
For example: If the ordinance is one enacted by the city of Faribault, enter "Faribault" and check the box next to "city".
If the ordinance is one enacted by the county of Faribault, enter "Faribault" and check the box next to "county".
For administrative rules enter the State MN as the jurisdiction.
Check if the request includes an ordinance offense code or an administrative rule offense code.
Enter the number of the ordinance code/administrative rule.
If ordinances are codified, i.e., in a city code, use the number assigned in the code. If there are multiple offenses in a single section, distinguish the separate offenses by paragraph or clause applicable to the particular offense.
If the ordinances are not codified, use the number of the ordinance with any paragraph or clause as applicable.
If the ordinance adopts or incorporates a statute, administrative rule, or chapter by reference, then the ordinance number should be the number of the ordinance, dash, followed by the statute number, e.g., 70.01-169.14.2(a)(3).
See Does this ordinance adopt or incorporate a statute, administrative rule, or chapter by reference? below.
Enter the Reference ID number of an existing offense code being modified or repealed.
Tip: This number will begin with the letter "R" and can be found by using the Search feature. Leave this field blank if the request is to add an offense code.
Enter the date the offense code should be effective.
2/1/1900 may be entered if the date the offense code became effective is unknown.
This date is either the date:
- an offense code became effective;
- an amendment to the offense code became effective; or
- the first date an offense code became payable (if the offense is changing from court required to payable).
NOTE: The offense code will be available for use for all offenses that occur on or after the effective date. Use an actual effective date whenever possible. When one offense code is being repealed and replaced by a new one, the effective date of the new one must be the first date the new offense code can be used. A citation or complaint will be rejected if the offense date is before the effective date of the offense code submitted.
Enter the first date the offense code cannot be used.
For example: if the last date the offense code can be used to charge an offense is September 30, the repeal date should be October 1.
Note: The offense code will be available for use for all offenses that occur on or after the effective date and before the repeal date. A citation or complaint will be rejected if the offense date is on or after the repeal date of the offense code submitted.
Select the applicable offense code classification.
Select Charging if a person can be charged with an offense.
Select Non-charging if the offense code is a penalty provision or a definition or something else a person cannot be charged for violating. This non-charging offense code may not be used alone as a charge.
Select Both if the offense code can be charged with an offense and the offense also includes a penalty.
Enter a summary description of the offense, penalty, or definition.
Note: The description cannot be longer than 100 characters, including spaces and punctuation.
Select the degree of the offense code.
Note: The degree is set by the subdivision of government enacting the offense code. A payable fine amount does not determine the degree of the offense. It is important that the correct degree is identified as it impacts the rights of a defendant. Petty misdemeanors are payable as a matter of
Judicial Council Policy 506.1.
Tip: If the applicable penalty provision indicates the offense is a misdemeanor, select Misdemeanor; if it indicates the offense is a petty misdemeanor, select Petty Misdemeanor.
Identify the code in which the penalty for a violation is set.
Tip: The penalty provision may be in the same ordinance/administrative rule as the offense, in a different ordinance/administrative rule in the same title/chapter, or in a different title/chapter.
Select
Yes if the offense code is a parking violation.
- If it is a parking violation, enter No to the following question, "Does this regulate the operation of a motor vehicle?"
Select
No if it is not.
Minn. Stat. §357.021, subd. 6: The parking surcharge applies to parking violations.
Minn. Stat. §171.16: The court is not required to send convictions for parking violations to the Department of Public Safety.
Select
Yes if it does
Select
No if it does not.
- Select No if the offense code is a Parking Violation.
Minn. Stat. §171.16: The court is required to send convictions to the Department of Public Safety for offense codes that regulate the operation of a motor vehicle.
Select
Yes if it does.
Select
No if it does not.
Minn. Stat. §171.16: The court is not required to send convictions for defective vehicle equipment or vehicle overweight violations to the Department of Public Safety.
Select Yes if it does.
Select No if it does not.
If Yes, an offense code is required for every offense that will be charged as a violation instead of a statutory violation.
See “Ordinance/Administrative Number” above for information on how to cite to an offense code that adopts or incorporates a statute or administrative rule or chapter.
Note: If Yes, then the violation is payable as a matter of policy if the statute or administrative rule adopted is payable on the Statewide Payables List. The violation is court required as a matter of policy if the statute or administrative rule adopted is not payable.
Complete this field only if the request is to Add or Modify an offense code, and the offense is a
misdemeanor.
- Select Yes if the recommendation is that the offense should be payable or if the recommendation is to change the payable fine amount.
- Select No if the recommendation is that the misdemeanor offense should require court appearance, or should change from payable to court required.
Note: This section of the form does not need to be completed for petty misdemeanor offense codes. All petty misdemeanor violations are payable as a matter of
Judicial Council Policy 506.1.
Identify the attorney representing the subdivision of government who approved the recommendation.
Judicial Council Policy 506.1, G, d. provides:
After consultation with the prosecuting authority, other misdemeanor ordinance violations may be made payable without court appearance only if the district court in which an ordinance applies designates it as a payable offense and sets a payable fine amount.
Enter the amount of the payable fine effective on the Base Fine Effective Date entered.
Note: Enter the fine amount only. Do not include the surcharge or law library fee in the fine amount entered. The applicable surcharge and law library fee are assessed separately from the fine. If you include the amounts in the base fine amount, the surcharge and law library fee will be assessed twice.
Submit the request to the designated judge for review and approval if a prosecutor recommends that a misdemeanor ordinance be payable. The judge should confer with the prosecutor if there are questions or concerns about the request.
If a misdemeanor offense is recommended as payable, but the recommendation has not been approved by the prosecutor, send the form to the prosecutor for review. Otherwise, the judge will need to confer with the prosecutor before setting the payable fine.
See Judicial Council Policy 506.1,G, d.
Enter the date an offense code becomes payable.
If the offense code is already payable, enter the date the fine amount is changed.
Tip: An error message will result if the offense date is on or after the effective date, but before the fine effective date.
If a court required offense code already exists in MNCIS, then the offense code needs to be repealed and replaced with a new payable offense code. The effective date and the fine effective date on the new payable offense code should be the same.
If a court required offense code does not already exist and the request is to Add an offense code, but the fine effective date is after the effective date of the offense code, it is recommended that two offense codes be added -- one for the time period in which the offense required a court appearance and one for the time period when the offense is payable. The court required offense code will be an Add and Repeal request. The payable offense code will be an Add request. The effective date and the fine effective date on the new payable offense code should be the same.
If the request is to Modify the fine amount, the fine amount assessed on the charge will depend on the date of offense compared to the fine effective dates. For example, if there is an existing payable offense code with an effective date of 1/1/2012 and a fine effective date of 1/1/2012 with a fine of $25 and the request is to increase the fine to $50 beginning 11/1/2015, then the offense code should be modified with a second fine effective date of 11/1/2015 and a fine amount of $50. For an offense that occurred on 10/31/2015 the fine amount of $25 will assess. For an offense that occurred on 11/10/2015 the fine amount of $50 will assess.
Enter the payable fine amount approved by a judge.
Enter the full name (not the initials) of the judge who set the amount of the payable fine.
Enter the date the payable amount was set by the judge.
This information is intended for use by criminal justice agencies.
This resource page provides information on how to search the
MNCIS Offense Table for Ordinance and Administrative Rule Violations
Search Fields
Users must enter specific information in the search fields to generate results when searching for ordinances and administrative rules in the MNCIS Offense Table.
The following information explains each field and suggests best practices.
Enter a Begin Date: The date entered in this field will return offense codes and administrative rules with an effective date on or after this date. The default Begin Date is 1/1/1900.
Please note: Many offense codes in MNCIS have an effective date of 1/1/1900 or 1/2/1900.
Enter an End Date: The date entered in this field will return offense codes and administrative rules with an effective date up to and including this date. The current date automatically is entered in this field.
Offense Type: This field is required.
Local Ordinances and Administrative Rules are Offense Types. Use the check boxes in the menu to select an option.
- Selecting "(Select All)" will return both local ordinances and administrative rules.
- Selecting "Administrative Rules" will only return administrative rules.
- Selecting "Local Ordinance" will only return local ordinances.
Owner/Jurisdiction: Use the Owner/Jurisdiction field to search for ordinance codes enacted by a specific unit of government. Administrative rules are enacted by the 'State MN'.
Click on the “NULL” box to remove the checkmark and enter the name of the unit of government in the field to use this search field.
If the box is checked, this field cannot be edited and and the tool will return statewide data. By default, the "NULL" box is checked.
For Example: If a user wants ordinance code information for the City of Red Wing, they must type “Red Wing” and select View Report.
If “Red” is typed, the report returns information for Red Lake Falls, Red Wing, Sacred Heart and Redwood Falls. This search returns for all possible matches that contain the word entered.
View Report: Use the "View Report" button to view the search results.
Go to Search Results tab for instructions on exporting the report or printing.
Submit a request to add the ordinance/administrative rule with the Request to Add/Modify Ordinance/Administrative Rule Form or Multiple Requests to Add/Modify/Repeal.
Submit a request to modify the ordinance/administrative rule with the Request to Add/Modify Ordinance/Administrative Rule Form or Multiple Requests to Add/Modify/Repeal.
If the MNCIS offense table data and charged ordinance/administrative rule do not match:
- eCitations and eComplaints submitted under the 3.5 (and later) schema will be auto rejected;
- processing of paper citations and complaints will be delayed until the issue is resolved.
A unique reference identification number will be assigned by the courts to each offense code entered into the MNCIS Offense Table. The reference identification numbers assigned by the courts will always begin with the letter "R". This will prevent any duplication of reference identification numbers assigned by the Minnesota Criminal Justice Statute Service (MNCJSS).
If the offense code has a separate subdivision, paragraph, or clause that specifies differing penalties for 1st versus subsequent violations of the same offense, separate offense codes with separate, specific offense code numbers and reference IDs will be added to the MNCIS Offense Table for those violations.
District Court Judges have the authority to designate an ordinance/administrative rule as a payable offense and set the payable fine amount. Minn. R. Crim. P. 23.03, subd. 2(2). The prosecuting agency for the subdivision of government that adopted an ordinance/administrative rule may recommend whether an offense code should require a court appearance or be payable and the amount of the fine.
Under
Minn. Stat. § 171.16, the courts are required to notify DPS when a person is convicted of an ordinance/administrative rule that regulates the operation of a motor vehicle, except for parking, defective vehicle equipment, and vehicle size or weight violations.
Minn. Stat. § 171.16 states that "Every court having jurisdiction over offenses committed under any law of this state or ordinance of a political subdivision regulating the operation of motor vehicles, shall forward to the department, within ten days, a record of the conviction of any person in the court for a violation of any laws or ordinances, except parking violations and defective vehicle equipment or vehicle size or weight violations."