Public Notice Detail

On April 15, 2020, Governor Walz signed legislation including some provisions that affect the courts.  Attorneys should review this legislation to ensure they are familiar with it.  The following are highlights of the portions of the legislation that affect the courts:

• The legislation tolls statutory deadlines that govern court proceedings until 60 days after the end of the peacetime emergency declaration.  2020 Minn. Laws ch. 74, art. 1, sec. 16.  While the legislation tolls statutory deadlines, it does not toll deadlines imposed by court procedural rules, such as the Rules of Civil Procedure or the Rules of Criminal Procedure, including the speedy trial deadlines in Criminal Rules 6.06 and 11.09.  In the event a timeline is included in both statute and court rule, substantive timelines are governed by statute, while procedural timelines are governed by court rules.  If there are questions about how the tolling legislation affects a particular case, attorneys may need to ask the presiding judicial officer to address it in an order.
• The legislation extends the time within which child support obligors can file motions to contest cost-of-living adjustments.  2020 Minn. Laws ch. 74, art. 1, sec. 17.  Court administration staff will continue to accept and process these motions as they would under normal circumstances.  Judges and child support magistrates will determine how the legislation applies on a case-by-case basis.
• The legislation relaxes the requirements for the execution of wills between March 13, 2020 and February 15, 2021.  2020 Minn. Laws ch. 74, art. 1, sec. 2.  It will be codified in the probate code at Minn. Stat. § 524.2-503.  Attorneys will need to be aware of this relaxed requirement for all future probate cases involving documents executed between March 13, 2020 and February 15, 2021.