Purpose of the Bill

This bill aims to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Attorney General and state entities in civil law enforcement actions in Minnesota. It seeks to ensure that records of state entities are protected from discovery in certain legal actions and outlines how these records should be handled.

Main Provisions

• Attorney General's Role: The Attorney General acts on behalf of the public interest of Minnesota in civil law enforcement actions, not as a legal representative of any specific state department or agency.

• Records Access: It specifies that when the Attorney General initiates a civil law enforcement action, records from state departments or agencies are not automatically included in discovery processes. These records are not under the control or possession of the Attorney General for the purpose of such actions.

• Separate Custody of Records: Each state agency is declared the sole custodian of its own records. This emphasizes that agencies individually maintain control over their documents and data, separate from the Attorney General's office.

• Exceptions for Named Parties: If a state entity is expressly named as a party in the litigation, only then it can be considered part of the discovery process or subjected to party discovery.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Adds a new subdivision to the Minnesota Statutes that separates the roles of the Attorney General from other state entities concerning records management and discovery in civil law enforcement actions.
• Establishes that state entities are considered distinct from the Attorney General when it comes to legal proceedings and that their records are not automatically linked to the Attorney General’s actions unless specifically named or involved.

Relevant Terms

• Attorney General
• Civil law enforcement
• State entities
• Public interest
• Discovery process
• Records custodianship