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| Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes | |
|---|---|
| Name | Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes |
| Formed | 1849 |
| Jurisdiction | State of Minnesota |
| Headquarters | Saint Paul, Minnesota |
| Chief1 name | Revisor of Statutes |
| Parent agency | Minnesota Legislature |
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes is the statutory drafting, codification, and legal publishing office serving the Minnesota Legislature, the Governor of Minnesota, and the courts of the State of Minnesota. Founded during territorial governance and continuing through statehood, the office interacts with the Minnesota House of Representatives, the Minnesota Senate, the Minnesota Supreme Court, and agencies such as the Minnesota Department of Administration to produce authoritative texts, annotated codes, and session laws.
The office traces roots to the territorial era under the Territory of Minnesota and early administrations of governors like Alexander Ramsey and Henry Hastings Sibley, evolving through constitutional developments tied to the Minnesota Constitution of 1857 and legislative reforms during eras of figures such as Ignatius Donnelly. Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries the office responded to statutory expansion after events including the Civil War, the Progressive Era, and New Deal legislation influenced by national leaders like Franklin D. Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Postwar modernization paralleled reforms in states such as New York (state), California, and Illinois while collaborating with bodies such as the American Bar Association and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Key legal developments reflected in its output include adaptations to decisions of the United States Supreme Court, precedents from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, and federal statutes like the Social Security Act that affected state implementation.
Administratively positioned within the legislative branch, the office is led by the Revisor, an appointee confirmed through legislative procedures analogous to appointments seen in offices tied to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library and the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General. Its organizational structure includes divisions for statute drafting, codification, legal research, and publishing, and employs attorneys trained in statutory drafting with educational backgrounds from institutions such as the University of Minnesota, the William Mitchell College of Law, and the Hamline University School of Law. The office coordinates with legislative leadership including the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives and the President of the Minnesota Senate, and liaises with committees like the Judiciary Committee (Minnesota House of Representatives) and the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee (Minnesota Senate).
The office drafts proposed statutory language for legislators and governors, converts enacted legislation into codified chapters in the Minnesota Statutes, and prepares session compilations known as the Laws of Minnesota. It performs editorial review, assigns section numbers, prepares catchlines, and maintains annotations that reference decisions of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Supreme Court, and appellate decisions from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. The office issues form and style guidance used by legislators, state agencies such as the Minnesota Department of Health and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and local units including Hennepin County and Ramsey County while ensuring compliance with statutory formatting standards influenced by national models like the Uniform Commercial Code and publications of the Legal Information Institute.
Major publications include the codified Minnesota Statutes, the sessionary Laws of Minnesota, and annotated or supplemental materials used by courts, attorneys, and scholars at institutions such as University of Minnesota Law School and Mitchell Hamline School of Law. The office provides public-facing services: annotated statutory text, bill-drafting assistance for legislators, and legislative history tools consulted by researchers at the Minnesota Historical Society, librarians at the Minnesota State Law Library, and practitioners at firms such as Faegre Drinker and Nilan Johnson Lewis. It also supports legislative indexing, prepares majority and minority bill versions similar to practices in the United States Congress, and supplies printed and electronic legal documents for archives including the Minnesota Digital Library.
Statutory authority for the office is established in state law enacted by the Minnesota Legislature and reflected in statutes governing legislative operations and publication responsibilities signed by the Governor of Minnesota. Its mandate aligns with separation of powers principles adjudicated in cases before the Minnesota Supreme Court and interacts with administrative law frameworks overseen by agencies like the Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings. Oversight mechanisms include legislative appropriation by budget committees and audits comparable to those by the Legislative Audit Commission (Minnesota) while ethical and procedural norms conform to standards promulgated by bodies such as the Minnesota State Bar Association.
The office maintains electronic publishing platforms and databases hosting the Minnesota Statutes and session laws, interoperating with systems used by the Minnesota.IT Services (MNIT) and integrating search and metadata protocols influenced by projects from the Cornell University Law School and the Legal Information Institute. It implements content management, version control, and XML tagging standards similar to those adopted by the Library of Congress and leverages secure hosting and archival practices pursued by the National Archives and Records Administration. Public access tools include searchable web portals, bulk data downloads used by legal tech firms and academic centers like the Brennan Center for Justice and data scientists at the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.
Significant initiatives include comprehensive recodification projects, multi-session revisions responding to major legislative reforms such as tax changes analogous to reforms in California Proposition 13 debates, health care statutory adjustments following federal acts like the Affordable Care Act, and modernization efforts to consolidate criminal statutes influenced by model codes from the American Law Institute. The office has overseen emergency codifications following natural disasters affecting regions like Duluth, Minnesota and Minneapolis, Minnesota, collaborated on statutory clarifications for tribal-state relations with entities such as the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and the White Earth Nation, and led projects to improve statutory access for nonprofits, law schools, and judicial education programs administered by the Minnesota Judicial Branch.