MINNESOTA
REVISOR'S MANUAL




with
Styles and Forms
1997 Edition

















MINNESOTA
REVISOR'S MANUAL


with
Styles and Forms
1997 Edition








Published by

The Office of the Revisor of Statutes
St. Paul, Minnesota





























1997

by the Office of the Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota.



All rights reserved.











Copies of this manual may be purchased for $10,
plus sales tax for Minnesota residents from

Print Communications Division
Department of Administration
117 University Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota 55155





















FOREWARD

This 1997 edition of the Revisor's Manual replaces the manual printed in 1993. It incorporates changes required by the development of legislative practice and many changes suggested by users and by experience.

Please remember that the advice and the requirements set forth can be fully understood only in the context of the entire legislative process. Nearly all of the requirements have exceptions and those exceptions, when understood, throw light on the requirements.

I wish to emphasize, in particular, that the manual's suggestions about style are merely suggestions. There are many ways to write legislation clearly and economically. In Minnesota, we are working with a body of law that is 150 years old. We have no reason to think that our style preferences will have any more permanence than those of our predecessors. Furthermore, style choices can be made with varying degrees of freedom depending on whether the drafting is amendatory or entirely new, whether the choice is made in initial drafting or at a later stage of the process, whether or not the law must be understood in a particular language context, and so forth.

Use the manual as a survey of a territory that will always have surprises, even for its longest residents.


Harry M. Walsh
Revisor of Statutes



















Contents

Chapter 1 -- Introduction

  1. Authority
  2. Functions of Manual
  3. Organization of Manual
  4. Statements of Standards
  5. Acknowledgements

Chapter 2 -- Interpretation of Statutes - What Drafters Need to Know

  1. The Aim of This Chapter
  2. The Basics: Minnesota Statutes Chapter 645
    1. Basic Concepts
    2. Definitions
    3. Rules of Construction
  3. Beyond the Basics: Principles of Interpretation
  4. The Plain Meaning Rule
  5. What Makes a Law Unclear?
  6. Judges' Approaches to the Text
    1. Textualist approach
    2. Language-related canons of construction
    3. The value of canons of construction
    4. Archaeological or intentionalist approach
    5. Extrinsic aids in Minnesota
    6. Interpretive approach
  7. Conclusion

Chapter 3 -- Laws and Rules about Bills

  1. Generally
  2. Provisions Governing the Form of a Bill
    1. Approval of Bill Form by Revisor
    2. Compliance with Rules of Legislature
    3. Title of bill
    4. Enacting Clause
    5. Bills Should Amend Minnesota Statutes
    6. Forms of Reference
    7. Showing New Language
    8. Removing Old Language
    9. Numbering Sections and Subdivisions
    10. Headnotes
    11. Use of Numbers
  3. Provisions Affecting the Contents of a Bill
    1. Statutes Governing Interpretation of Statutes
    2. Effective Dates
    3. Measuring Time
    4. General Definitions Applying to the Statutes
    5. Minnesota Bill of Rights
    6. Right to Due Process in Civil Matters
    7. Equal Protection of Law
    8. Prohibition of Special Laws
    9. Separation of Powers
    10. Restrictions on Internal Improvements
    11. Restrictions on Loan of the State's Credit
    12. Debt Limits
    13. Public Purpose Doctrine
    14. Power of Taxation
    15. Appropriations
    16. Administrative Rulemaking
    17. School Lands and Other Public Lands; Restrictions on Disposition
    18. Eminent Domain
    19. University of Minnesota

Chapter 4 -- Bill Drafting

  1. Generally
  2. Title
    1. General Requirements
    2. The One Subject Rule
    3. Expression in the Title
    4. Drafting Format
      1. Opening Phrase
      2. The General Subject
      3. The Objects or Parts of the Subject
      4. A List of Existing Sections Amended
      5. A Statement of the Chapter or Chapters Affected by New Law in the Bill
      6. A List of Existing Sections Repealed
  3. Enacting Clause
  4. Short Title - Purpose or Policy
    1. Citation or Short Title
    2. Statement of Purpose or Policy
  5. Definitions
      1. Start each subdivision with the subdivision number; write the term you are defining as a headnote
      2. The definition should be the same part of speech as the word being defined
      3. Usually, alphabetize your definitions word by word
      4. Don’'t define terms needlessly
      5. Don't do violence to the ordinary meaning of words
      6. Watch your sense of categories as well as your grammar
      7. Try not to define words in terms of other words also being defined
      8. Don't write substantive requirements into your definitions
  6. Basic Provisions
    1. Sections that Amend Existing Law
      1. Order and Format
      2. Amending Subdivisions
      3. Changes in headnotes
      4. Repeal or Amend?
    2. Sections Proposing New Law
      1. Location
      2. Format
      3. Headnotes
      4. Coding
      5. Dividing Bills and Sections
      6. Articles
      7. Headings
  7. Miscellaneous Special Provisions
    1. Interpretation Clause
    2. Severability or Nonseverability Clause
    3. Saving or Nonsaving Clause
    4. Repealers
    5. Expiration of laws
    6. Instructions to the Revisor
    7. Appropriations
      1. The Budget Process
      2. Ordinary Appropriations
      3. Open Appropriations
      4. Standing Appropriations
      5. Open and Standing Appropriations
      6. Open Appropriations of Dedicated Receipts
      7. Examples
      8. Omnibus Appropriation Bills
    8. Effective Date
      1. For General Laws
      2. For Special Laws
      3. For Tax Laws
    9. State Parks, Additions and Deletions
    10. Price Indexes
  8. Advisory bills
  9. Examples

Chapter 5 -- Particular Subjects

  1. Omnibus Appropriation Bills
    1. Appropriation Defined; Why Important; Key Laws
    2. Omnibus Bills Described
    3. Omnibus Bills as Committee Bills
    4. Drafting for Omnibus Bills: Six Essentials
      1. Amount
      2. Fiscal year of appropriation
      3. Words of appropriation
      4. Source
      5. Recipient
      6. Purpose
    5. The Education Revenue Bill
    6. Claims Bill
    7. Item Veto of an Omnibus Bill
    8. Broader Title than Other Bills
    9. Minnesota Cases on Appropriations Issues
  2. Bonding
    1. General Considerations
    2. Method of Drafting Bonding Bills
    3. Specific Problem Areas
    4. Terminology in Conversation
  3. Crimes and the Courts
    1. Substantive Law of Crimes
    2. Law of Criminal Procedure
    3. State Components of Criminal Justice System
      1. Department of Public Safety
      2. Office of the Attorney General
      3. County Attorneys’' Council
      4. Department of Corrections
      5. Ombudsman for Corrections
      6. Board of Pardons
      7. Crime Victim and Witness Advisory Council
      8. Crime Victims Reparations Board
      9. Minnesota public defender; district public defenders
      10. Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training
      11. Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission
    4. Local Components of the Criminal Justice System
      1. Police Services
      2. Prosecution and Defense Services
    5. Courts' Role in the Criminal Justice System
      1. Supreme Court
      2. Court of Appeals
      3. District Court
    6. Summary of Statutes and Rules
  4. Special Laws
    1. Prohibition
    2. Local Laws
    3. Specific Problem Areas
    4. Laws Relating to Specific Courts
  5. Taxes
    1. Constitutional Considerations
    2. References to Federal Laws
    3. Effective Dates
  6. Organization of State Government
    1. General Considerations
    2. Basic Provisions for a New Agency
    3. Alteration of Existing Agencies
    4. Employees
  7. Organization of Counties, Cities, and Metropolitan Government
    1. Counties
    2. Cities
    3. Towns
    4. Metropolitan Government
    5. Other Local Government Units
  8. Retirement and Pension Laws
    1. Existing Major Plans
    2. Existing Minor Plans
    3. Problem of "Omitted Buy-Back"
  9. Religious Issues Including Use of Public Funds for Religious Institutions
  10. Administrative Procedures
    1. Statutory Law
    2. Grants of Rulemaking Authority
    3. Exemptions
    4. Repeals
    5. Amendments
    6. Conforming Changes
  11. State Land Transfers
  12. Examples

Chapter 6 -- Resolutions and Motions

  1. Uses of Resolutions
  2. Title
  3. Preamble
  4. Resolving Clauses
  5. Types of Resolutions
  6. Simple Resolutions
  7. Concurrent Resolutions
  8. Memorial Resolutions
  9. Motions
  10. Examples

Chapter 7 -- Amendments

  1. Introduction
  2. The Amending Document
    1. Motion in Committee
    2. Committee Reports
    3. Floor Amendments
    4. Conference Committee Reports
  3. The Document Being Amended
    1. Identifying the Document Being Amended
    2. Bills Amended in Subcommittee
      1. Subcommittee Reports
      2. Unofficial Engrossments
    3. Bills from the Other House
      1. Engrossing of Amendments
      2. Committee Reports and Unofficial Engrossments
      3. Rule 49 Amendments
  4. The Amending Technique
    1. "Page and Line" Amendments
      1. Amending operations
      2. Amendment structure
      3. Amendments that delete
      4. Amendments that strike
      5. Amendments that insert
      6. Amendments that reinstate
      7. Amendments that renumber
      8. Amendments to the title
    2. "Delete Everything" Amendments
    3. "Partial Delete" Amendments
    4. Senate Floor Amendments: Tense
  5. Amendments to Amendments
  6. Amendments and the Engrossing and Enrolling Process
  7. Examples

Chapter 8 -- Engrossing and Enrolling

  1. The Engrossing Process
  2. Origin and Action upon Documents by the Engrossing Process
    1. Motions in Committee
    2. Floor Amendments
    3. Conference Committee Reports
  3. Examination of an Engrossment
  4. Unengrossable Amendments
  5. Correction of Errors
  6. Identification of Engrossments
  7. Unofficial Engrossments
  8. The Enrolling Process
  9. Examples

Chapter 9 -- Practical Aids to Research and Drafting

  1. Finding Minnesota Law
    1. Laws of Minnesota
    2. Minnesota Statutes
    3. Tables
      1. Session laws amended or repealed
      2. Coded laws amended, repealed or new
      3. Special law tables
      4. Internal cross-reference table
    4. Computer Searches
  2. Finding Minnesota Bills to Use as Drafting Models
    1. Comparison Tables
    2. Engrossing Files
    3. House and Senate Index and Bill Status System
    4. House and Senate Journals
  3. Finding Laws or Bills in Other States
      1. Council of State Governments
      2. National conference of State Legislatures
      3. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR)
  4. Finding General Research Materials
  5. How to Begin Drafting

Chapter 10 -- Readability in Drafting

  1. The Question of Audience
  2. Order and Organization
  3. Headnotes
  4. Section, Subdivision, and Paragraph Length
  5. Person
  6. Number
  7. Voice
  8. Tense
  9. "Shall" and "Must"
  10. Sentence Length
  11. Intrusive Phrases and Clauses
  12. Conditions and Exceptions
  13. Provisos
  14. Sentences within Sentences
  15. Parallel Form
  16. Modifiers
  17. "And" and "Or"
  18. Tables
  19. Computation
  20. Consistent Terms
  21. Definitions
  22. Familiar Words
  23. Verbose, Obsolete, or Vague Terms
  24. Wordy Expressions
  25. Overdrafting
  26. Jargon
  27. Noun Strings
  28. Initials
  29. Nominal Style
  30. Gender-Neutral Language

Chapter 11 -- References

  1. Minnesota Statutes
    1. In Titles
    2. In Text
    3. To Proposed New Law
    4. To Include Future Amendments
    5. To Exclude Future Amendments
    6. In Text That Is Not Coded in Minnesota Statutes
  2. Laws of Minnesota
  3. Minnesota Rules
  4. State Constitution
  5. Federal Laws and Regulations
    1. Forms of Reference
    2. Popular Names and Scattered Law
    3. Regulations
  6. Safety Codes
  7. Court Rules
  8. Other Materials
  9. Examples

Chapter 12 -- Punctuation, Mechanics, Style

Chapter 13 -- Bibliography

Index


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