Minnesota Statutes 10A.07 – Conflicts of Interest
Subdivision 1.Disclosure of potential conflicts.
(a) A public official or a local official elected to or appointed by a metropolitan governmental unit who in the discharge of official duties would be required to take an action or make a decision that would substantially affect the official’s financial interests or those of an associated business, unless the effect on the official is no greater than on other members of the official’s business classification, profession, or occupation, must take the following actions:
Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 10A.07
- Associated business: means an association, corporation, partnership, limited liability company, limited liability partnership, or other organized legal entity from which the individual or the individual's spouse receives compensation in excess of $250, except for actual and reasonable expenses, in any month during the reporting period as a director, officer, owner, member, partner, employer or employee, or whose securities the individual or the individual's spouse holds worth more than $10,000 at fair market value. See Minnesota Statutes 10A.01
- Board: means the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. See Minnesota Statutes 10A.01
- Chair: includes chairman, chairwoman, and chairperson. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Local official: means a person who holds elective office in a political subdivision or who is appointed to or employed in a public position in a political subdivision in which the person has authority to make, to recommend, or to vote on as a member of the governing body, major decisions regarding the expenditure or investment of public money. See Minnesota Statutes 10A.01
- Metropolitan governmental unit: means any of the seven counties in the metropolitan area as defined in section 473. See Minnesota Statutes 10A.01
- Political subdivision: means the Metropolitan Council, a metropolitan agency as defined in section 473. See Minnesota Statutes 10A.01
- Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
- Public official: means any:
(1) member of the legislature;
(2) individual employed by the legislature as secretary of the senate, legislative auditor, director of the Legislative Budget Office, chief clerk of the house of representatives, revisor of statutes, or researcher, legislative analyst, fiscal analyst, or attorney in the Office of Senate Counsel, Research and Fiscal Analysis, House Research, or the House Fiscal Analysis Department;
(3) constitutional officer in the executive branch and the officer's chief administrative deputy;
(4) solicitor general or deputy, assistant, or special assistant attorney general;
(5) commissioner, deputy commissioner, or assistant commissioner of any state department or agency as listed in section 15. See Minnesota Statutes 10A.01
(1) prepare a written statement describing the matter requiring action or decision and the nature of the potential conflict of interest;
(2) deliver copies of the statement to the official’s immediate superior, if any; and
(3) if a member of the legislature or of the governing body of a metropolitan governmental unit, deliver a copy of the statement to the presiding officer of the body of service.
If a potential conflict of interest presents itself and there is insufficient time to comply with clauses (1) to (3), the public or local official must orally inform the superior or the official body of service or committee of the body of the potential conflict.
(b) For purposes of this section, “financial interest” means any ownership or control in an asset that has the potential to produce a monetary return.
Subd. 2.Required actions.
(a) If the official is not a member of the legislature or of the governing body of a metropolitan governmental unit, the superior must assign the matter, if possible, to another employee who does not have a potential conflict of interest.
(b) If there is no immediate superior, the official must abstain, if possible, by assigning the matter to a subordinate for disposition or requesting the appointing authority to designate another to determine the matter. The official shall not chair a meeting, participate in any vote, or offer any motion or discussion on the matter giving rise to the potential conflict of interest.
(c) If the official is a member of the legislature, the house of service may, at the member’s request, excuse the member from taking part in the action or decision in question.
(d) If an official is not permitted or is otherwise unable to abstain from action in connection with the matter, the official must file a statement describing the potential conflict and the action taken. A public official must file the statement with the board and a local official must file the statement with the governing body of the official’s political subdivision. The statement must be filed within a week of the action taken.
Subd. 3.Interest in contract; local officials.
This section does not apply to a local official with respect to a matter governed by sections 471.87 and 471.88.
Subd. 4.Exception; judges.
Notwithstanding subdivisions 1 and 2, a public official who is a district court judge, an appeals court judge, or a supreme court justice is not required to comply with the provisions of this section.