Subd. 1. General rule.

Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, cattle affected with tuberculosis, paratuberculosis, or brucellosis may not be killed for that reason until they have been inspected by a veterinarian appointed by the board and are determined by the veterinarian to have one of those diseases.

For each animal slaughtered because of tuberculosis, paratuberculosis, or brucellosis, the value of the net salvage of the carcass must be deducted from the appraised value of the living animal. Two-thirds of the remainder must be paid to the owner by the state. If the animal and plant health inspection service of the United States Department of Agriculture compensates the owner for the animal, in whole or in part, the amount of the compensation received from the federal government must be deducted from the amount of indemnity payable by the state. No payment may be more than $37.50 for grade animals or more than $75 for a registered purebred animal, and no payment may be made unless the owner has complied with all rules of the board.

Subd. 2. Exceptions.

The owner of an animal is entitled to the indemnity provided in subdivision 1, except in the following cases:

1. (1) steers;
2. (2) animals which have not been kept in good faith for one year or since their birth in the state;
3. (3) animals brought into the state, contrary to law or rules of the board;
4. (4) animals diseased on arrival in the state;
5. (5) animals belonging to the United States;
6. (6) animals belonging to institutions maintained by the state, a county, or a municipality;
7. (7) animals which the owner or claimant knew or should have known were diseased at the time they were acquired;
8. (8) animals exposed to brucellosis through the owner's negligence;
9. (9) animals which have been injected with brucellosis vaccine, bacterin, or other preparations made from or through the agency of Brucella Microorganisms unless it was done in compliance with the rules of the board;
10. (10) animals belonging to a person who has received indemnity as a result of a former inspection or tests and has then introduced into the same herd any animals which have not passed the tuberculin or brucellosis test;
11. (11) animals if the owner, agent, or person in possession of them has not complied with the rules of the board with respect to condemned animals;
12. (12) condemned animals which are not destroyed within 15 days after the date of appraisal, or for which the owner refuses to sign the appraisal or report of the members of the appraisal board, except that in extraordinary circumstances and in meritorious cases and at the discretion of the executive director of the board the time limit of 15 days may be extended an additional 15 days if the owner receives permission from the executive director within 15 days of the date of appraisal;
13. (13) livestock affected with tuberculosis, paratuberculosis, or brucellosis unless the entire herd of which the affected livestock is a part, or from which the affected livestock has originated, is examined and tested under the supervision of the board, in order to determine if they are free from the disease;
14. (14) livestock affected with tuberculosis, paratuberculosis, or brucellosis unless the owner has carried out the instructions of the board relating to cleaning, disinfection, and rendering the stables and premises in a sanitary condition within 15 days of the time of removal of the animals from the premises, except when, because of inclement weather or other extenuating circumstances, the time is extended by the executive director of the board;
15. (15) livestock affected with tuberculosis, paratuberculosis, or brucellosis, if the owner has fed milk or milk products derived from creameries which was not pasteurized as required by state laws; and

16. (16) animals owned by a nonresident if neither the owner nor the owner's agent breed livestock in Minnesota.

    If, at any time, the annual appropriation for payment of indemnities becomes exhausted as a result of condemnation and slaughter of animals, the board shall discontinue making further official tests or authorizing tests unless an owner signs a waiver on blanks furnished by the board of payment of indemnity for any animals that may be condemned as the result of a test and inspection which releases the state from any obligation to pay indemnity from any future appropriation.

Subd. 2a. Nonreactors; cattle ineligible for test.

The board may condemn and appraise nonreactors to the brucellosis test and exposed cattle not eligible to be tested from herds affected with brucellosis and may pay the owner the difference between the appraisal value and the salvage value up to $300 for grade animals or $600 for purebred registered animals if the board through its executive director has determined according to criteria adopted by the board that herd depopulation is essential to the goal of bovine brucellosis eradication. Indemnity payable by the state must be reduced by the amount paid by the United States Department of Agriculture. No indemnity may be paid for steers.

Subd. 3. Emergencies.

1. (a) When it is determined by the board that it is necessary to eradicate any dangerous, infectious, communicable disease among domestic animals in the state, the presence of which constitutes an emergency declared by resolution of the board, order of the governor, or by the United States Department of Agriculture, the board may take reasonable and necessary steps to suppress and eradicate the disease. The board may cooperate with the animal and plant health inspection service of the United States Department of Agriculture, federally recognized Indian tribes, state or local government agencies, or any other private or public entity in the suppression and eradication of the disease.
2. (b) When an emergency has been declared, the board may appraise and destroy animals affected with, or which have been exposed to the disease, or which are highly susceptible to exposure to the disease because of proximity to diseased animals, appraise and destroy personal property in order to remove the infection and complete the cleaning and disinfection of the premises, temporarily commandeer real property under paragraph (c) for the purpose of disposing of animals, and do any act and incur any other expense reasonably necessary to suppress the disease.

3. (c) The governor, at the request of the board, may temporarily commandeer agricultural or other suitable nonresidential land under the provisions of chapter 12 to be used for disposal of the destroyed animals when an emergency has been declared by the governor under section 35.0661 and the board determines that:

   1. (1) the owner of destroyed animals lacks sufficient land to properly dispose of the animals;
   2. (2) the animals cannot be transported to other sites;
   3. (3) no landowner within the appropriate area will consent to voluntarily provide land for animal disposal;
   4. (4) time pressures prevent formal condemnation procedures; and

   5. (5) other means of animal disposal are either impractical or contrary to good disease control practices.

      After the land has been used for animal disposal, possession shall return to the owner or occupant. Damages resulting from the temporary taking shall be paid in the same amount and manner as if the land had been temporarily condemned for other public purposes.

4. (d) The board may accept, on behalf of the state, the rules adopted by the animal and plant health inspection service of the United States Department of Agriculture pertaining to the disease, authorized under an act of Congress, or the portion of the regulations deemed necessary, suitable, or applicable, and cooperate with the animal and plant health inspection service of the United States Department of Agriculture, in the enforcement of those rules. Alternatively, the board may follow the procedure only as to quarantine, inspection, condemnation, appraisal, compensation, destruction, burial of animals, disinfection, or other acts the board considers reasonably necessary for the suppression of the disease, as agreed upon and adopted by the board and representatives or authorized agents of the animal and plant health inspection service of the United States Department of Agriculture.
5. (e) For the purpose of compensation under paragraph (f), appraisals of animals or personal property destroyed in order to remove the infection and complete the cleaning and disinfection of premises where the animals are found, must be made by an appraisal board consisting of a representative of the board, a representative of the animal and plant health inspection service of the United States Department of Agriculture, and the owner of the animals or the owner's representative. Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, when, in the judgment of the board, physical appraisal of the animals to be killed or personal property to be destroyed poses a disease threat, appraisals may be conducted after the animals are killed based on documents, testimony, or other relevant evidence. Appraisals must be in writing and signed by the appraisers, and must be made at the true market value of all animals and personal property appraised, unless otherwise provided by applicable federal law or regulation when compensation is paid by federal funds.
6. (f) Upon destruction of animals or personal property, or temporary commandeering of real property, and burial or other disposition of the carcasses of the animals in accordance with the law and rules of the board and the animal and plant health inspection service of the United States Department of Agriculture, and the completion of the cleaning and disinfection of the premises, the board shall certify the appraisal or the condemnation award to the commissioner of finance, who shall draw a warrant on the state treasurer for the proper amount payable to the owner, excluding any compensation received by the owner from other sources, from appropriations made available for this purpose.

7. (g) No entity of any kind may begin or proceed with any proceeding to collect a debt from the owner of animals or personal property destroyed under this subdivision, until the owner has received compensation under paragraph (d). For purposes of this paragraph, "proceeding to collect a debt" includes foreclosure, repossession, garnishment, levy, contract for deed cancellation, an action to obtain a court judgment, a proceeding to collect real estate taxes or special assessments, eviction, and any other in-court and out-of-court proceedings to collect a debt. The term does not include sending bills or other routine communications to the owner. If an entity refuses to comply with this paragraph after being informed that the owner qualifies for relief under this paragraph, the owner may apply to the district court in the county in which the owner resides for a court order directing the entity to comply with this paragraph and to reimburse the owner for reasonable attorney fees incurred in obtaining the court order. This paragraph does not affect the validity of a mortgage foreclosure, contract for deed cancellation or other proceeding involving the title to real property, unless the owner records in the office of the county recorder, or files in the office of the registrar of titles, prior to completion of the proceeding to collect a debt, a certified copy of a court order, which includes a legal description of the property, determining that the owner qualifies for relief under this paragraph. For purposes of proceedings involving title to real property, the court order must provide that it expires 90 days after the court order was applied for, unless the court extends the court order prior to that date for good cause shown. A certified copy of any extension of the court order must be recorded or filed in order to affect the validity of a proceeding affecting the title to real property. For purposes of this paragraph, "completion of a proceeding to collect a debt" means, in the case of a mortgage foreclosure under chapter 580 or 581 or of a foreclosure of any other lien on real property, the filing or recording of the sheriff's certificate of sale; and, in the case of a contract for deed cancellation under section 559.21, the end of the cancellation period provided in that section.

   * NOTE: The amendment to subdivision 3 by Laws 2001, chapter *192, section 3, expires July 31, 2003, and the subdivision as it *read prior to that amendment is revived and includes any *subsequent enactments. Laws 2001, chapter 192, section 4.