Representation Disclosure
1974 c 470 s 8; 1975 c 271 s 6; 1978 c 463 s 34; 1982 c 424 s 130; 1986 c 444; 1999 c 220 s 11,50; 2002 c 363 s 9; 2005 c 156 art 6 s 5; 2010 c 327 s 9; 2013 c 138 art 2 s 4; 2015 c 73 s 3; 2018 c 119 s 13,14; 2019 c 50 art 1 s 3
Subd. 1. Disclosure required.
- (a) A public official who represents a client for a fee before an individual, board, commission, or agency that has rulemaking authority in a hearing conducted under chapter 14, must disclose the official's participation in the action to the board within 14 days after the public official's initial appearance at a hearing. If the public official fails to disclose the participation by the date that the disclosure was due, the board may impose a late filing fee of $25 per day, not to exceed $1,000, starting on the day after the disclosure was due. The board must send notice by certified mail to a public official who fails to disclose the participation within ten business days after the disclosure was due that the public official may be subject to a civil penalty for failure to disclose the participation. A public official who fails to disclose the participation within seven days after the certified mail notice was sent by the board is subject to a civil penalty imposed by the board of up to $1,000.
- (b) A public official required to disclose representation under this section shall provide the following information: name, address, and office held; name and address of each client represented at the hearing; the name of the individual, board, commission, or agency conducting the hearing and the date and location of the initial appearance at the hearing; and a general description of the subject or subjects on which the public official represented the client in the hearing.
Subd. 2. Exception; judges.
Notwithstanding subdivision 1, 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.
Subd. 3. Definitions.
- (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions have the meanings given.
- (b) "Fee" means any compensation or other consideration for services performed or for future services.
- (c) "Initial appearance at a hearing" means the first appearance by a public official representing a client for a fee at a hearing on a single subject. Subsequent appearances at continuations of the same hearing are not initial appearances.