The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- Minnesota
- Level
- State
- Authority
- Minn. Stat. ch. 12, §§ 12.21, 12.31, 12.32, 12.39, 12.45
- Effective
- standing
- End
- standing (read as 2021-09-30)
- In force
- Standing (a statutory duty; in force throughout the six quarters)
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Emergency declarationStay-at-homeBusiness closureGathering capFace-covering requirementWorkplace rulesQuarantine and isolationStanding duty
- Addressees
- persons generally (every person, business and political subdivision in the State)
- Character
- order penalty
- Collection
- Standing duties: Minnesota DUT-MN
Operative words
Orders and rules promulgated by the governor under authority of section 12.21, subdivision 3, clause (1), when approved by the Executive Council and filed in the Office of the Secretary of State, have, during a national security emergency, peacetime emergency, or energy supply emergency, the full force and effect of law.
Penalty
§ 12.45: misdemeanor, fine up to $1,000 or imprisonment up to 90 days, 'Unless a different penalty or punishment is specifically prescribed'; the orders themselves prescribed the business gross misdemeanor and § 8.31 civil penalties (EO 20-99, Ex. MN-032).
What it required
Every emergency executive order approved by the Executive Council and filed with the Secretary of State bound every person in Minnesota as law, suspended inconsistent local rules and ordinances, and its willful violation was a misdemeanor: 'a person who willfully violates a provision of this chapter or a rule or order having the force and effect of law issued under authority of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction must be punished by a fine not to exceed $1,000, or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days' (§ 12.45).
Retrieval noteThe whole 2020 chapter is saved (the Revisor's chapter PDF). § 12.31 subd. 2(a): a peacetime emergency 'may be declared only when an act of nature, a technological failure or malfunction, a terrorist incident, an industrial accident, a hazardous materials accident, or a civil disturbance endangers life and property and local government resources are inadequate to handle the situation'; extension beyond five days requires the Executive Council, and the Legislature 'may terminate a peacetime emergency extending beyond 30 days' (subd. 2(b)), which it did effective July 1, 2021 (Ex. MN-041). § 12.39 subd. 1 preserves the individual's right to refuse treatment or testing but lets the commissioner order the refusing person 'to be placed in isolation or quarantine according to parameters set forth in sections 144.419 and 144.4195'. Snell v. Walz (DUT-MN-018) construes § 12.31 subd. 2 to authorize the COVID-19 declaration.