05-22-2008 Charter Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

Minn. Stat. § 410.015. Columbia Heights Relief Ass 'n v. City of Columbia Heights, 305 Minn. 399, 233 N.W.2d 760 (1975); State v. Kuhlman, 729 N.W.2d 577 (Minn.,2007); State v. Burns. A05-2554 (Minn. CY.App. 2007) (unpublished decision) CHAPTER 4 • In the absence of a court decision or attorney general ruling, does the state law clearly outline or imply a policy decision by the Legislature that the law applies to charter cities as well as to statutory cities? For laws passed by the Legislature since 1976, this determination is easy. In any law taking effect after July 1, 1976, the word "city" means statutory city only. After that date, in order for a law to apply to charter cities, the law itself must clearly state it applies to both statutory and home rule charter cities. A mere reference to all cities would not be sufficient to include charter cities. For laws enacted before that time, cities should look for phrases such as, "all cities shall" or "unless the council determines to proceed under charter provisions" for clues of legislative intent. Generally, mandatory laws enacted by the Legislature prior to July 1, 1976, for the protection of the public probably apply to all cities. C. Resolving conflicts Even if a general state law applies to a charter city, it does not necessarily supersede a charter provision. If both the charter and state law direct the city to take certain actions or follow certain procedures, it may be advisable to follow both the charter provision and the state law, in order to resolve any conflicts between the two provisions. State law supersedes charter provisions only to the extent the charter provisions conflict with state policy. V. How charter cities should use the LMC Handbook This Handbook is for both statutory and home rule charter cities. Each of the following chapters includes a section on how the chapter relates to charter cities. Because of the differences in city charters, it is difficult to generalize about the ways in which they are affected by state laws. The Handbook does mention when statewide laws and rules, court decisions, and attorney general opinions apply to charter cities. 4-22 HANDBOOK FOR MINNESOTA CITIES