These Laws Went Into Effect In MN July 1

MINNESOTA —Several new laws that were passed during the 2021 regular legislative session are already now in effect. Among the new laws is one that will pay more than $100,000 to Nicholas Peterson, who sought relief under the Imprisonment and Exoneration Remedies Act that provides a compensation process for cases where a person who was wrongfully incarcerated.

Here are the laws that took effect July 1, 2021, in Minnesota:

Claims law totals nearly $110,000 in payouts

Each year, a joint House-Senate Subcommittee on Claims decides which claims against the state it should fund. This year's law calls for $109,865.28 in payments in fiscal year 2022.

The largest part of this year’s law is $108,684.65 to Nicholas Peterson who sought relief under the Imprisonment and Exoneration Remedies Act that provides a compensation process for cases where a person is exonerated of a felony for which they were wrongfully incarcerated. He served 572 days in prison and 220 days on supervised release.

The other $1,180.63 is for sentence-to-service and community work service claims under $7,000 and other claims already paid out by the Corrections Department.

New law modifies statutes governing tax-forfeited land sales

A new law extends protections for property in foreclosure in current law to tax-forfeited property, common interest communities and contracts for deed. Effective July 1, 2021, the Department of Revenue must issue a quitclaim deed to the record owner upon receipt of the certification of the county auditor after tax-forfeited land has been sold.

The deed must state the record owner’s estate as grantee if a tax-forfeited sale is made to a personal representative, heir or devisee, and the owner is deceased at the time of the redemption period or certification.

A state deed must also name the assignee as the grantee if the owner at the time of the expiration of the redemption period assigns an installment contract to repurchase and the assignment is registered or recorded.

The law requires a quitclaim deed subject to an installment contract be sent to the county auditor, who must record it before forwarding it to the grantee. Failure to make an installment payment will constitute default, making the sale subject to cancellation.

Omnibus pension and retirement law

Parts of the omnibus pension and retirement law take effect July 1, 2021. Sponsored by Rep. Michael Nelson (DFL-Brooklyn Park) and Sen. Julie Rosen (Fairmont), the requested changes come from the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement:

— Extending until June 30, 2022, the application of pre-2017 factors used in converting a lump sum to an annuity under the unclassified plan for legislative employees; Minnesota House of Representatives Melissa Hortman, Speaker

— Current employees and employees who left in the past year are permitted to purchase MSRS service credits for the period they were excluded from coverage

— Extending the minimum period from one to three years during which an employee who returns from military service can purchase service credits for a period of military leave, and makes technical changes to PERA statutes

— Increased pension payments to a former House of Representatives and Labor Department employee who received an erroneous benefit estimate from MSRS.