House moves to let law libraries fund new construction that includes courts

It’s now up to the governor to determine if county law libraries could contribute to the construction of buildings that will house them.

The House passed HF1390/SF1113*, sponsored by Rep. Nick Zerwas (R-Elk River) and Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer (R-Big Lake), 69-62 Monday. The Senate passed the bill 64-0 March 20.

Rep. Nick Zerwas

The bill says: “If a county law library, through its trustees, has a fiscal reserve that is projected to sustain its operations for a period of over five years, the county law library may transfer up to half of the money in its fiscal reserve, but not to exceed $200,000, to the county in which the library is located to defray costs of constructing a new building to house the law library and courts.”

Rep. Michael Nelson (DFL-Brooklyn Park) called the bill a “money grab” that would set a statewide precedent for counties to use fees raised from law library users on court construction projects.

Rep. Mike Freiberg (DFL-Golden Valley) unsuccessfully offered an amendment that would have limited the bill to Sherburne County.

“It seems to make sense to try this out in one county,” Freiberg said, adding that he’d heard concerns about the bill from several law librarians around the state. 

Zerwas opposed the amendment, saying the bill was “crafted narrowly” with “pretty tough guardrails” and would treat all counties and county libraries in the state equally.