Small claims bill receives overwhelming House support

Each year, a joint House-Senate Subcommittee on Claims decides which claims against the state it should fund.

This year’s bill calls for $7,764 in payments in Fiscal Year 2020.

Sponsored by Rep. Mary Murphy (DFL-Hermantown), HF2697 was passed 112-4 by the House Friday and sent to the Senate where Sen. Bruce Anderson (R-Buffalo Township) is the sponsor.

Two items comprise this year’s bill:

• $5,889 for sentence-to-service and community work service claims under $7,000 and other claims already paid out by the Corrections Department; and
• $1,875 to Ricky Ritchie for permanent finger damage sustained while performing assigned duties at the Rush City prison.

This year’s bill is a small fraction of the $261,293 in payments in Fiscal Year 2019, the bulk of which went to three men who were wrongly imprisoned and sought payment under the Imprisonment and Exoneration Remedies Act, which provides a compensation process for cases where a person was exonerated of a felony for which they were wrongfully incarcerated.