Pot times

New Laws Passed by Legislature Begin July 1

URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1066/a10.html
Newshawk: Richard Lake
Pubdate: Sat, 02 Jul 2005
Source: Albert Lea Tribune (MN)
Copyright: 2005 Albert Lea Tribune Inc.
Contact: news@albertleatribune.com
Website: http://www.albertleatribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3521
Author: Jennifer Rogers, Tribune staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

           

                                                                                                                                                                       

one heinous element exists.

Also, the law creates a new crime known as "criminal sexual predatory conduct" that applies when an offender commits a predatory crime motivated by sexual impulses, or as a part of a predatory pattern of behavior with criminal sexual conduct as its goal.  The statutory maximum sentence for this offense is 25 percent longer than for the underlying predatory crime.

Other sex offenders could be given indeterminate sentences with the possibility of being on supervised release after serving the minimum sentence.  Several factors must be considered when placing an offender on supervised release, including the possible risk to the community, progress in treatment, behavior while in prison, psychological evaluations, past criminal history and other relevant conduct of the offender.

The law gives the Department of Human Services access to the predatory offender registry, and requires that administrators of health care facilities be notified is a sex offender is going to live in their facility.  Effective July 1, communication about sex offenders who come from other states to live in Minnesota is also strengthened.

Sex offenders are barred from attending their own community notification meetings, which are required when Level III offenders leave prison to serve out the remaining one-third of their sentence under supervision in the community.

A conference committee dropped House provisions for chemical castration of some sex offenders and special license plates and driver's licenses that would have publicly identified sex offenders.

Child Support/Custody Changes Approved

For the first time in more than two decades, the state's child support and custody laws have received an overhaul.  The legislation's sponsors herald the new provisions as more reflective of today's family circumstances.

The new law focuses primarily on how child support will be calculated using the parents' combined gross income and a presumption of joint, legal custody by the court if parents can't decide on their own parenting plan.

Most policy provisions are effective Jan.  1, 2007, but a number of fee changes are effective July 1, 2005.

To help cover the costs of implementing the new law, $860,000 is appropriated for fiscal year 2006 and $450,000 in fiscal year 2007 from the General Fund to the human services commissioner.  The state will be able to recoup some of the money through some new fees, effective July 1, 2005, and modifications to ones already being charged.  For example, a $50 fee will be added on to the fee already charged to those filing for divorce.

Additionally, the law modifies numerous other fees relating to child support.  For example, $20 from each fee collected for modifications to child support agreements will go into the county's general fund to help pay for county child support enforcement efforts and $35 will be credited to the state general fund.

Insurance Regulation Changes

A series of changes to insurance regulations, most of them technical, are part of the 2005 omnibus insurance law.

The law will increase from $75 to $90 the fee for filing insurance forms and premium rates that insurance companies pay to the department.  A $250 filing fee for a worker's compensation large risk alternative rating option plan that meets a $250,000 threshold in annual premiums from a single employer will be eliminated.

Former law required these option plans to be filed with the commerce commissioner, but did not require certification by the insurer.  The new law will allow an insurer to charge a premium without filing it with the commissioner if the insurer files a certification that the premium rate is being used only with a specified employer that generates at least $250,000 in annual workers' compensation premiums.  Violations could result in a fine of up to $100 for each day the failure to file continues.

The initial and annual renewal licensing fee charged to data service organizations that develop workers' compensation premium rates will increase from $50 to $1,000.  Third party administrators' licensure will be changed from a $1,000 fee for two years to $1,500 for three years.

Self-insurance policies will also change.  State laws allow the mandatory auto insurance requirement to be satisfied through self-insurance under certain conditions.  The new law changes the initial application fee for motor vehicle self-insurance from $1,500 to $2,500 and the renewal period from annual to three years.  The renewal fee for political subdivisions changes from $400 per year to $1,200 for three years, and for nongovernmental entities from $500 annually to $1,500 for three years.

A complete summary of all laws passed by the 2005 Legislature is available online from the House Public Information Services Office at www.house.mn.