Purpose

This bill aims to protect confidential communications and restrict when certain professionals can disclose information about those communications. It broadens and clarifies which relationships and professions have privileged or confidential communications, and it adds court-ordered or consent-based exceptions. A central focus is safeguarding victims’ and clients’ privacy, while allowing limited disclosures in specific circumstances.

Main Provisions (What the bill does)

• Establishes and tightens privileges for various relationships and professionals, limiting disclosures of confidential communications.
• Sets up court-based balancing processes to determine when disclosure is allowed despite confidentiality.
• Expands protections for victims by restricting disclosures by domestic abuse advocates and sexual assault counselors, subject to consent or court orders in limited cases.
• Clarifies that some communications remain privileged after certain events (e.g., death) or in specific settings (e.g., mediation or collaborative law), with noted exceptions.

Key Provisions by Topic

• Spouse communications (spousal privilege)

  • A husband or wife cannot be examined about communications with the other spouse without the other’s consent.
  • Exceptions: civil actions between spouses, crimes against the other spouse or child, homicide-related cases, and certain parental rights or dependency matters.

• Attorney-client communications

  • An attorney or their staff cannot be examined about communications with the client without the client’s consent.

• Clergy communications

  • A member of the clergy cannot disclose confessions or confidential communications made in a professional religious setting without consent.

• Physician-patient communications (post-death)

  • After a patient’s death, information learned in a professional capacity remains protected, with a provision that beneficiaries can waive the privilege in certain insurance-benefit actions, but waivers are only binding when made in the context of trial or examination.

• Public officials

  • Communications made in official confidence by a public officer are protected from disclosure.

• Competence of witnesses

  • People who are of unsound mind or intoxicated are not considered competent to testify if they cannot truthfully recall or relate facts.

• Mental health/assessment professionals

  • Licensed nurses, psychologists, consulting psychologists, and licensed social workers cannot disclose confidential information obtained in professional settings without consent, with certain statutory exceptions.

• Interpreters

  • Interpreters for disabled individuals cannot disclose communications if disclosure would violate privilege, and the presence of an interpreter does not destroy privilege.

• Licensed chemical dependency counselors

  • Cannot disclose information obtained in professional practice without written informed consent, except in situations where not disclosing would break the law or cause imminent danger, or when the client waives privilege by filing charges against the counselor.

• Parent and minor child communications

  • A parent cannot be examined about communications made confidentially by the minor to the parent.
  • Confidential communications are defined with respect to being made outside the presence of others in the same household.
  • Waiver of the protection can occur by express consent or failure to object when demanded, with numerous exceptions (e.g., civil actions between spouses, termination of parental rights, child abuse or neglect cases, or actions involving a parent or child).

• Sexual assault counselors

  • May not disclose information about victims without consent, but can be compelled to disclose in investigations if good cause exists, with court weighing of public interest against harm to the victim and treatment relationships.

• Domestic abuse advocates

  • May not disclose information about victims without consent, unless ordered by a court. Courts must weigh public interest against the impact on the victim and the advocacy relationship and services.
  • Defined as staff or supervised volunteers from community-based battered women’s shelters or programs eligible for certain grants, not employed by or under supervision of law enforcement or government agencies.

• Mediation and collaborative law

  • Communications or documents related to mediation or collaborative law are generally not subject to disclosure, with certain exceptions that would allow setting aside or reforming mediated agreements. This does not alter other general privileges.

• Child witnesses

  • A child under ten is generally considered a competent witness unless the court finds they cannot remember or truthfully relate facts.

• Communication assistants for telecom relay

  • Communication assistants cannot disclose communications unless the person making the communication consents.

Effects on Existing Law

• The bill clarifies and broadens several privilege protections across many roles, and it introduces or reinforces court-based considerations for disclosures.
• It strengthens protections for victims in domestic abuse and sexual assault contexts.
• It preserves or clarifies certain protections during mediation and collaborative processes, while allowing limited exceptions through court action.
• It introduces or reinforces post-event protections (e.g., post-death physician-patient communications) and imposes specific consent and waiver mechanics.

Notable Changes and Implications

• Increased emphasis on consent and court orders as gatekeepers for disclosures.
• Expanded scope of who is protected (including domestic abuse advocates, sexual assault counselors, and mediation participants).
• Formal balancing test for compelled disclosures to weigh public interest against harm to victims and ongoing treatment relationships.
• Detailed definitions for roles (e.g., domestic abuse advocates, sexual assault counselors, mediation participants) and their disclosures.
• Potential impact on victims’ privacy, evidence strategies, and the dynamics of reporting and seeking services.

Definitions and Scope (Representative Terms)

• Privilege / confidential communications
• Consent
• Court order
• Spousal privilege
• Attorney-client privilege
• Clergy confession
• Physician-patient privilege
• Personal representatives
• Domestic abuse advocate
• Battered women’s shelter
• Sexual assault counselor
• Mediation / collaborative law
• Minor child witness
• Interpreter / communication assistant
• Good cause
• Testimony / competency of witnesses

Relevant Terms - privilege - confidential communications - consent - court order - spousal privilege - attorney-client privilege - clergy confession - physician-patient privilege - post-death waiver - domestic abuse advocate - sexual assault counselor - mediation - collaborative law - minor child - witness competency - interpreter - communication assistant - good cause - balancing test - Minnesota Statutes 2024 section 595.02 subdivision 1