Purpose

This bill creates a new process for the legislature to remove certain top managers in state agencies. It allows the Minnesota Legislature to require the immediate removal of an inferior executive branch officer for malfeasance or nonfeasance, even if other state laws or management plans would otherwise apply.

Key definitions relevant to the bill

• Agency: any executive branch board, commission, council, department, or similar public entity established by law.
• Department: each department listed in state law.
• Inferior officer: the head, deputy head, or assistant head of an agency or department, and the director or similar leader of any division, bureau, office, or other unit within an agency or department.
• Malfeasance: willful commission of an unlawful or wrongful act in the officer’s duties that goes beyond the officer’s authority and harms someone’s rights.
• Nonfeasance: willful failure to perform a required duty.

Main Provisions

• Legislative removal authority (Sec. 2)
  • The legislature may require the immediate removal of an inferior officer for malfeasance or nonfeasance, despite any contrary law or any management plan under a separate state law (chapter 43A).
• Complaint and public proceedings (Sec. 3)
  • Any senator or representative can request removal by filing a complaint with the Senate Majority Leader or the Speaker of the House.
  • The complaint must specify the facts showing malfeasance or nonfeasance.
  • Within 10 days, the complaint is forwarded to the appropriate legislative committee and copies are sent to the governor and the named inferior officer.
  • Within 30 days, the legislative committee must start public proceedings. The complainant may amend the complaint, and both sides may be represented by counsel.
  • The inferior officer has the right to respond, present witnesses, call and cross-examine witnesses, and introduce evidence. The proceedings and records are public, unless the officer waives the right to public proceedings in writing.
  • The committee must take testimony enough to determine, by clear and convincing evidence, whether the alleged malfeasance or nonfeasance is true.
• Disposition by the committee (Sec. 3)
  • The committee can dismiss the complaint if the standard is not met.
  • If the facts show malfeasance or nonfeasance, the committee must report the complaint and its recommendations to the full House for a final decision.
• Final disposition and removal (Sec. 4)
  • After receiving the committee’s report and recommendations, both houses of the legislature may vote on removal.
  • If a majority of the members elected to each house vote in favor, the inferior officer must be discharged by the governor or the governor’s designee, effective the day after both houses notify the governor of the vote.
  • The complaints submitted to each house do not have to be identical, as long as both contain allegations of malfeasance or nonfeasance about the same officer.

Significant changes to existing law

• Introduces a formal, legislature-driven removal mechanism for inferior executive branch officers, creating a counterpart to executive or civil service procedures.
• Overrides any conflicting law or management plan that would otherwise limit removal, enabling a rapid, cross-branch process.
• Establishes a public, court-like investigative process inside the Legislature with defined rights for the officer and for the complainant, up to a public hearing and a standard of proof (clear and convincing).
• Requires a two-house majority vote to effect removal, with final authority lying with the governor or the governor’s designee after both houses vote.

Practical implications

• Creates a potential check on executive branch leadership by giving the Legislature the power to remove top agency and department leaders for misconduct or failure to perform duties.
• Shifts some sovereignty from the executive branch to the legislative branch in the area of personnel accountability.
• Elevates transparency and public participation in the removal process, given the public nature of proceedings unless waived.

Relevant terms inferior officer; malfeasance; nonfeasance; agency; department; public proceedings; legislative committee; Senate Majority Leader; Speaker of the House; governor; governor’s designee; immediate removal; complaint; final disposition; clear and convincing evidence.