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Minn. Stat. § 3.153

This is the official text of Minn. Stat. § 3.153, part of Minnesota’s Stat — part of the compiled statutory law of Minnesota, published by the state as "Stat." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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§ 3.153 LEGISLATIVE SUBPOENAS.

Official statutory text

§ Subdivision 1. Commissions; committees. A joint legislative commission established by law and composed exclusively of legislators or a standing or interim legislative committee, by a two-thirds vote of its members, may request the issuance of subpoenas, including subpoenas duces tecum, requiring the appearance of persons, production of relevant records, and the giving of relevant testimony. Subpoenas shall be issued by the chief clerk of the house of representatives or the secretary of the senate upon receipt of the request. A person subpoenaed to attend a meeting of the legislature or a hearing of a legislative committee or commission shall receive the same fees and expenses provided by law for witnesses in district court.

§ Subd. 2. Service. Service of a subpoena authorized by this section shall be made in the manner provided for the service of subpoenas in civil actions at least seven days before the date fixed in the subpoena for appearance or production of records unless a shorter period is authorized by a majority vote of all the members of the committee or commission.

§ Subd. 3. Counsel. Any person served with a subpoena may choose to be accompanied by counsel if a personal appearance is required and shall be served with a notice to that effect. The person shall also be served with a copy of the resolution or statute establishing the committee or commission and a general statement of the subject matter of the commission or committee's investigation or inquiry.

§ Subd. 4. Attachment. To carry out the authority granted by this section, a committee or commission authorized by subdivision 1 to request the issuance of subpoenas may, by a two-thirds vote of its members, request the issuance of an attachment to compel the attendance of a witness who, having been duly subpoenaed to attend, fails to do so. The chief clerk of the house of representatives or the secretary of the senate upon receipt of the request shall apply to the district court in Ramsey County for issuance of the attachment.

§ Subd. 5. Failure to respond. Any person who without lawful excuse fails to respond to a subpoena issued under this section or who, having been subpoenaed, willfully refuses to be sworn or affirm or to answer any material or proper question before a committee or commission is guilty of a misdemeanor.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.