Minn. Stat. § 44.16

This is the official text of Minn. Stat. § 44.16, 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.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

§ 44.16 MERIT SYSTEM, ABANDONMENT.

Official statutory text

§ Subdivision 1. Procedure. The merit system may be abandoned and the board abolished in any municipality in the manner provided in this subdivision. The council may, and upon petition therefor signed by voters equal in number to at least 25 percent of the electors voting at the last general municipal election shall, submit to the voters at a regular or special election the question of abolition of the board. The question on the ballot shall be stated substantially as follows: "Shall the personnel board be abolished?" If a majority of the votes cast on the proposition is in favor of abolition of the board, the board shall cease to exist and the status of all departments and employees shall thereafter be the same as if no board had been established; but if the board supplanted a police or firefighter's civil service commission, the board shall not be abolished unless two-thirds of the electors voting at the election vote in favor of the proposition.

§ Subd. 2. Home rule charter provisions. Nothing in subdivision 1 shall preclude any municipality from abolishing the board or modifying its powers and duties by home rule charter provisions or from supplanting the merit system provided by this chapter by a different provision in a home rule charter. The provisions of this chapter shall thereafter become inapplicable to such city except as otherwise provided in the charter.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in Minnesota?

Find a Minnesota lawyer
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.