Minnesota Court of Appeals

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The Minnesota Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the state of Minnesota. It began its operations on November 1, 1983.

1 Jurisdiction
2 Procedure
3 Judges
- 3.1 Former judges
4 External links

[edit] Jurisdiction

The Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over most appeals from the Minnesota state trial courts, and from many decisions of state agencies and local governments. The only exceptions to this grant of jurisdiction are statewide election contests, first-degree murder cases, and appeals from the Minnesota Tax Court and Minnesota Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals, all of which go directly to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Relatively few of the Court of Appeals' decisions are accepted by the Minnesota Supreme Court for further review (usually, about 5% per year). The Court of Appeals makes the final ruling in about 95 percent of the 2,000 to 2,400 appeals filed every year.

[edit] Procedure

Under Minnesota state law, the Court of Appeals must issue a decision within 90 days after oral arguments. If no oral argument is held a decision is due within 90 days of the case's scheduled conference date. This deadline is the shortest imposed on any appellate court in the nation. The court expedites decisions on child custody cases, mental health commitments and other matters in which the parties request accelerated response.

[edit] Judges

As of 2008, there are sixteen judges on the Court. They sit in three-judge panels in various locations throughout the state to hear oral arguments, all of which are open to the public.