Office of the Revisor of Statutes

The Office of the Revisor of Statutes is a legislative office that provides services to members of both houses of the Legislature, all constitutional offices, and all state agencies and departments. The services of the office are nonpartisan and confidential. The office consists of attorneys, editors, computer specialists, and support personnel. Services are provided in the following four areas:

Legislative: The office assists members of both the House and Senate and legislative staff at virtually all stages of the legislative process from the preparation of a draft of a bill through to its presentation to the governor. The office drafts bills, amendments, resolutions, and other legislative documents. As required by statute, upon request, the office drafts bills for any member of the House or the Senate, for the governor and other constitutional officers, and for state agencies. Bill drafting services are nonpartisan and confidential. In addition, the Revisor’s Office prepares three types of bills to maintain quality: the “Revisor’s bill” to correct technical errors in the statutes, the “correction bill” to correct errors in a given session’s bills, and bills to improve the style and form of statutory chapters. The session correction bill is customarily one of the final bills passed during a session. Office staff members prepare and publish a bill drafting manual containing styles and forms for drafting bills, resolutions, and amendments known as the Minnesota Revisor’s Manual with Styles and Forms. The office maintains a bill tracking system for the Legislature, prepares all House committee reports, and prepares conference committee and comparison reports. The Revisor’s Office formally engrosses bills – which involves incorporating all changes – and enrolls them – which means they are signed by the proper officers of both houses and formally presented to the governor on behalf of the Legislature.

Administrative Rules: : The office helps state agencies draft and adopt administrative rules. In addition, staff members are available to answer questions about Minnesota Rules and the rulemaking process for state agencies and can help with a text search of Minnesota Rules for specific rule information. Office staff also prepare and publish Minnesota Rules Drafting Manual with Styles and Forms and Rulemaking in Minnesota: A Guide.

Publications: The office compiles, edits, and publishes Laws of Minnesota, Minnesota Statutes, and Minnesota Rules. Laws of Minnesota contains the laws and resolutions passed each legislative session. Minnesota Statutes contains the codified general and permanent laws. Minnesota Rules contains the compiled administrative rules adopted by state agencies. A compilation of Minnesota court rules is included as a supplement to Minnesota Statutes. All the publications contain user aids and indexes and are the official text of the law. All publications are also available online.

Legal Assistance and Liaison Duties: The Revisor’s Office provides counsel to the Legislative Coordinating Commission Subcommittee on Claims. The Revisor or designee serves as a commissioner to the Uniform Laws Conference, a national group working toward consistency in state statutes. In addition, the office prepares a biennial report on Minnesota court opinions that declare a statute unconstitutional or otherwise identify statutory deficiencies.

Computer: The Revisor’s Office maintains hardware and develops software to support the work of the Legislature. In 2006, the office implemented XTEND, a new XML-based bill drafting and publishing system. This system is used by House, Senate and Revisor’s office staff. Staff members of the Revisor’s Office provide support to legislative users through training and through its helpdesk. Staff also provide network and server support for the Legislature’s Internet services and provide Internet information on bills, rules, and laws.