Legislative Document Search Request

• Usually ships in: Up to 30 business days

The State Archives of the Minnesota Historical Society preserves historical state and local government records, including those of the Legislature. Holdings for the Legislature include records for committees, commissions and officers.

The Minnesota Historical Society Library’s ability to provide assistance in researching the intent of a Minnesota law or statute is limited to locating and photocopying documents pertaining to a specific law. The Library is not staffed to engage in comprehensive Legislative research and analysis, or to determine the relevancy of the material located. The Library makes no representation that the legislative information provided is conclusive or exhaustive.

Library staff will only search the following records for one bill pre request: the respective House or senate Journal, appropriate committee minutes, pertinent bill summaries, pertinent standing committee files and audiotapes if extant. A companion bill is considered a separate bill. The Library staff must have the House or Senate bill number and year to conduct legislative document research, and it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine which bill he/she is interested in. Minnesota Laws are available electronically on the Minnesota Legislature—Office of the Reviser of Statues web site, and they provide the House and Senate bill (H.F or S.F.) numbers for each law.

Committee meeting minutes are available in paper for the years 1911-1998 for the Senate and 1919-1998 for the House. Tape recordings of committee meetings and floor sessions for both the House and the Senate are available for only the years 1991-1998. (The most recent eight years of records are available at the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Tape recordings prior to 1991 no longer exist.

There is no guarantee that either paper records or tapes will provide relevant information. Library staff cannot listen to tapes to determine their content or record only those portions relevant to a file. The audio quality of the recordings is also often less than ideal, so portions may be difficult to decipher. Duplicated audiotapes reflect the quality of the original. The fees for reproducing legislative tapes are as follows:

• Supplies: cassette $2.00 each (Rush orders-double the fee)
• Dubbing: $20 per side (Rush orders-double the fee)

Researchers who visit the Library may request appropriate committee minutes, tapes and other pertinent materials, flag documents within a file and request individual copies of these documents at a cost of .25 cents per page. Tape reproduction fees are the same as provided above. This option is not available to off-site researchers.

Research prices

• Minnesota residents: $75.00 (Rush $150)
• Non-Minnesota residents: $150.00 (Rush $300)
• MHS Members receive a 10% discount applied during checkout.

Guide to Providing Information for your Request:

• Year of bill:
• Legislative branch: House or Senate
• Bill (SF or HF) number:

• Audiotapes: Yes or No

By placing this order, you authorize us to increase your order total if audiotapes exist for your legislative bill. (Audiotapes currently exists for the years 1991-1998) See fees listed above.

Legislative History