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26 Minnesota Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (1993)

handle is hein.sag/sagmn0032 and id is 1 raw text is: Minnesota Legal Register
(Attorney General Opinions Issue)          Page 1

Opinions of the
Attorney General
Hubert H. Humphrey, III
* * ****

PARKS: BOARDS: HENNEPIN COUNTY: TERMS
OF MEMBERS: Terms of members appointed by
county board expire on January 1. They may continue
In de facto capacity until successors are selected.
Minn. Stat. §§ 383B. 383B.69 (1990).
Jeffrey R. Brauchle               January 4, 1993
Attorney for Suburban Hennepin          330-c-3
Regional Park District
Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly
45 South Seventh Street, Suite 3400
Minneapolis, MN 55402
In your letter to the office of the Attorney General,
you set forth substantially the following:
FACTS
Minn. Stat. § 383B.68 states that the board of park
district commissioners shall consist of seven
commissioners, five of whom are elected and two of
whom are appointed by the board of commissioners
of Hennepin County.
On January 17, 1989, one of the two appointed park
district commissioners was unanimously reappointed
to serve on the Suburban Hennepin Regional Park
Board. Although Minn. Stat. § 383B.69 states that
the appointee was to serve until January 1, 1989, his
reappointment was not made until January 17, 1989.
Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 383B.68, each appointed
park district commissioner shall serve a four-year
term.
You then ask substantially the following:
QUESTION ONE
May the appointed commissioner holdover after his
term expiration date until a successor is appointed and
qualifies?

In This Issue...
Subject                   Op. No.     Date
PARKS: Boards: Hennepin
County:
Terms of members.         330-c 3   1/4/93
OPINION
In our view, an incumbent may continue to serve as
a de facto member following expiration of their term
until a successor is appointed. The statutory sections for
replacing commissioners of the Suburban Hennepin Re-
gional Park District are found in Minn. Stat. § 383B.68
(1990) and Minn. Stat. § 383B.69 (1990). The proce-
dures for replacements for appointed commisssioners are
as follows:
Subd. 2. Two park district commissioners shall be
appointed by the board of commissioners of
Hennepin County. An appointee must be a resident
of the Hennepin county park reserve district in order
to qualify and serve as a park district commissioner.
Each park district commissioner appointed pursuant
to this subdivision shall serve a four-year term. If a
vacancy occurs among the commissioners appointed
pursuant to this subdivision, the   board  of
commissioners of Hennepin county shall appoint a
successor.
There is no express statutory. holdover provision
with respect to appointed commissioners. In contrast,
Minn. Stat. § 383B.68, subd. 3, which sets the proce-
dures for elected commissioners includes a holdover pro-
vision:
Each park district commissioner elected pursuant to
this subdivision shall be a resident of the district
represented and shall serve for a term of four years
and until a successor is elected and qualifies...
It appears that, as part of a comprehensive rewriting
of subdivision 2, the legislature in 1985 deleted the
phrase and until a successor is appointed and qualified.
See Act of June 28, 1985, 1st Spec. Sess., ch. 14, art.
722, 1985 Minn. Laws at 2470-71. 1

1    The amendment altered the subdivision as follows:
Subd. 2. Three Two park district commissioners shall be appointed by the park and board of the city of
Minneapolis from among its membership board of commissioners of Hennepin county. An appointee must be a
resident of the Hennepin county park reserve district in order to qualify and serve as a park district
commissioner. Each park district commissioner appointed pursuant to this subdivision shall serve for a four year
term coinciding with his term on the park and recreation board of the city of Minneapolis, and until a successor
is appointed and qualifies. If a vacancy occurs among the commissioners appointed pursuant to this subdivision,
the park and recreation board of the city of Minneapolis commissioners of Hennepin county shall appoint a
successor.

JANUARY 1993

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