MN SF4102

Requests the Minnesota Supreme Court to establish a task force to evaluate expanded use of audio and audio-visual recording of court proceedings.

Task force membership shall include legal practitioners (judge, county attorney, public defender representative, family court practitioner), court administration representatives, and privacy group representatives representing a cross-section of state regions.

Task force must assess whether recordings should be expanded, made available to the public upon written request with reasonable costs, and determine what confidential portions require redaction or removal.

Task force shall identify equipment and personnel needs, notice and proceedings for limiting public access, whether recordings should be part of official records, anticipated costs, and who should access unredacted recordings (courts of appeal, presiding judge, parties, transcription services, judicial standards board, lawyer responsibility board).

Task force must submit a report to legislative committee chairs by January 15, 2020, including current court rules, recent actions, and recommendations for legislative implementation, then expire upon report submission.