Did You Know: State Fair Edition

The Minnesota State Fair has been held nearly every year since 1859. Originally, the fair traveled to different locations around the state each year. In 1885, the Legislature passed a bill that provided a permanent home for the Fair in Ramsey County, where it still operates to this day. Today, a number of statutes and regulations apply to the operation of the fairgrounds and the competitions that take place each summer. 

If you're heading to the Great Minnesota Get Together, be sure to visit the Minnesota Judicial Branch booth in the Education Building! The booth is staffed by justices, judges, and court staff - including a few of us from the law library. We hope to see you at the Fair!

Research Tips: Finding MN Statutes

Thanks to the Office of the Revisor of Statutes, finding Minnesota statutes online is easy. There are a variety of ways to search, including by statute number, keyword, index, or just by browsing the current statutes. We've put together some tips to help you navigate the website with ease: 

• Topic index The Revisor's website contains an index of statutes by topic, which you can use to find all the statutes on a particular subject. 
• Archives If you need to find previous versions of a statute, you're in luck. The statutes archives contains historical statutes for Minnesota going back to 1851. 
• Keyword Search A keyword search is a great way to search multiple years of statutes at once, or to search for statutes and administrative rules at the same time. 
• Unconstitutional Statutes Occasionally, courts will find that a statute is unconstitutional. The Unconstitutional Statutes page provides references to cases overturning a statute in whole or in part. 

These tips and tricks will also work for administrative rules and session laws. Need help using the Revisor's website? Ask a Librarian!

Education Law Display

It's back to school season for Minnesota students, so it's fitting that our latest display is on Education Law. Generally, Education Law can refer to a number of different issues related to schools, including academic standards, school segregation, students' constitutional rights, special education, safety and discipline standards, college education, student loans, regulation of teachers, and more. Our new display highlights the history of education law in the U.S. and data about Minnesota schools. You can view the display Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or take a look at our Education Guide for online resources on this topic. 

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New Minnesota Laws

The Minnesota Legislature had a busy session this year. You have likely already heard about the ban on using hand-held phones while driving and the "slowpoke" law, but there are plenty of other changes to be aware of:

• New Laws Effective July 1, 2019, MN House of Representatives
• New Laws Effective August 1, 2019, MN House of Representatives

News and Events

Holiday Closings

The Law Library will be closed Monday, September 2 for Labor Day. Our normal business hours will resume on Tuesday, September 3. 

Constitution Day 

Constitution Day is just around the corner. On September 17 each year, we take a moment to learn more about the U.S. Constitution. The library will be marking the occasion with free pocket constitutions and constitutional trivia. 

Pioneering Women

There have been several articles published in the last few weeks about trailblazing women in the law. The U.S. Federal Courts website is running a series on 23 women judges appointed to the bench in 1979. Each week, an article honoring each of the 23 women will be added. 

Closer to home, MNopedia just published an article written by one of our librarians on Martha Angle Dorsett, Minnesota's first woman lawyer. Dorsett lobbied the legislature to change the law allowing only men to practice law. Her efforts came to fruition in 1878, when she was admitted to practice in Minnesota.