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Eliminating judges from housing court cases

The right to demand a judge in a housing court case could be eliminated, thereby allowing district court judges to better use their time for other cases while also improving service to court users.

Sponsored by Rep. Debra Hilstrom (DFL-Brooklyn Center), HF2479 was passed 130-0 by the House Tuesday. The bill now goes to the Senate, where Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park) is the sponsor.

“We generally use referees in housing court because it is a very narrow, technical area of the law and the referees are essentially specialists in that area,” Peter Cahill, chief judge in the Fourth Judicial District, told the House Judiciary Finance and Policy Committee March 4. He noted that referees — lower-level specialist judicial officers — handle “probably 95 percent” of the landlord/tenant cases in Hennepin County. In 2013, 79 judge demands were filed in Hennepin County.

If a judge is needed on a housing case, it probably takes twice as long to resolve because the judge who handles them infrequently must first read up on the relevant law. “To be honest, most judges turn to the bench book that was written by one of the referees about landlord/tenant law,” Cahill said.

Additionally, Cahill said these cases must be resolved in a timely manner. “This is not something where it can go on a judge’s calendar and they schedule a trial three months from now. We’re talking turnaround in days actually. By having that expertise and the ability to move fast on high volume, referees actually work much better and much more efficiently.”

A party could still remove a referee, but would get another referee on their case. However, the change would not remove the right for a judge review, Cahill said.


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