Andrew Tyler Jones v. Steven C. Borchardt

Summary

The Minnesota Supreme Court held that Minn. Stat. § 641.12, subd. 3(a) authorizes a county to require payment for confinement costs incurred only after conviction, not for preconviction confinement. The court reversed and remanded after concluding that Olmsted County had improperly billed Andrew Tyler Jones for 286 days of preconviction confinement. The court did not reach Jones's separate indigence, equal protection, or due process arguments.

Holdings

1. A county may require a person to pay confinement costs under Minn. Stat. § 641.12, subd. 3(a), but only costs incurred after conviction; the statute does not authorize billing for preconviction confinement costs.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Minn. Stat. § 641.12, subd. 3(a), authorizes a county to require an offender to pay costs incurred during confinement before conviction.
2. Whether the court needed to decide whether the county properly considered Jones's indigence or whether the statute violated equal-protection or due-process rights.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded