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Minn. Stat. § 471.88, subd. 1. <br />An interested officer should disclose their interest at the earliest stage and <br />1989 Street Improvement <br />Program v. Denmark <br />abstain from voting or deliberating on any contract in which they have an <br />Township, 483 N.W.2d sob <br />interest. There are some exceptions to the general prohibition on contracting <br />(Minn. App. 1992). <br />with city officials defined in state law. When the exceptions are used, generally <br />the contract must be approved by unanimous vote of the council. <br />There are detailed procedures that must be followed to use any exception to <br />the conflict of interest law. State statute and the city attorney should be <br />consulted on the procedures to follow. <br />a. Statutory cities <br />Minn. Stat. § 412.311. <br />Statutory cities must consider an additional law. The law provides that no <br />member of a statutory city council may be directly or indirectly interested in <br />any contract the council makes, except for the limited exceptions discussed <br />previously. This law may apply to some situations where the general law does <br />not. For example, even though the actual contract is not made with a council <br />member, the fact that they have an indirect interest in it could violate this law. <br />b. Home rule charter cities <br />Many home rule charters contain provisions on conflict of interest in contracts. <br />Some of these go beyond the statute to include any city official, even though <br />the official has no part in making the contract. These charter provisions may <br />apply to situations where the statute does not. However, the exceptions <br />discussed previously apply to all cities, despite any other statute or city <br />charter. (Because charter provisions vary from city to city, they are not <br />covered in this document). <br />Some home rule charters contain provisions preventing all officers and <br />employees from being interested in a contract with the city. Such a provision <br />evidently applies to every city officer or employee whether or not they have a <br />part in making contracts. <br />2. Conflicts of interest in non -contract situations <br />Conflicts in non -contractual situations, such as the approval of a license held <br />by a council member or the determination of qualifications for office, may also <br />arise. While conflicts in contractual situations are closely regulated by state <br />law, unfortunately, there is little statutory guidance related to non -contractual <br />conflicts. Guidance in these situations comes through Minnesota attorney <br />general opinions and court decisions. This adds a layer of complexity to dealing <br />with conflicts in non -contractual situations. <br />Minnesota <br />Mayors Chapter 1-33 <br />Association <br />