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July 27, 2003 <br />Page <br />Be Potential Conflicts Between State Statute and Code Provisions in Chapter 105. <br />Municipalities have no inherent powers.3 They possess only such powers as are <br />expressly conferred by statute or implied as necessary in aid of those powers which have been <br />expressly conferred. See . . Mangold Midwest Co. v. yillajqe of Lichfield, 143 N.w. d 813 <br />Minn. 1966). Thus a municipality, in order to justify the � enactment of an ordinance, must <br />have the power to do so under the specific enabling legislation, or the power must implicitly <br />exist as necessary in aid of the specific enumerated powers., <br />Ordinances passed by a municipality which can find their basis in express or implied <br />p F <br />grants of authority are generally upheld, with the exception of the application of two doctrines <br />that may be used to find ordinances, or a part of them,, invalid. One is the doctrine of <br />preemption. The other is the doctrine called conflicts. <br />Generally, the doctrine of conflict would render a municipal ordinance invalid as <br />contrary to state law when the ordinance and statute contain express or implied terms that are <br />■ p <br />irreconcilable. Either the ordinance permits what the statute forbids, or the ordinance forbids <br />what the statute permits. Mangy, su . ra. Generally, no conflict exists between municipal <br />ordinances and state statutes where the ordinance, though different, is merely additional and <br />complimentary to, or in aid and furtherance of the statute. <br />Chapter 10 5 of the Roseville Code appears, in our judgment, to be in conflict with <br />Minn. Stat. § 465.76. Chapter 105 appears to allow, and in fact encourage, that which state <br />law does net allow. The significant area of conflict relates to who makes a decision as to <br />whether the costs of a criminal defense may be reimbursed to an y <br />em p 10 ee or officer, <br />Linder Minn. Stat. § 45 6.76, it is the governing body of a municipality that makes the <br />.. <br />decision as to whether costs and attorney's fees incurred by the person to defend charges of a <br />.g <br />criminal nature will be paid. This is a discretionary decision. What that means is that even if <br />all of the requirements of the statute are met, by statute a municipalit y does not have to <br />reimburse criminal defense expenses. Linder the statute, only when less than a quorum of the <br />governing body is disinterested does a judge decide whether there shall be reimbursement 44 <br />Chapter 105, with its attempt to incorporate Minn. Stat. § 317A,521 versus Minn. Stat. <br />465.76 as a standard for action, is structured in such a way as to otentiall tape the decision <br />p y <br />away from the City Council on a criminal reimbursement issues when in fact the Spec iffic <br />statutory provision relating to reimbursement lays the decision makingsquarely at the feet of <br />3 prior to the passage of Minn. Stat, § 465.76, the Attorney General had rendered an opinion that there was no P <br />' lied <br />� <br />power of a municipality to pay or reirnburse an employee or officer for chin final defense expenses. Op. AtCy Gen. 124-A- <br />25 (July 2$, 1950). <br />4 Disinterested in this sense means that there is a non - pecuniary interest. See Dowell v. Board ofAd'ustrnent of the i of <br />Moorhead, 446 N.W.2d 917 (Minn. App. 1989). .� <br />