HF 4399 Minnesota House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Independent School District No. 535, Rochester; school board elections provided.

This bill establishes a special election process for the Rochester Independent School District No. 535 school board, requiring elections to follow Minnesota Statutes chapter 205A. The legislation allows the district to choose between electing board members at large or dividing the district into separate election districts, with specific ballot formatting rules to prevent incumbent bias. The bill also clarifies how board members take office and handles transitions between different election systems, while designating the law as a special provision that applies only to this specific school district.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 16, 2026 Last action Mar 25, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduction → 1st Engrossment · 2 edits · Mar 25, 2026

MINOR

The bill was updated from its initial introduction to its first engrossment, reflecting progress in the legislative process. The most significant substantive change allows the school district to reorganize its election districts to better align with board member elections, rather than strictly following the standard chapter 205A organization rules. This provides the district with more flexibility in how it structures its electoral map.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on Independent School District No. 535 in Rochester, but the applicability of the election organization rules has been modified to allow for exceptions.

REQUIREMENT

The requirement for school board elections to follow standard district organization rules was modified. The district can now alter its organization into separate election districts using specific procedures, overriding the standard statute.

TIMELINE

The document version was updated from 'Introduction' to '1st Engrossment', and the posting date was changed from March 16, 2026, to March 25, 2026, indicating the bill has been reviewed and amended once.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 25, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee report, to adopt as amended

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

Introduction and first reading, referred to Education Policy

lower

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors