Agenda - Council - 04/08/2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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preferences, which appears in the paragraph immediately preceding the Town Preference paragraph in section 124D.I0, subd. 9(3). There is no question that the legislature could have used a term that would have included both. cities and towns in the residential preference clause, but it did not do so. Look's request would require the Court to add words to the statute that the legislature omitted. This would go beyond interpretation to rewriting and is not within the province of the Court. Had section 124D.1O'sresident preference language included a broader term such as "local unit of government," "municipality," or "specific geographic area" Lookmight have some fodder for his argument that a resident preference must be used in cities as well as towns. However, the legislature chose to use the more particular term, "town." The legislature's specificity calls for limiting the scope. of the resident preference exception to the general rule, which is an equal lottery for all applicants. See Minn. Stat. S645.19 (2006) (exceptions shall be construed to exclude all others). In other words, in the context of the charter school statute, "town" should be limited according to its ordinary meaning and should not be expanded to include cities. 3. Precedent Demonstrates that Town Is No Longer Presumed to Encompass City Absent an Express Indication to Do So Minnesota precedent regarding the proper interpretation of municipal terms within Minnesota statutes and rules also implies that the term "town" should be read narrowly. In Kleppe v. Gard, the Minnesota Supreme Court considered a question similar to the one presented here, analyzing whether a statute that applies by its terms to a town or village must be construed to cover cities as well. 109 Minn. 251, 123 N.W. 665 (1909). Voters within the City of Fergus Falls attempted to expand a statute to apply to the City of Fergus Falls where the statute by its terms covered towns and villages. The statute provided that: 12 -139-