Minnesota Statutes

Minn. Stat. § 609.42 (2026)

Bribery

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MN-REVrevisor.mn.gov (official) Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Subdivision 1.Acts constituting.

Whoever does any of the following is guilty of bribery and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than ten years or to payment of a fine of not more than $20,000, or both:

(1) offers, gives, or promises to give, directly or indirectly, to any person who is a public officer or employee any benefit, reward or consideration to which the person is not legally entitled with intent thereby to influence the person's performance of the powers or duties as such officer or employee; or

(2) being a public officer or employee, requests, receives or agrees to receive, directly or indirectly, any such benefit, reward or consideration upon the understanding that it will have such an influence; or

(3) offers, gives, or promises to give, directly or indirectly any such benefit, reward, or consideration to a person who is a witness or about to become a witness in a proceeding before a judicial or hearing officer, with intent that the person's testimony be influenced thereby, or that the person will not appear at the proceeding; or

(4) as a person who is, or is about to become such witness requests, receives, or agrees to receive, directly or indirectly, any such benefit, reward, or consideration upon the understanding that the person's testimony will be so influenced, or that the person will not appear at the proceeding; or

(5) accepts directly or indirectly a benefit, reward or consideration upon an agreement or understanding, express or implied, that the acceptor will refrain from giving information that may lead to the prosecution of a crime or purported crime or that the acceptor will abstain from, discontinue, or delay prosecution therefor, except in a case where a compromise is allowed by law.

Subd. 2.Forfeiture of office.

Any public officer who is convicted of violating or attempting to violate subdivision 1 shall forfeit the public officer's office and be forever disqualified from holding public office under the state.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 18 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1975–2023 · leading case: H. J. Inc. v. Nw. Bell Tel. Co., 492 U.S. 229 (1989).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

H. J. Inc. v. Nw. Bell Tel. Co., 492 U.S. 229 (1989). · cites it 2× “Based upon these factual allegations, petitioners alleged in their first count a pendent state-law claim, asserting that Northwestern Bell violated the Minnesota bribery statute, Minn. Stat. § 609.42 (1988), as well as state common law prohibiting bribery.”

H.J. Inc. v. Nw. Bell Tel. Co., 648 F. Supp. 419 (D. Minnesota 1986). · cites it 6× “Plaintiffs also bring state law claims pursuant to the Court’s pendent jurisdiction, alleging acts of bribery in contravention of Minn.Stat. § 609.42, subd. 1(1) and (2) and the common law of bribery.”

State v. Woelfel, 621 N.W.2d 767 (Minn. Ct. App. 2001). · cites it 10× “OPINION HARTEN, Judge A jury convicted appellant Kenneth Wayne Woelfel on one count of bribery by a public officer or public employee in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.42, subd. 1(2) (1996); three counts of theft in violation of Minn.”

State v. Lawrence, 312 N.W.2d 251 (Minn. 1981). · cites it 4× “42, subdivision 1, clauses (1) or (2) shall be found and filed in the proper court within six years after the commission of the offense; in all other cases, indictments shall be found and filed in the proper court within three years after the commission of the offense; but the…”

H.J., Inc. v. Nw. Bell Tel. Co., 734 F. Supp. 879 (D. Minnesota 1990). · cites it 4× “In Count I, plaintiffs allege that such acts constituted bribery within the meaning of Minn.Stat. § 609.42, subd. 1(1), 1(2), and Minnesota common law.”

State v. Danielski, 348 N.W.2d 352 (Minn. Ct. App. 1984). · cites it 2× “26 (1980) are: LIMITATIONS Indictments for murder may be found at any time after the death of the person killed; indictments for violation of section 609.42, subdivision 1, clauses (1) or (2) [bribery statute] shall be found and filed in the proper court within six years after…”

State v. Lalli, 338 N.W.2d 419 (Minn. 1983). · cites it 2× “Defendant was found guilty by a district court jury of six counts of bribery and six counts of theft, Minn.Stat. §§ 609.42, subd. 1(2), 609.52' subds.”

United States v. Sabri, 183 F. Supp. 2d 1145 (D. Minnesota 2002). · cites it 2× “Minn.Stat. § 609.42. 18 The federal punishment of the same conduct under § 666(a)(2) is an intrusion into the state’s primary authority and is based solely upon a state or local governmental entity’s receipt of a modest amount of federal funds.”

H.J. Inc. v. Nw. Bell Corp., 420 N.W.2d 673 (Minn. Ct. App. 1988). · cites it 2× “Appellants’ complaint alleges a cause of action for bribery under the criminal bribery statute, Minn.Stat. § 609.42, subd. 1(1)-(2) (1986), which contains no provision for private remedies.”

H.J. Inc. v. Nw. Bell Tel. Co., 653 F. Supp. 908 (D. Minnesota 1987). · cites it 2× “Plaintiffs also bring a state law claim pursuant to the Court’s pendent jurisdiction, alleging acts of bribery in contravention of Minn.Stat. § 609.42, subd. 1(1) and (2) and the common law of bribery.”

State v. DeWitt, 389 N.W.2d 722 (Minn. 1986). · cites it 2× “(b) Indictments or complaints for violation of section 609.42, subdivision 1, clauses (1) or (2) shall be found or made and filed in the proper court within six years after the commission of the offense.”

H.J. Inc. v. Nw. Bell Tel. Co., 954 F.2d 485 (8th Cir. 1992). “class alleged violations of Minnesota’s bribery statute, Minn.Stat.Ann. § 609.42 (West 1987), and Minnesota common law (Count I), and several provisions of RICO.”

Show all 18 citing cases →

— Minn. Stat. § 609.42(4) — 1 case

State v. Koon Meng Chan, 393 N.W.2d 228 (Minn. Ct. App. 1986).

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.