# Domestic Abuse Act _Minnesota's 1979 civil-protection statute, Minn. Stat. § 518B.01 — what the original act provided, the shelter and arrest laws that preceded it, how it has grown, where it now meets the offender-program and shelter instruments, and what the record ties to it_ | Domestic Abuse Act | | |---|---| | Citation | Laws 1979, ch. 214 (H.F. 521); Minn. Stat. § 518B.01 | | Approved | May 25, 1979, in the first year of Governor Al Quie (Independent-Republican) | | Core remedy | the petition for an order for protection, with ex parte temporary orders | | Protected class | "family or household members" — defined without distinction by sex in 1979; the current definition names the sexes only in its paternity clause | | Amendments | sixty-three session-law chapters (sixty-six entries) in the section's history line, from 1979 through Laws 2026, ch. 97 | | Related instruments | § 518B.02 (offender programs, 2001); § 611A.32 (shelter grants, 1977); Minn. R. ch. 2915 (services for battered women) | | Parent articles | [[Duluth model]] · [[At Issue - Minnesota's Feminist Regime]] | | Status | child article; restates the record; adjudicates nothing | The **Domestic Abuse Act** is Minnesota's civil statute for protection from domestic abuse, enacted as Laws 1979, chapter 214, and codified as Minn. Stat. § 518B.01. It created "an action known as a petition for an order for protection in cases of domestic abuse", available to "family or household members," and authorized "judicial intervention to provide protection from domestic abuse".[^1][^2] The House Research Department describes it as the law that "established the basic structure for Minnesota's response to domestic violence".[^3] It was approved on May 25, 1979, in the first year of Governor [[Al Quie]], an Independent-Republican.[^2][^4] The act is the civil foundation of the domestic-abuse instruments traced in the [[Duluth model]] side ledger and listed in [[At Issue - Minnesota's Feminist Regime]]; the Future Policy Award citation describes the Duluth model as introduced in 1981 "to ensure the implementation of the State of Minnesota's Domestic Abuse Act."[^5] It was signed by an Independent-Republican governor after shelter and arrest laws signed by a DFL governor, a sequence followed in [[GOP Feminists]] and [[DFL Feminists]] and in the parent [[How Minnesota Got Here]].[^4][^6][^7] Unlike the shelter rule and the offender-program standards that grew around it, the 1979 text did not distinguish by sex, and the current text does so only in its paternity clause.[^1][^8][^9][^10] ## Antecedents, 1977–1978 **Shelters, 1977.** Laws 1977, chapter 428, approved June 2, 1977, under Governor [[Rudy Perpich]], funded pilot programs of emergency shelter and support services for battered women; the Legislative Reference Library describes Minnesota as "the first state to give financial support to battered women's shelters".[^6][^11] The St. Paul group Women's Advocates had opened a shelter in a Grand Avenue house in 1974.[^12] **Arrest and counseling, 1978.** Laws 1978, chapter 724, approved April 5, 1978, permitted peace officers "to make arrests upon probable cause in cases of domestic assault" and allowed counseling as a condition of a stayed sentence.[^7] Chapter 732, approved the same day, added data-collection duties and directed a report on the "feasibility of creating similar programs for men."[^13] The House Research Department notes that "47 states passed legislation designed to address domestic violence by 1980."[^3] ## The 1979 act **Definitions.** As printed in the 1979 supplement, the act defined domestic abuse as physical harm, bodily injury, assault or the infliction of fear of imminent physical harm "between family or household members", or criminal sexual conduct by an adult against a minor family or household member, and defined family or household members as "spouses, parents and children, persons related by consanguinity, and persons jointly residing in the same dwelling unit."[^1] **Procedure.** Any family or household member could petition on his or her own behalf or for minor family members, with an affidavit stating the facts; the court was to hold a hearing within fourteen days, to "provide simplified forms and clerical assistance" to unrepresented petitioners and to give the actions docket priority.[^1] Where a petition alleged an immediate and present danger, the court could issue an ex parte temporary order for up to fourteen days.[^1] **Relief and enforcement.** After a hearing the court could restrain acts of abuse, exclude the abusing party from the shared dwelling, award temporary custody and support on the chapter 518 basis, provide counseling or other social services, and order other relief, all "for a fixed period not to exceed one year."[^1] Knowing violation of an order "is a misdemeanor" and contempt of court; a respondent's testimony at the hearing was made inadmissible in a criminal proceeding; and the remedy was "in addition to other civil or criminal remedies."[^1] ## The act since 1979 **Growth.** The section's history line lists sixty-three session-law chapters in sixty-six entries, from "1979 c 214 s 1" through Laws 2026, chapter 97, article 7; it also lists Laws 2026, chapter 75, sections 3 to 5, which were not read for this article.[^8] The House Research Department summarizes the pattern: "While meaningful, many of the changes to the Domestic Abuse Act and related statutory provisions have been largely technical in nature"; early changes required arrests for violations of orders without a warrant (1983), later ones harmonized the act with family law, added mandatory minimums and counseling for violators, and eased service of orders.[^3] **The protected class today.** The current definition lists seven categories of family or household member, including former spouses, persons with a child in common, "a man and woman if the woman is pregnant and the man is alleged to be the father," and "persons involved in a significant romantic or sexual relationship."[^8] The paternity clause is the one place in the definition that names the sexes.[^8] **Relief today.** If the court awards temporary custody or establishes temporary parenting time, it must do so "on a basis which gives primary consideration to the safety of the victim and the children"; it may also order the abusing party to complete a domestic abuse counseling program or educational program under § 518B.02 — the program statute that requires "separate sessions for male and female offenders and abusing parties."[^8][^10] **The 2026 amendments.** Laws 2026, chapter 97, signed on May 18, 2026, under Governor [[Tim Walz]], added in article 7, section 2, a sixteenth clause to the list of relief, under which the court may, "if requested by the petitioner, issue a separate order under section 518B.04"; section 3 created that section, headed "TRANSFER OR RELEASE OF DOMESTIC ABUSE VICTIMS FROM SHARED WIRELESS PLANS."[^14] The same act lengthened the warrantless-arrest window in § 629.341 from 72 hours to fourteen days.[^14][^15] ## The act among the sex-specific instruments The act's text is sex-neutral apart from its paternity clause, but the statutes and rules around it are not uniformly so.[^8] The shelter grants first enacted in 1977, now § 611A.32, fund "programs which provide emergency shelter services to battered women"; the Department of Corrections rule, Minn. R. ch. 2915, defines emergency shelter as housing for "women and children seeking safety from assault primarily by a spouse, male relative, or male with whom they are residing or have resided in the past"; and the 2001 offender-program standards require sex-separated sessions.[^16][^9][^10] The Revisor's domestic-abuse topic index lists the act, the program statute and the shelter grants together, and none of these texts names the Duluth model.[^17][^10][^16] ## Record and readings On one reading, set out in the [[Duluth model]] ledger, the act is the largely sex-neutral front of an architecture whose operative parts — a shelter rule written for battered women, program standards requiring sex-separated sessions and federal grant terms favoring batterer programs — matter more than its neutral text.[^9][^10][^18] On the other, the act is what it says: a civil remedy open to any family or household member, signed by an Independent-Republican governor and amended by legislatures under the control of both parties, many of the changes, in the House Research Department's words, "largely technical in nature."[^1][^4][^3][^19] Neither reading is supported by a claim that the act itself classifies by sex beyond its paternity clause, or that it names any program model.[^8][^17] ## Open items 1. **Authors and votes of H.F. 521 (1979).** The 1979 House and Senate journals were not read.[^2] 2. **Order counts.** The number of orders for protection issued each year was not found in the documents read.[^3] 3. **The 2026 changes in practice.** The effective date and use of the new § 518B.04 orders are not shown in the documents read.[^14] ## See also - [[Duluth model]] · [[At Issue - Minnesota's Feminist Regime]] · [[How Minnesota Got Here]] - [[DFL Feminists]] · [[GOP Feminists]] - [[Domestic Abuse Intervention Project]] · [[Battered Women's Justice Project]] - [[Al Quie]] · [[Rudy Perpich]] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Statutes 1979 Supplement, § 518B.01, "Domestic abuse act" (as printed; Office of the Revisor of Statutes) — definitions of domestic abuse and family or household members; petition and hearing; relief for up to one year; ex parte orders; misdemeanor for violation; history 1979 c 214 s 1. https://revisor.mn.gov/statutes/1979/cite/518B [^2]: Laws of Minnesota 1979, ch. 214 (H.F. 521), approved May 25, 1979 — the Domestic Abuse Act, Minn. Stat. § 518B.01: definitions, petitions and orders for protection for "family or household members." Office of the Revisor of Statutes. https://revisor.mn.gov/laws/1979/0/214 [^3]: Ben Johnson, *Domestic Abuse Laws in Minnesota* (Minnesota House Research Department, August 2024) — orders for protection, criminal penalties, arrest and the § 518B.02 program requirement and standards, including separate sessions for male and female participants. https://www.house.mn.gov/hrd/pubs/domabuse.pdf [^4]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, "Minnesota Governors" — list with dates of office and party: Perpich (DFL) from 12/29/1976; Quie (Independent-Republican) from 1/4/1979; Perpich from 1/3/1983; Carlson (Independent-Republican) from 1/7/1991; Ventura (Reform) from 1/4/1999; Pawlenty from 1/6/2003; Dayton from 1/3/2011; Walz (DFL) from 1/7/2019. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/lrl/mngov/gov.aspx [^5]: World Future Council, futurepolicy.org, "Minnesota's 'Duluth Model'" — Future Policy Gold Award 2014 with the Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women; the model as introduced in Duluth in 1981 to implement the Domestic Abuse Act; international adoption. https://www.futurepolicy.org/violence/duluth-model/ [^6]: Laws of Minnesota 1977, ch. 428 (S.F. 124), approved June 2, 1977 — pilot shelter and support programs for battered women; community education; data collection; displaced homemakers. Office of the Revisor of Statutes. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1977/0/428 [^7]: Laws of Minnesota 1978, ch. 724, approved April 5, 1978 — peace officers may arrest on probable cause in domestic assault cases; counseling as a condition of a stayed sentence. Office of the Revisor of Statutes. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1978/0/724 [^8]: Minn. Stat. § 518B.01 (2025), Domestic Abuse Act — definitions by "family or household members"; relief including an order to complete a counseling or educational program under § 518B.02. Office of the Revisor of Statutes. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/518B.01 [^9]: Minn. R. ch. 2915, "Services for Battered Women" (Department of Corrections) — definitions, including emergency shelter for women and children and "programs for violent partners"; nine-member advisory council; grants; provider duties; data; authority Minn. Stat. § 611A.33. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/2915/full [^10]: Minn. Stat. § 518B.02 (2025) — subd. 1, program required as a condition of a stayed sentence; subd. 2(a)–(l), standards, including 24 sessions or 36 hours and (i) separate sessions by sex; subd. 3 repealed, 2023 c 52 art 5 s 80; history from 1Sp2001 c 8 art 10 s 6. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/518B.02 [^11]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Women's Legislative Timeline, "1977 - Battered Women/Domestic Violence" — first state funding of shelters (cited as ch. 425); authors Kahn and Lewis; Women's Advocates; the Duluth project (1981); the Minneapolis arrest study. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/womenstimeline/details?recid=26 [^12]: MNopedia (Minnesota Historical Society), "Women's Advocates" — St. Paul group formed after 1971 meetings; in 1974 bought and renovated a Grand Avenue house as a shelter and crisis-line headquarters for victim-survivors of domestic abuse. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/group/women-s-advocates [^13]: Laws of Minnesota 1978, ch. 732, approved April 5, 1978 — "An act relating to battered women": data collection; report by the commissioner of corrections on the "feasibility of creating similar programs for men." Office of the Revisor of Statutes. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1978/0/732 [^14]: Laws of Minnesota 2026, ch. 97 (S.F. 4760), public safety — art. 1, sec. 20, amending § 518B.02, subd. 2(l), to strike "battered women's and"; paragraph (i) unchanged; presented to the governor May 14, signed May 18, 2026. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2026/0/97/ [^15]: Minn. Stat. § 629.341 (2023 version), domestic abuse arrests — warrantless arrest on probable cause within 72 hours; officer immunity; notice of rights and of shelter services to the victim. Office of the Revisor of Statutes. https://revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/629.341/version/2023-11-11%2012:15:30+00:00 [^16]: Minn. Stat. § 611A.32 (2022 version), battered women programs — grants for emergency shelter and support services; equitable metropolitan and nonmetropolitan distribution; a program for battered American Indian women; application contents. Office of the Revisor of Statutes. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/611A.32/version/2022-10-12%2000:40:23+00:00 [^17]: Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Minnesota Statutes and Session Laws topic index, "Domestic abuse" — entries for orders for protection, counseling and educational programs, arrests, prosecution plans and shelters; no entry for the Duluth model. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/index/comb/topic/domestic_abuse [^18]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, *FY2018 Solicitation Companion Guide* — post-award requirements; examples of activities that may compromise victim safety, including anger management in place of batterer programs and programs without court monitoring. https://www.justice.gov/media/919686/dl [^19]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, "Party Control of the Minnesota Legislature and Governor's Office" — party control of the House, Senate and governorship by session, including 1981–82, 1983–84, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2017–18, 2019–20, 2023–24 and 2025–26. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/histleg/caucus_table