Regents of University of Minnesota v. Lord
| Decision Date | 12 August 1977 |
| Docket Number | No. 46999,46999 |
| Citation | 257 N.W.2d 796 |
| Parties | REGENTS OF the UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, Respondent, v. James LORD, State Treasurer, State of Minnesota, et al., Appellants. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Syllabus by the Court
1. The state designer selection board act, Minn.St. 16.821 to 16.827, is constitutional as applied to the University of Minnesota.
2. While the legislature cannot place conditions on appropriations made to the University of Minnesota for any purpose which would intrude on the internal control and management of the university by the Board of Regents, the legislature has the power to impose reasonable conditions on the use of funds appropriated by it to the university if the conditions are limited in scope and will promote the general welfare.
3. An act of the legislature which requires the state designer selection board to select designers for university buildings and which has as its objective the avoidance of fraud, conflicts of interest, and the use of patronage in the selection process of designers and architects for state projects is a valid exercise of legislative authority over appropriations made by it to the University of Minnesota for the construction of university buildings.
4. The Board of Regents of the university must be consulted during the negotiations process and the drafting of the contract ultimately entered into between it and the designer ultimately selected by the designer selection board. The university must specifically approve the contract both as to form and content before execution thereof.
5. The designer ultimately selected by the designer selection board for the University of Minnesota is subject to the direction and control of the Board of Regents.
Warren Spannaus, Atty. Gen., Richard B. Allyn, Sol. Gen., Kent G. Harbison, Sp. Asst. Atty. Gen., St. Paul, for appellants.
R. Joel Tierney, Dorsey, Windhorst, Hannaford, Whitney & Halladay and William J. Hempel, Thomas W. Finn and Mark A. Jarboe, Minneapolis, for respondent.
Considered and decided by the court en banc.
This action challenges the constitutionality of the state designer selection board act, Minn.St. 16.821 to 16.827, as applied to the University of Minnesota. The matter was heard in district court on cross motions for summary judgment and a stipulated set of facts. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the University of Minnesota on the grounds that, as applied to the university, the state designer selection board act invaded the management powers of the Board of Regents and thus violated Minn.Const. art. 13, § 3. We reverse.
On appeal this court is presented with the question whether the state designer selection board act constitutes an intrusion by the legislature into the management and control of the University of Minnesota as vested in the Board of Regents by the state constitution and thus violates Minn.Const. art. 13, § 3.
The state designer selection board act was enacted by the Minnesota legislature in 1974. The act establishes a selection board comprised of five voting members who are appointed by the governor. Each of the following three organizations nominates one individual for appointment by the governor: the consulting engineers council of Minnesota; the Minnesota society of architects; and the Minnesota board of the arts. In addition, two ex officio members participate in the interviewing and selection of designers, but do not vote. One of these is a representative of the commissioner of administration and the other member is a representative of the "user agency" which seeks the architect for a particular project. The act specifically includes the University of Minnesota, in addition to "any official, department or agency of the state government * * * over which the commissioner of administration has the power of supervision and control." Minn.St. 16.822, subd. 2. The board is empowered to carry out its responsibilities only for projects with estimated costs exceeding $250,000 or planning projects with estimated fees greater than $20,000. Minn.St. 16.825, subd. 1. Upon undertaking a project with costs or fees estimated in excess of such amounts, the user agency must submit to the commissioner of administration a request for a primary designer for the project. In addition to a description of the project and cost estimates, the request from the user agency must include a description of all special requirements or unique features. Minn.St. 16.825, subd. 2. The commissioner then must forward the request to the board. After publicizing the proposed project, establishing criteria for selecting a designer and interviewing candidates, the board selects the primary designer. No designer firm may be chosen in which a member of the board has a financial interest. Minn.St. 16.826, subds. 2 and 3.
Since the late 1920's the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota, either directly or by delegation of authority, has made all contracts for goods and services for the university. This has included contracts commissioning architects for the planning and construction of university buildings. During the last decade the faculty of the school of architecture and landscape architecture has consisted of individuals appointed to terms of up to 9 months with differing rates of compensation and time commitments to the university. These individuals have become associated with a variety of architectural firms in the metropolitan area and have in certain cases been associated with architectural firms commissioned by the Board of Regents to plan and construct university buildings.
By L.1974, c. 516, § 2, certain monies were appropriated to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota for the planning of certain construction projects, including $30,000 for planning phase I of the learning resources center on the St. Paul campus of the university, an amount which exceeded the threshold established by the state designer selection board act. The university selected a primary designer for this project according to its own selection procedure on February 18, 1975, rather than the procedure described in the state designer selection board act. The planning services for such project have been furnished to the university.
Through its administrative offices, the university requested payment for the planning services from the monies appropriated for the learning resources center. Acting under the direction of the state treasurer, the state commissioner of administration, and the state commissioner of finance, the state of Minnesota refused the university's request because it had not complied with the terms of the state designer selection board act.
By L.1976, c. 348, § 6, the legislature appropriated $4,897,489, to the Board of Regents to complete the learning resources center. The legislation conditioned the 1976 construction authorization to the university upon its compliance with "the terms and provisions of Minnesota Statutes, Sections 16.823 to 16.827."
The Board of Regents commenced an action against the State in district court requesting a declaration that the state designer selection board act, as it purports to apply to the university, is invalid on its face under the Minnesota constitution and seeking to permanently enjoin the withholding, under the act, of proceeds of appropriations for building construction projects. The parties submitted the dispute to the court on cross motions for summary judgment with stipulated facts. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the university in all respects and held that the state designer selection board act violated the university's autonomy under Minn.Const. art. 13, § 3. In addition, the trial court ruled that L.1976, c. 348, § 6, subd. 10, also was invalid under the same constitutional provision. The state appeals from the judgment entered in favor of the university.
The University of Minnesota is a "constitutional corporation," State ex rel. University of Minnesota v. Chase, 175 Minn. 259, 265, 220 N.W. 951, 954 (1928). This status grants the university much independence within the scope of its function. See, State ex rel. Peterson v. Quinlivan, 198 Minn. 65, 268 N.W. 858 (1936). This power given to the university is separate and complete and is, by necessity, denied to the legislature. This is not to say that the university is above the law. The Board of Regents is not "the (ruler) of an independent province or beyond the lawmaking power of the legislature." State ex rel. University of Minnesota v. Chase, 175 Minn. 266, 220 N.W. 954. The power of the university is limited by the terms of its charter, the provisions of the state and Federal constitutions, and Federal statutes. If it refuses to perform any of the duties imposed upon it by law, it may be subject to mandamus. See, Gleason v. University of Minnesota, 104 Minn. 359, 116 N.W. 650 (1908).
Historically, the grant of power to the university came in two steps. The original charter of the university was enacted in 1851. L.1851, c. 3. Its central purpose was to create a corporation. Among other things it declared that "the government of this University shall be vested in a Board of twelve Regents," L.1851, c. 3, § 4. The university functioned under the act of 1851 until a state constitution was adopted in 1857. What was then art. 8, § 3, 1 of the state constitution "perpetuated" to the university "all the rights, immunities, franchises and endowments heretofore granted or conferred." By so doing, the Board of Regents of the University was invested with a power of management in the area of the governing of the duties of the university of which the legislature could not deprive them, subject to the right of the people to amend or repeal the constitution. The purpose of this
"* * * was to put the management of the greatest state educational institution...
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