US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

     626.53 Report by telephone and letter. 

    Subdivision 1.    Reports to sheriffs and police chiefs. 
  The report required by section 626.52, subdivision 2, shall 
 be made forthwith by telephone or in person, and shall be 
 promptly supplemented by letter, enclosed in a securely sealed, 
 postpaid envelope, addressed to the sheriff of the county in 
 which the wound is examined, dressed, or otherwise treated; 
 except that, if the place in which the patient is treated for 
 such injury or the patient's wound dressed or bandaged be in a 
 city of the first, second, or third class, such report shall be 
 made and transmitted as herein provided to the chief of police 
 of such city instead of the sheriff.  Except as otherwise 
 provided in subdivision 2, the office of any such sheriff and of 
 any such chief of police shall keep the report as a confidential 
 communication and shall not disclose the name of the person 
 making the same, and the party making the report shall not by 
 reason thereof be subpoenaed, examined, or forced to testify in 
 court as a consequence of having made such a report.  

    Subd. 2.    Reports to Department of Health.  Upon 
 receiving a report of a wound caused by or arising from the 
 discharge of a firearm, the sheriff or chief of police shall 
 forward the information contained in the report to the 
 commissioner of health.  The commissioner of health shall keep 
 the report as a confidential communication, as provided under 
 subdivision 1.  The commissioner shall maintain a statewide, 
 computerized record system containing summary data, as defined 
 in section 13.02, on information received under this subdivision.

    HIST: (9950-23) 1935 c 165 s 2; 1986 c 444; 1988 c 548 s 3; 
 1995 c 244 s 38 

Copyright 2005 by the Office of Revisor of Statutes, State of Minnesota.