Limmer v. Swanson
Annotate this Case
Petitioners, including a state senator, filed a petition for writ of quo warranto challenging the authority of the county district court to authorize expenditures by any executive branch agency in the absence of legislative appropriations, the authority of the attorney general to seek authorization for such expenditures, and the authority of the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Management and Budget to make payments for executive branch agency expenditures as authorized by the district court. The petition sought an order enjoining Respondents, including the attorney general, governor, commissioner, and chief judge of the district court, from seeking court orders that violated the state legislature's prerogatives to appropriate funds. In the meantime, the legislature passed, and the governor signed, appropriations for each state agency retroactive to the start of the biennium, and there were no further district court proceedings seeking funding. The Supreme Court found that the constitutional questions about the relative powers of the three branches of government were moot and would not arise again unless the legislative and executive branches failed to agree on a budget to fund a future biennium, and therefore, dismissed the petition as moot.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.