Carlton County asks Legislature to share motor-vehicle filing fees to sustain deputy registrars

Commissioner Reed moved and Commissioner Plante Buhs seconded a resolution asking the 2027 State Legislature to create a permanent state revenue-sharing fund for deputy registrars, and the board carried the motion by all yea votes.

The resolution (26-051) requests that "the County of Carlton requests that the 2027 State Legislature recognize the critical need to sustain deputy registrar offices and to enact a permanent state revenue sharing fund for deputy registrars, sourced with 50% of the existing filing fee revenue captured by the Department of Public Safety to be disbursed quarterly among all deputy offices in Minnesota." The board cited increasing costs for local deputy registrars — including salaries, insurance, rent, IT and equipment — and said those costs now routinely outpace filing-fee income.

The resolution states the Department of Public Safety has transferred roughly 40% of data-entry work onto deputy registrars without compensation and that state-provided online and mail-in services capture filing fees that previously supported local offices. The text also cites a 2022 independent review (the King report) and a 2024 study (the Barry-Dunn report) calling for a more sustainable revenue model; it notes six permanent local deputy-registrar office closures statewide since 2021.

The board did not record any formal opposition in the minutes. The resolution will be forwarded to the county’s legislative contacts for consideration by the 2027 Legislature; further state-level action or a legislative bill is not specified in the minutes.