Any court may recommend rules governing its practice not in conflict with these rules or with the General Rules of Practice for the District Courts, and those rules shall become effective as ordered by the Supreme Court.
Rule 83.Rules by District Courts
Last amended January 1, 1992 · Last verified July 1, 2026
In one sentenceRule 83 allows individual courts to recommend their own local practice rules, as long as those rules do not conflict with the statewide rules and are approved by the Supreme Court.
Full Text of Rule 83
Advisory Committee Comments
Amendment History
- (Amended effective January 1, 1992.)
Plain-English Summary
Rule 83 recognizes that individual courts sometimes need their own local procedures beyond what the statewide rules cover. It allows any court to recommend rules governing its own practice, but only if those local rules do not conflict with the Rules of Civil Procedure or with the General Rules of Practice for the District Courts. Any such local rule only takes effect once the Minnesota Supreme Court orders it into effect, so courts cannot adopt local rules on their own authority.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a single district court adopt its own local procedural rules?
Yes, but only rules that do not conflict with the Rules of Civil Procedure or the General Rules of Practice for the District Courts, and only after the Supreme Court orders them into effect.
Who has final say over whether a local court rule takes effect?
The Minnesota Supreme Court. Rule 83 says a court’s recommended local rules become effective only as ordered by the Supreme Court.
Source & verification. The rule text and Advisory Committee Comments are reproduced verbatim from the
official Minnesota Rules of Civil Procedure (Minn. R. Civ. P. 83). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Minnesota (Minn. Stat. § 480.051). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 1, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: local rules
Task Force Comment--1991 Adoption
This rule replaces existing Minn. R. Civ. P. 83. The purpose of this rule is to insure a mechanism to maintain uniformity in the local rules. The Task Force believes it is imperative that some method be enforced to provide for uniformity of rules that may be adopted in the future. This rule will allow either local rules, or statewide rules based on proposed local rules, and will permit the Supreme Court to review and coordinate the adoption of those rules. In the absence of this provision, uniformity would be achieved on the day these rules are adopted, but would disappear as soon as one court adopted a rule to supplement or vary the new Code of Rules. The American Bar Association Standards Relating to Court Administration also favor the promulgation of uniform rules of practice issued by a central court. Standard 1.11(c) provides: (c) Uniform standards of justice. The procedures by which the court system administers justice should be based on principles applicable throughout the system, and, so far as practicable, should be uniform in their particulars. The court system should have: (i) Uniform rules of procedure, promulgated by a common authority; (ii) Rules of court administration that are uniform so far as possible and have local variations only as approved by an appropriate central authority in the court system; ABA Standards Relating to Court Administration, Standard 1.11(c)(i) & (ii) (1990).