---
type: "Bill"
title: "Counties, cities, and townships authorized to accept documents and signatures electronically, by mail, or facsimile."
description: "Counties, cities, and townships authorized to accept documents and signatures electronically, by mail, or facsimile."
jurisdiction: "us/states/mn"
legislature: "Minnesota Legislature"
session: "2019-2020"
identifier: "HF 4605"
citation: "Minnesota HF 4605 (2019-2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Cities and Towns", "Counties", "Governmental Operations-Local"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Freiberg"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-04-30"
last_action: "2020-05-17"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/b1e8b4dd-583a-4d87-ae3b-d1d1e770faa7"
source_url: "https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/bill.php?b=House&f=HF4605&ssn=0&y=2020"
source_hash: "8ae416df24ccd81fe82089aea8dbfe09a8fd2f995bea6975abe69b23d1b13887"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-mn"]
---

# Minnesota HF 4605 (2019-2020) — Counties, cities, and townships authorized to accept documents and signatures electronically, by mail, or facsimile.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **1st Engrossment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF4605&version=1&session=ls91&session_year=2020&session_number=0)
2. **2nd Engrossment** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF4605&version=2&session=ls91&session_year=2020&session_number=0)
3. **Introduction** (committee substitute) — [source](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=HF4605&version=0&session=ls91&session_year=2020&session_number=0)

## Votes

- Passage, as amended — **134–0** (pass) · lower
- Amendment — **63–71** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- Freiberg — primary (person)
- Bahner — cosponsor (person)
- Kiffmeyer — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-04-30** Introduction and first reading, referred to Government Operations `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2020-05-05** Committee report, to adopt as amended `committee-passage`
- **2020-05-05** Joint rule 2.03, Deadlines, re-referred to Rules and Legislative Administration
- **2020-05-07** Committee report, to adopt `committee-passage`
- **2020-05-07** Joint rule 2.03 waived
- **2020-05-07** Second reading `reading-2`
- **2020-05-11** House rule 1.21, placed on Calendar for the Day Tuesday, May 12, 2020
- **2020-05-12** Amended `amendment-passage`
- **2020-05-12** Third reading as amended `reading-3`
- **2020-05-12** Bill was passed as amended `passage`
- **2020-05-15** Presented to Governor 05/15/2020 `executive-receipt`
- **2020-05-16** Governor approval 05/16/2020 `executive-signature`
- **2020-05-16** Secretary of State, Filed 05/16/2020
- **2020-05-12** Received from House `introduction`
- **2020-05-12** Introduction and first reading `introduction`
- **2020-05-12** Referred to Rules and Administration for comparison with SF4525, now on General Orders `referral-committee`
- **2020-05-13** Rule 45-amend, subst. General Orders SF4525
- **2020-05-13** Second reading `reading-2`
- **2020-05-14** Special Order: Rule 45 amendment stricken
- **2020-05-14** Third reading Passed `passage`
- **2020-05-15** Presentment date 05/15/2020
- **2020-05-16** Governor's action Approval 05/16/2020 `executive-signature`
- **2020-05-16** Secretary of State Chapter 92 05/16/2020
- **2020-05-17** Effective date 05/17/20

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/b1e8b4dd-583a-4d87-ae3b-d1d1e770faa7`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Minnesota legislature records).