When severe weather affects any part of the state, the Commissioner of Minnesota Management & Budget confers with the Duty Officer and Homeland Security and Emergency Management in the Department of Public Safety, and may receive input from the State Patrol, Department of Transportation, and local law enforcement. If conditions warrant a state office closure the Minnesota Management & Budget commissioner will then declare it.

A number of conditions must exist to warrant state office closure. These factors are considered to determine whether an emergency should be declared in the affected areas:

• Are state highways open and snowplows operating?
• Are local transit systems running?
• Is wind, cold, or ice a factor?
• Are power or heating systems affected?

Agency heads (or appointed designee) will be notified. All state agencies should have an internal procedure developed to relay office closure information to their employees.
If an emergency is declared during the night, the media will be notified. An announcement detailing the date, time, and geographic location of the closure will be given by Minnesota Management & Budget to the Associated Press, KARE 11 (TV), KMSP (TV), KSTP (TV), MN News Network (Radio), WCCO (RADIO) & WCCO (TV) to be transmitted to greater Minnesota media outlets for broadcast. Broadcast stations will announce updates in the emergency declaration.

You can get basic information about MMB-related weather emergencies and state office closures 24-hours per day by visiting the MMB's State Office Closures Website.

All state employees in the Executive Branch Offices EXCEPT;

• Minnesota State Colleges and University (MnSCU) employees. MnSCU has statutory authority to close their facilities;
• Employees who are considered weather essential and are required by their agency to work during a weather emergency

There may be unique individual situations due to an employee’s location that makes it impossible for that employee to get to work even though an emergency has not been declared for their area.
In those circumstances, supervisors are encouraged to allow the employee to make up the lost time or use compensatory time or vacation leave.

If a person works from a home office and they have work to do without having to travel, they should continue to work their normal work day. If you have questions regarding weather emergencies, please contact your agency’s human resources office.