February 7, 2001; Minnesota Department of Public Safety
2/7/2001 10:15:43 AM
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.
Facts and Procedural History:For purposes of simplification, the information presented by the person who requested this opinion and the response from the government entity with which the person disagrees are presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submissions are on file at the offices of IPA and, except for any data classified as not public, are available for public access. On December 21, 2000, IPA received a letter dated December 20, 2000, from Teresa Graham. In her letter, Ms. Graham requested that the Commissioner issue an advisory opinion regarding her access to certain data that the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) maintains. IPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Charlie Weaver, Commissioner of DPS, in response to Ms. Graham's request. The purposes of this letter, dated December 29, 2000, were to inform him of Ms. Graham's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the Department's position. On January 16, 2001, IPA received a response, dated same, from Commissioner Weaver. A summary of the facts is as follows. In her opinion request, Ms. Graham wrote that she requested access to public personnel data on November 15, 2000. On November 17, 2000, DPS' Data Practice Compliance Official (DPCO) wrote to Ms. Graham to say that DPS had received the request and that staff had begun gathering the data. The DPCO also asked for some clarification and noted that because the request was substantial (public data about 76 or 78 current and former DPS employees), the Department would need additional time to compile the information. The DPCO advised Ms. Graham that when DPS completed its compilation, she would contact Ms. Graham to arrange an inspection time. On December 15, 2000, the DPCO wrote to Ms. Graham confirming a December 15, 2000, telephone conversation. The DPCO stated that DPS was working diligently to compile all the data and that everything should be available no later than January 2, 2001. The DPCO also offered Ms. Graham the opportunity to inspect data that the Department had thus far compiled. On December 22, 2000, the DPCO wrote to Ms. Graham to inform her that DPS had gathered all data responsive to her request. The DPCO advised Ms. Graham that she could inspect the data during business hours at a specific location. Issue:In her request for an opinion, Ms. Graham asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 2, when an individual requests public data of which s/he is not the subject, government entities are required to respond in a prompt and reasonable manner. Minnesota Rules, part 1205.0300, provides further guidance stating that entities must respond within a reasonable time. Although the Legislature did not define reasonable time, the Commissioner has stated in many previous opinions that it is relative to the amount of data requested. In this case, Ms. Graham requested data on November 15, 2000. Two days later, DPS' Data Practices Compliance Officer (DPCO) wrote to Ms. Graham and acknowledged receipt of the request, asked for clarification, and advised her that although DPS had begun working to compile information, it would take some additional time. Four weeks later, the DPCO updated Ms. Graham on the status of DPS' response and offered her the opportunity to inspect any data compiled as of that date. One week later, the DPCO wrote Ms. Graham to inform her that the data responsive to her request were available for inspection. Although DPS took slightly over five weeks to compile all data responsive to Ms. Graham's request, the Commissioner opines that the response was timely. First, Ms. Graham requested a significant amount of data. Second, the DPCO continued to update Ms. Graham throughout the process; at no time did it appear DPS was ignoring Ms. Graham's request. An additional note is in order. In her opinion request, Ms. Graham wrote that the data she requested on November 15, 2000, should have been immediately available according to MN Statute 13.03, Subd. 3. This is not correct. As discussed above, and as the Commissioner has discussed in many previous opinions, section 13.03 and Minnesota Rules, part 1205.0300, require that government entities respond to requests for public data in a prompt and appropriate manner, and within a reasonable time. There is no language in section 13.03 requiring entities to respond immediately. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue that Ms. Graham raised by is as follows:
Signed: David F. Fisher
Dated: February 7, 2001 |
Response to data requests
Timely, generally
