August 14, 1996; Douglas County
8/14/1996 10:14:43 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 PIPA and, with the exception of any data classified as not public, are available for public access.On June 28, 1996, PIPA received a letter requesting this opinion from S. In that letter, S asked whether the fees charged by Douglas County for copies of data about S are allowable under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13. S enclosed copies of related correspondence. In response to S's request, PIPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to F. Michael Marxen, Director, Douglas County Social Services. The purposes of this letter, dated July 2, 1996, were to inform Mr. Marxen of S's request, and to ask him or the County's attorney to provide information or support for its position. On July 15, 1996, PIPA received a response from Mr. Marxen. A summary of the detailed facts of this matter follows. According to a document signed by S, dated November 22, 1995, Douglas County Social Services charged $.50 per page, and $10.00 per hour preparation feefor copies of data in its files. In a letter to S dated February 16, 1996, a County social worker stated that the charges for copies of S's file were $.50 per page, and $40.46 per hour preparation fee. (Based on other information provided by the County, the Commissioner assumes that the preparation fee quoted to S ought to have been $40.45.)
In his response to the Commissioner, Mr. Marxen wrote:
The entire contents of Attachment A are reproduced below. Douglas CountySTAFF PROVIDED SERVICE AVERAGE COST COMPARISON JAN-DEC 1994
Issue:
In S's request for an opinion, S asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:
S requested copies of data of which S is the subject. Minnesota Statutes Section 13.04, subdivision 3, provides, in relevant part: [t]he responsible authority shall provide copies of the private or public data upon request by the individual subject of the data. The responsible authority may require the requesting person to pay the actual costs of making, certifying, and compiling the copies.
Minnesota Rules Part 1205.0400 provides: [t]he responsible authority may charge the data subject a reasonable fee for providing copies of private data. . . . In his response to the Commissioner, Mr. Marxen asserted that because S's file contained data not accessible to S, i.e., the name of a reporter of child maltreatment, the file had to be reviewed by the social worker and protected information deleted from that file. The hourly cost of social worker time, as determined by the Department of Human Service, is $40.45 per hour. . . . (Mr. Marxen is correct that the name of a reporter of child maltreatment is confidential. See Section 626.556, subdivision 11, and Section 13.02, subdivision 3.) Mr. Marxen asserted that the County's copying fees are consistent with Section 13.03, subdivision 3. Section 13.03 governs access to public data by a member of the public, and does provide that a person requesting copies may be required . . . to pay the actual costs of searching for and retrieving government data, including the cost of employee time, and for making, certifying, compiling, and electronically transmitting the copies of the data or the data, but may not charge for separating public from not public data. However, S's rights to gain access to data about S are governed by Section 13.04. Section 13.04, read in concert with the applicable Rule, allows a government entity to recover its actual costs of making photocopies, which may include the cost of labor to make the copies. Section 13.04, subdivision 3, does not allow a government entity to assess a fee for employee time to separate confidential data from public and private data. The information provided by Mr. Marxen was not sufficiently detailed to enable the Commissioner to determine if the County's actual photocopying charges are $.50 per page. However, the County is in error by assessing a $40.46 per hour charge for social worker time to delete confidential data from S's file. Further, the County provided no explanation for the reason its preparation fee quadrupled in price between November 1995, and February 1996. Mr. Marxen did not provide a reference to the source of the information, i.e., employee cost, contained in Attachment A. Therefore, from the information provided by the County, the County has not demonstrated that its photocopy fees are allowable under Section 13.04, subdivision 3. Opinion:Based on the correspondence in this matter, my opinion on the issue raised by S is as follows:
Signed:
Elaine S. Hansen
Dated: August 14, 1996
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Copy costs
No charge to search/retrieve/redact
