September 13, 2004; City of Warren
9/13/2004 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:On July 30, 2004, IPAD received a letter, dated same, from Elden Elseth. In his letter, Mr. Elseth asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding his access to certain data that the City of Warren maintains. In response to Mr. Elseth's request, IPAD, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Robert Brooks, City Clerk. The purposes of this letter, dated July 30, 2004, were to inform him of Mr. Elseth's request and to ask him to provide information or support for City's position. On August 11, 2004, IPAD received a response, dated same, from Mr. Brooks. A summary of the facts is as follows. In a letter dated July 5, 2004, Mr. Elseth wrote to Mr. Brooks. Mr. Elseth asked to review the Data Practices Policy of the City of Warren. He also asked to review the following data: ...any and all documents relating to the rural water line in the area northeast of Warren sometimes referred to as the Great Eastern waterline which is owned and operated by the City of Warren, MN....I would also request to review documents you have in regard to the dike sometimes referred to as the Yutrzenka dike which is located east of the Warren golf course area along the Snake River and the permit you have for construction of that dike. Mr. Brooks responded in a letter dated July 6, 2004: I am in receipt of your letter dated July 5, 2004 and have forwarded it on to our Legal Counsel. I will contact you when I have information for you. Mr. Elseth wrote back in a letter dated July 9, 2004 and reiterated his request. He also wrote, If there is a delay in providing access to review data, at minimum you should be immediately able to provide me your policy and procedure as to data access. To further clarify, I immediately request the written form of the public access procedure of the City of Warren, MN . (Emphasis provided.) Mr. Brooks responded in a letter dated July 12, 2004. He wrote: ...I have attached the Cities [sic] Request for Information Policy....Due to the fact the request is for a type of information and is not a specific document, it will take some time to compile the information for your review. It will also entail a significant amount of employee time to fill the request. We will attempt to complete the task by July 20th. I will notify you on that date if it will take additional time or if the data is ready for your review. It is estimated that the task will take four hours at a billable rate $21 per hour or a total of $84.... Issue:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Elseth asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, when a government entity receives a data request from an individual who is not the subject of the data, the entity is required to respond in an appropriate and prompt manner and within a reasonable time. (See section 13.03, subdivision 2(a), and Minnesota Rules, section 1205.0300.) In addition, section 13.03, subdivision 3(a) states, Upon request to a responsible authority or designee, a person shall be permitted to inspect and copy public government data at reasonable times and places...If a person requests access for the purpose of inspection, the responsible authority may not assess a charge or require the requesting person to pay a fee to inspect data. In his comments to the Commissioner, Mr. Brooks wrote: We have been advised that inspection of data must be permitted without charge under Minnesota law and that charges may be imposed only when copies are requested. Accordingly, the City will make the documents requested by Mr. Elseth available for inspection at a mutually convenient time, free of charge. As stated above, pursuant to Chapter 13, individuals can inspect government data free of charge. Therefore, the City's July 12, 2004, response to Mr. Elseth's request was not appropriate. If the City has not yet arranged for Mr. Elseth to inspect the data, it should so promptly. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue that Mr. Elseth raised is as follows:
Signed:
Brian J. Lamb
Dated: September 13, 2004 |
Inspection
Free of charge
