August 1, 2000; Wright County
8/1/2000 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 May 30, 2000, IPA received a letter, dated May 22, 2000, from X. In his/her letter, X requested that the Commissioner issue an opinion addressing whether Wright County inappropriately released data about X to the public. IPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Don Mleziva, Director of Wright County Human Services, in response to X's request. The purposes of this letter, dated June 12, 2000, were to inform him of X's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the County's position. On June 26, 2000, IPA received a response, dated same, from Brian Asleson, Chief Deputy Attorney, Wright County Attorney's Office. A summary of the facts as X provided is as follows. On either August 18 or 19 of 1997, X telephoned Wright County Child Protection Services and reported to a child protection worker that Y was endangering/abusing Y's child(children). X then gave his/her statement in person to the same worker on August 21, 1997. X wrote: [The worker] had called me [X] back, to let me know! [sic] that [the worker] had gotten ahold [sic] of [Y] by telephone. [The worker] told [Y] that [Y] was turned into the [County] by [X]. X related that on August 20, 1997, Y informed X that Y knew that X had reported Y to the County. X added that Y sued X for civil harassment. X related that X appeared in court on August 27, 1997, and that Y testified to the following: X had been threatening to report Y to the Wright County Child Protection Services; and the child abuse investigator told Y that X reported Y. Issue:In his/her request for an opinion, X asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, regulates data that government entities collect and maintain. Minnesota Statutes, section 626.556, specifically classifies data that have been collected as part of an investigation into the maltreatment of minors. Subdivision 11 of section 626.556 provides that the name of a reporter of maltreatment is confidential. In the case of this opinion, X asserts that Wright County released confidential data about him/her to a member of the public (Y). In his response to the Commissioner, Mr. Asleson pointed to several inconsistencies between X's version of the events and the version contained in the County's documents. (Mr. Asleson provided to the Commissioner a copy of the Assessment Report of Child Abuse or Neglect that Wright County Human Services agency produced as a result of the report made by X.) First, he asserted that the initial report form indicates that a report was made on August 21, 1997 (X stated that s/he made a report on August 18 or 19). Second, Mr. Asleson asserted that there is no record in the County's documents of the intake social worker sharing the identity of the reporter with Y. Mr. Asleson did note that the intake worker is no longer employed by the Wright County Human Services Agency. Mr. Asleson also argued that in the County's records, there are two indications from which one could conclude that the alleged abuser (Y) had some idea (on Y's own) of the identity of the reporter. He stated that on the initial report form, it indicates that X called the children's grandmother...who ask(ed) [him/her] to report to us. Mr. Asleson wrote: Apparently, [X] provided this information to the intake worker. It seems very possible that if [Y] learned the name of the reporter, [Y] may have learned of it through [Y's] mother. The initial report also indicates that [X] had a verbal exchange with [Y] at or about the time of [sic] the abuse allegedly occurred. Mr. Asleson added that the formal assessment report indicates that Y was extremely upset by this worker's visit indicating that [Y] had had several problems with X' in that [X] is being harassing towards [Y] and that [Y] has filed a Court Order against [X]. Finally, Mr. Asleson disputed X's assertion that at the August 27, 1997, court hearing Y testified on the record that the intake social worker disclosed X's identity to Y. Mr. Asleson provided a copy of the transcript of a Harassment Hearing held on August 29, 1997. He wrote: This is the only evidence that we have been able to find of a Court hearing during this approximate time period involving [X] and [Y]. There is no mention in the transcript of [X's] identity being disclosed to [Y]. However, on page 5 of the transcript, [Y] testifies that [X] had threatened to call child protection. In conclusion, Mr. Asleson wrote that if Wright County had disclosed X's identity, such a release would constitute a violation of section 626.556. He argued, however, ...under the circumstances, there appear to be numerous facts in this case which would cause [Y] to conclude that [X] was the reporter to the County. There simply appears to be insufficient evidence that such a disclosure was made by a County employee. As stated above, pursuant to Chapter 13 and section 626.556, the identity of a reporter of child maltreatment is confidential and cannot be released. In this case, there is no dispute that X made a report to Wright County. However, based on the information provided, the Commissioner cannot determine whether the County released X's name. If the County did disclose X's identity, it violated provisions of statute. If the County did not disclose X's identity, it has not violated statutory provisions. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue that X raised by is as follows:
Signed:
David F. Fisher
Dated: August 1, 2000 |
Educational data
Reporter identity is confidential
