October 24, 2001; Le Sueur County Sheriff
10/24/2001 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 IPA and, except for any data that are not public, are available for public access. On September 13, 2001, IPA received a letter, dated September 2, 2001, from Wayne Quiram. In his letter, Mr. Quiram asked the Commissioner to issue an opinion regarding his rights to gain access to data that the Le Sueur County Sheriff maintains. IPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to David Gliszinski, Le Sueur County Sheriff, in response to Mr. Quiram's request. The purposes of this letter, dated September 21, 2001, were to inform him of Mr. Quiram's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the Sheriff's office's position. On October 3, 2001, IPA received a response, dated October 1, 2001, from Sheriff Gliszinski. A summary of the facts as presented by Mr. Quiram are as follows. Mr. Quiram wrote that staff in the Sheriff's office, expects to charge me $4.00 per page for every page I pass across my scanner. Mr. Quiram also wrote that Sheriff's office staff have insisted that financial charges will be leveled because it will take an extensive amount of 'administrative research' to retrieve the data I am requesting to review. Issues:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Quiram asked the Commissioner to address the following issues:
Discussion:Issue 1Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, is it appropriate for the Le Sueur County Sheriff to charge an individual $4 per page to scan a copy of a document? (The individual will bring his own scanner to the office.) In his comments, Sheriff Gliszinski wrote, The Le Sueur County Sheriff's Department does not charge a fee to an individual for scanning public data if that individual brings their personal scanner. (Nor would we deny that individual an electrical outlet to use such equipment.) Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, an individual is entitled to inspect and obtain copies of government data. There is no provision, however, in Chapter 13 that provides guidance on how to handle a case in which the requestor uses his/her own scanner to make copies of the data. Therefore, the Commissioner urges a common sense solution. He finds this situation akin to the requestor inspecting the documents. The government entity is not required to provide paper or labor for staff to make the copies. Thus, it does not seem reasonable for the entity to assess any charge. The Commissioner adds, though, that if an individual were to scan an unusually large number of documents, e.g., for days at a time, it seems reasonable for the government entity to recoup some cost for electricity. In this case, it would not be appropriate for the Sheriff to charge Mr. Quiram $4 per page for him to scan government data. However, the Sheriff states that he does not charge a fee to someone scanning documents on their own scanner. Issue 2Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, is it appropriate for the Le Sueur County Sheriff to charge a fee for an individual to inspect data? When an individual requests access to data of which s/he is not the subject, the responsible authority may not assess a charge or require the requesting person to pay a fee to inspect the data. (See section 13.03, subdivision 3.) When an individual requests access to data of which s/he is the subject, the individual shall be shown the data without any charge. (See section 13.04, subdivision 3.) In his comments, Sheriff Gliszinski wrote, The Le Sueur County Sheriff's Department does not charge a fee for the inspection of public data. The Commissioner's only comment is that if Mr. Quiram is the subject of any private data that the Sheriff's office maintains, Mr. Quiram would be entitled to inspect those data free of charge, as well as any public data he wished to inspect. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issues that Mr. Quiram raised is as follows:
Signed:
David F. Fisher
Dated: October 24, 2001 |
Inspection
Personal electronic device used
