Note: Minnesota Statutes, section 423A.21, was repealed by the Legislature in 2013.

Facts and Procedural History:

In a letter dated September 9, 1994, and hand delivered to PIPA during the week of September 12, 1994, Mr. A. J. DeAntoni, a resident of Bloomington, Minnesota, described attempts by him to gain access to data maintained by the Bloomington Fire Department and, more specifically, data maintained by the Bloomington Fire Department Relief Association, hereinafter Association. Further discussion with Mr. DeAntoni established that he was desirous of obtaining an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration, hereinafter Commissioner, as to whether or not certain financial and other data maintained by the Association are accessible by members of the public. For purposes of the time frames established by Minnesota Statutes Section 13.072, Mr. DeAntoni's request was deemed to have been filed with the Commissioner on September 9, 1994.

In response to Mr. DeAntoni's request, PIPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Mr. Joseph B. Nierenberg, an attorney who was identified in correspondence supplied by Mr. DeAntoni as the attorney for the Bloomington Fire Department Relief Association. The purposes of this letter, dated September 16, 1994, were to inform Mr. Nierenberg of Mr. DeAntoni's request, to provide a copy of the request to him, to ask Mr. Nierenberg to provide information or support for the Association's position and to inform him of the date by which the Commissioner was required to issue an opinion. (In subsequent correspondence to Mr. DeAntoni and the Association, the Commissioner notified them that she would be taking some part of the additional 30 days allowed by statute to issue this opinion.)

The Commissioner did not receive a reply to the notification sent to Mr. Nierenberg. It should be noted that in the information provided by Mr. DeAntoni, Mr. Nierenberg had informed him, in a letter dated April 13, 1992, that it was the position of the Association that Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13, the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and hereinafter Chapter 13 or the Act, did not apply to the Association.

Issue:

Discussion:

However, the legislature will, from time to time, specifically determine that certain types of entities which are not traditional government entities such as state agencies and municipalities ought to be subject to Chapter 13. (For example, in 1989, the Legislature made the Minnesota State High School League subject to Chapter 13. See Minnesota Statutes Section 128C.17.) This also appears to be the case in the instance of fire relief associations.

Minnesota Statutes Section 423A.21 states that a local relief association is subject to the provisions of Chapter 6, relating to audits by the state auditor, and to the provisions of Chapter 13. It is important to note that the title of Chapter 423A is Police and Salaried Firefighters Relief Association. Statutes dealing with fire relief associations do differentiate between salaried firefighters and volunteer fire relief associations. An argument could be made that, because Minnesota Statutes Section 423A.21 is a part of Chapter 423A, the provision making fire relief associations subject to the provisions of Chapter 13 applies only to salaried relief associations.

Minnesota Statutes 423A.21 was enacted as Section 15 of Chapter 359 of the Laws of Minnesota 1986. The first part of the title of this Act reads as follows: An act relating to retirement; police and firefighters relief associations; . . . clarifying various duties and responsibilities in the management of local associations. . . . Although the title of the bill refers in general to firefighters relief associations, the actual language of the bill deals with specific issues relating to both salaried and volunteer fire relief associations. This indicates the legislative intent that the term firefighters relief association when used throughout the balance of Chapter 359, including Section 15 that created Minnesota Statutes 423A.21, was meant to include both volunteer and salaried fire relief associations. If that is a correct reading of legislative intent, then the Association, as a local firefighters relief association, is subject to Chapter 13.

A review of a variety of statutory provisions dealing with volunteer and salaried fire relief associations provides further indication that, when the legislature uses the terms local relief association or firefighters relief association, that it intends that terminology to cover all of the various types of firefighter relief associations. For example, the following sections, that describe duties and accountabilities of both salaried and volunteer relief associations, use the term relief association to refer to both types of associations: Minnesota Statutes Section 6.495, auditing of various fire and police relief associations ; Minnesota Statutes Section 69.25, requiring cities of the first class to maintain a fire relief association; Minnesota Statutes Section 69.26 specifying the organization of relief associations; and Minnesota Statutes Section 69.05l, a section that prescribes duties of both volunteer and salaried fire relief associations.

Lastly, Minnesota Statutes Chapter 424A.001, defines the term relief association to mean, inter alia, a volunteer firefighters relief association. Although the introductory language to the definitions contained in Section 424A.001 does state that the terms are defined as used in this chapter, this definition, when coupled with the other usage of the term relief association throughout Minnesota Statutes, as described above, provides additional support for an interpretation of Minnesota Statutes Section 423A.21 that will bring the Association under the coverage of Chapter 13.

The language of Minnesota Statutes Section 423A.21 makes it clear that the legislature intends that local relief associations shall be subject to Chapter 13. Review of a variety of statutes indicates a legislative practice of using the term local relief associations as a way of referring to the variety of volunteer and salaried associations collectively. This interpretation leads to a conclusion that the data maintained by the Association are subject to Chapter 13. Mr. DeAntoni should be provided with access to the public data maintained by the Association.

Opinion: