July 30, 2001; Minnesota Department of Public Safety
7/30/2001 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 HistoryFor 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 June 8, 2001, IPA received a letter from David Waage. In this letter, Mr. Waage asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding his right to gain access to certain data maintained by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS.) In response to Mr. Waage's request, IPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Charles Weaver, Commissioner of DPS. The purposes of this letter, dated June 18, 2001, were to inform him of Mr. Waage's request and to ask him to provide information or support for DPS's position. On June 28, 2001, IPA received a response from Lt. Colonel Steven J. Mengelkoch, Assistant Chief of the Minnesota State Patrol. A summary of the facts of this matter follows. Mr. Waage's father died in 1997 as the result of an automobile accident. The following is a summary of Mr. Waage's communications with DPS regarding his data request.
In a letter dated June 6, 2001, Captain Kutz wrote the following to Mr. Waage: Enclosed is a tape containing both interviews obtained from Trooper John Hodnefield's original micro cassette tapes. We listened to the two original tapes, and both are of poor quality. You initially did not receive poor recordings of quality tapes; the original tapes themselves are the problem. I listened to the tapes with Trp. Hodnefield. He did remember that when he listened to the tapes after taking the interviews, he found they had not recorded well. He learned that the equipment used while recording the tapes was not working properly at that time. We do not have the equipment at our office to copy a micro cassette to a standard size cassette. One of our clerical staff was kind enough to make the recording at her home on her equipment. What you have received today is the best recording we can get given what we have to work with. In his opinion request, Mr. Waage stated that DPS had not responded to his data request in a prompt manner, as mandated by Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13. In his response to the Commissioner, Lt. Colonel Mengelkoch recounted DPS's responses to Mr. Waage, and stated [g]iven the totality of the circumstances, the Department of Public Safety, Division of State Patrol responded promptly and reasonably to Mr. Waage's request. Considering mailing time, the difficulty in making the reproductions, and the fact that Mr. Waage was kept apprised of the progress being made to create the best possible audio reproductions, the State Patrol acted appropriately in responding to Mr. Waage's data request. Issue:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Wagge asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 3, when an individual makes a request to a responsible authority for public data of which s/he is not the subject, the government entity is required to respond in a prompt and appropriate manner. According to Minnesota Rules, part 1205.0300, the response must be made within a reasonable time. The Commissioner agrees with DPS that it responded promptly and reasonably to Mr. Waage's request for copies of audio tapes. Unfortunately, the quality of the original recordings is poor, and Mr. Waage is understandably frustrated that he cannot understand all of the contents of the taped interviews. However, DPS apparently has done all it is able to do to provide Mr. Waage with audible recordings. Presumably DPS has addressed the problems with the recording equipment used, so that in the future it will be able to fulfill its obligations under Minnesota Statutes, section 15.17, subdivision 1, to make and preserve all records necessary to a full and accurate knowledge of [its] official activities. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue raised by Mr. Waage is as follows:
Signed:
David F. Fisher
Dated: July 30, 2001 |
Response to data requests
Timely, generally