May 11, 2005; City of Saint Paul
5/11/2005 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 March 18, 2005, IPAD received a letter dated same, from Tim Nelson, a reporter for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. In his letter, Mr. Nelson asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding his right to gain access to certain data that the City of Saint Paul maintains. IPAD, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Donald Luna, City Clerk, in response to Mr. Nelson's request. The purposes of this letter, dated March 25, 2005, were to inform him of Mr. Nelson's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the City's position. On April 14, 2005, IPAD received a response, dated same, from Gerald Hendrickson, Deputy City Attorney. A summary of the facts as Mr. Nelson provided them is as follows. In an email dated February 6, 2005, Mr. Nelson wrote, We would like to see Sia Lo's personnel file, as well as any other written or recorded records of any complaints against him in the city's possession. In an email to the city dated February 11, 2005, Mr. Nelson amended and clarified his February 6, 2005, request. Of relevance to this opinion, he asked for: 1. Any email in the city's possession regarding Sia Lo's work on the Hmong Funeral home; any other electronic communications he or any other city employees had regarding that project and Song Lo Fawcett, J. Kue Vang, Kue Vang, JB Realty, Cha Vang, the St. Paul Port Authority, the Vang Pao Foundation, the Kelly and Fawcett law firm Kamp;F Acquisitions, Kamp;F Development or Kurt Schultz; any email detailing allegations against Lo brought by city employees or non-city employees. 2. Any documents in the city's possession regarding Sia Lo's work on the Hmong Funeral Home; any other paper communications or records in the possession of Lo or any other city employees had regarding that project,... any paper communications between Song Lo Fawcett, J. Kue Vang, Cha Vang, the St. Paul Port Authority, or... Kurt Schultz; any email detailing allegations against Lo brought by city employees or non-city employees... 5. I would like a copy of Sia Lo's city personnel file, including any allegations of wrongdoing lodged against him... and the accuser; any disciplinary records, training or counseling documents and job descriptions. 6. I would like copies of any requests for public information under [Chapter 13] that you receive from any other... ;media organizations... The City responded in an email dated March 3, 2005. This is in response to your request for a written justification for not providing access to the personal e-mails of Sia Lo, an employee of the City of Saint Paul. This correspondence explains more fully what I told you verbally earlier. The Office of the City Attorney advised me that Mr. Lo's personal e-mails were not subject to disclosure under Minnesota law. Where, as in Saint Paul, city policy allows for incidental personal use of the city e-mail system, and where the employee does not create or maintain an e-mail in his capacity as a government employee, the e-mails are personal, and not government data subject to disclosure... The City of Saint Paul Internet Access and E-Mail Policy does allow for incidental personal use of the city e-mail system by employees. Thus those e-mails on Mr. Lo's computer that were not created or maintained in his capacity as a city employee are personal, not governmental data. We carefully reviewed all of Mr. Lo's e-mails. We gave you all those e-mails that were created or maintained by him in his capacity as a city employee or relating to his governmental duties. The only documents which we did not provide to you are those that do not fit these standards. It is our belief that the law makes these his personal e-mail messages, not government data. That is they are his, not the City's, so we are not authorized to release them. I also want to make it clear to you that Mr. Lo's duties included working on the Hmong funeral home matter. Consequently, we gave you all of Mr. Lo's e-mails dealing with that subject... Issues:Based on Mr. Nelson's opinion request, the Commissioner agreed to address the following issues:
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Personal data/devices
Computers/internet - personal data
Personal data excluded