May 15, 2001; Jackson County
5/15/2001 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 government entity that requested this opinion 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 March 26, 2001, IPA received a letter dated March 22, 2001, from Janice Fransen, the Jackson County Coordinator. In her letter Ms. Fransen asked the Commissioner to issue an opinion regarding the classification of certain data. A summary of the facts is as follows. In her opinion request, Ms. Fransen wrote: On July 1, 2000 the Court Administration staff in Jackson County became State Court employees as a result of legislation passed the previous year. This legislation mandated the takeover of most Court Administration costs by the State in several Judicial Districts within Minnesota. Because the Court employees are no longer County employees, I am inquiring as to the County's responsibility for the personnel files maintained on these individuals during their tenure as County employees. Are these files still considered County records? If they are still considered County files, can we allow access under Chapter 13 to these files by State Court employees, such as the Court Administrator who supervises these employees, but is also a State employee? Issue:In her request for an opinion, Ms. Fransen asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:In the case of this opinion, a legislative mandate required that Court administration staff, who previously were Jackson County employees, become employees of the State Court system. Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, regulates government data. Data that the judiciary maintains are not subject to the requirements of Chapter 13. See section 13.90. Access to Court data is regulated by the rules of the Court. Specifically, Rule 5 of the Rules of Public Access to Records of the Judicial Branch governs access to Court employee records. Subdivision 3 of Minnesota Statutes, section 15.17, the official records act, provides: Every legal custodian of government records, at the expiration of that official's term of office or authority...shall deliver to a successor in office all government records in custody; and the successor shall receipt therefore to the predecessor or legal representative and shall file in the office a signed acknowledgment of the delivery. Every public officer shall demand from a predecessor in office, or the predecessor's legal representative, the delivery of all government records belonging to the office. The Commissioner's opinion is that pursuant to section 15.17, Jackson County is required to transfer to the State Court system the personnel records of the former County employees who are now State Court employees. Access to those records now is governed by Rule 5 of the Rules of Public Access to the Judicial Branch. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue that Ms. Fransen raised is as follows:
Signed:
David F. Fisher
Dated: May 15, 2001
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Data sharing
Judicial branch (13.90) (See also: Court records)
Records of judicial branch
