February 6, 2002; Ramsey County
2/6/2002 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 December 17, 2001, IPA received a letter from Timothy J. Nelson. In this letter, Mr. Nelson asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding his right to gain access to certain data maintained by the Ramsey County Library Board. In response to Mr. Nelson's request, IPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Alice-Jo Carlson, Director of the Library Board. The purposes of this letter, dated December 21, 2001, were to inform her of Mr. Nelson's request and to ask her to provide information or support for the Board's position. On January 3, 2002, IPA received a response from Gary Davis, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney. A summary of the facts of this matter follows. In a letter dated November 14, 2001, Mr. Nelson requested data concerning communications between the Library Board and an independent contractor. At issue here are the entries from Ms. Carlson's calendar/telephone register notes that the Board provided to Mr. Nelson. The entries contain only the contractor's name and telephone number; the content of the notes was redacted. The County stated to Mr. Nelson that it had redacted the data on the basis of Minnesota Statutes, section 13.43, subdivision 4 (i.e., private personnel data.) Mr. Nelson questioned the redactions in letters dated November 27 and December 10, 2001; the County reiterated its position in letters to Mr. Nelson dated December 5 and 11, 2001. In his request to the Commissioner, Mr. Nelson stated that the redacted notes were not fully redacted (he was able to read some of them) and it was clear that the subject matter of the notes was the work [an independent contractor] was doing, and therefore can not be considered 'personnel data.' In his comments to the Commissioner, Mr. Davis stated: [t]he data contained in Ms. Carlson's personal calendar/telephone register is private personnel data that was collected because Ms. Carlson is an employee of the Ramsey County Library Board as described in Minn. Stat. section13.43, subd. 1. Mr. Davis referred to previous advisory opinions, namely 96-055, 96-056, and 98-029, in support of the County's position. Mr. Davis continued: [f]unctionally the personal calendar/telephone register in question is a personally dated calendar maintained by a government employee, the library director, containing notes related to conversations with individuals (including incidental private calls). It is not segregated in any way into formal or informal 'business' files. The notes remain in a calendar form . . . . Issue:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Nelson asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
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Legislative authority and intent
Personal data/devices
Schedules/calendars
Appointment calendars
Personal data excluded
Separation of public, not public data
Personal calendar/telephone register
Public and not public data
Telephone records/bills