October 20, 2004; City of Warren
10/20/2004 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 September 7, 2004, IPAD received a letter, dated same, from Elden Elseth. In his letter, Mr. Elseth asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding his access to certain data that the City of Warren maintains. In response to Mr. Elseth's request, IPAD, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Robert Brooks, the City Clerk. The purposes of this letter, dated September 9, 2004, were to inform him of Mr. Elseth's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the City's position. On October 13, 2004, IPAD received a response, dated same, from Mr. Brooks. A summary of the facts is as follows. Mr. Elseth wrote two letters to the City, in which he asked for certain data. In a letter dated July 15, 2004, Mr. Elseth wrote to Mr. Brooks; the first and second items of the letter are relevant to this opinion. Mr. Elseth wrote: 1. I note that there is no date of adoption of the Request for Information Policy . . When was the official adoption date by the City Council of Warren of this policy? I would request a single copy of the resolution which was passed adopting said policy... 2. When was the Request for Information Policy first adopted? I would request single copies of all previous Policy statements or past written forms of the public access procedures of the City of Warren, MN which should include dates that they were officially adopted.... In his opinion request, Mr. Elseth noted that as of September 7, 2004, the date of his opinion request, he had not received a response from the City. In a letter dated August 4, 2004, Mr. Elseth clarified the requests he made on July 15, 2004. Regarding the requested documents referred to above, Mr. Elseth wrote that if the City were going to charge him for single copies of the documents, he wished to inspect them. In addition, Mr. Elseth asked to inspect the following data: 3. ...the transcript or minutes of any public hearing in regard to the City of Warren's current Request for Information Policy or past public access procedures 4. ...the document showing who the current designated authority or responsible authority for the City of Warren is in regard to public access procedures and a document showing the date of appointment of that person. In addition, I request access for the purpose of inspection the document showing who the current data practices compliance official is for the City of Warren in regard to public access procedures and a document showing the date of appointment of that person. In his opinion request, Mr. Elseth noted that as of September 7, 2004, he had not received a response from the City. Issues:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Elseth asked the Commissioner to address the following issues:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, when a government entity receives a data request from an individual who is not the subject of the data, the entity is required to respond in an appropriate and prompt manner and within a reasonable time. (See section 13.03, subdivision 2(a), and Minnesota Rules, section 1205.0300.) In his comments to the Commissioner, Mr. Brooks wrote: The City is prepared to produce the information requested in the July 15 and August 4, 2004 letters to the extent it is [sic] exists, with respect to past written forms of public access procedures of the City and a copy of the resolution adopting the City's Request for Information Policy. The City will further arrange to allow inspection of any transcript or minutes of public hearings regarding the City's Request for information Policy and any documentation showing the current designated responsible authority or current data practices compliance official. The City is in the process of identifying documents responsive to these requests and cannot represent at this time that all of the requested documents by Mr. Elseth exist. We also note that there is no beginning date for some of the requests. This makes it burdensome to identify all documents that may be responsive to the request for, e.g., past policies. As stated above, when an individual requests access to data of which s/he is not the subject, government entities must respond within a reasonable time. Here, Mr. Elseth hand delivered his July 15 request on July 16, 2004. He hand delivered his August 4, request on August 4. Mr. Elseth apparently did not receive any response from the City until after he submitted his opinion request on September 7, 2004. In the Commissioner's opinion, this is not timely. The following comments are in order. In his response, Mr. Brooks states, [the City] cannot represent at this time that all of the requested documents by Mr. Elseth exist. Section 13.03, subdivision 1, states, The responsible authority in every [government entity] shall keep records containing government data in such an arrangement and condition as to make them easily accessible for convenient use. Further, section 13.03, subdivision 2, states, The responsible authority in every [government entity] shall establish procedures, consistent with this chapter, to insure that requests for government data are received and complied with in an appropriate and prompt manner. The Commissioner reminds his readers that, pursuant to Chapter 13, government entities should be able to determine within a reasonable time whether requested data either do or do not exist. The Commissioner finds it troubling that, after two months, the City has not been able ascertain whether it maintains the data Mr. Elseth requested. Finally, if a government entity has a question about the scope of a data request, it needs to ask the requestor for clarification. Clarification should be sought soon after receiving a request to ensure a timely response. Here, if the City needs clarification about some parts of Mr. Elseth's requests, it should seek it immediately. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issues that Mr. Elseth raised is as follows:
Signed:
Kent Allin
Dated: October 20, 2004 |
Copy costs
Existence of data
Requests for data
Response to data requests
Requestor must be informed
Entity responsibility
