October 20, 2000; School District 11 (Anoka-Hennepin)
10/20/2000 10:15:43 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 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 September 7, 2000, IPA received a letter from Kevin Pachl. In this letter, Mr. Pachl asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding his right to gain access to certain data maintained by Independent School District 11, Anoka-Hennepin. In response to Mr. Pachl's request, IPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Dr. Roger Giroux, Superintendent of the District. The purposes of this letter, dated September 11, 2000, were to inform him of Mr. Pachl's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the District's position. On September 25, 2000, IPA received a response from Paul H. Cady, District Legal Counsel. A summary of the facts of this matter follows. In a letter to the District dated May 18, 2000, Mr. Pachl requested copies of all of the Minutes of the Administrative Team Meetings held within the last two years. . . In a response dated June 8, 2000, the District replied: [t]he cost of duplication and redaction of any personally identifiable information is $70.10. (Emphasis added.) In his response to the Commissioner, Mr. Cady wrote: As you are aware, pursuant to Minn. Stat. section 13.03, Subd. 3, a government entity may not . . . charge for separating public from not public data. Accordingly, to the extent the request for an advisory opinion is to confirm that a public entity cannot charge for separation of public from non-public data, the District agrees with that opinion. While the estimated cost of $70.10 would appropriately include the time of labor to retrieve, gather and copy the data as well as the cost of copies, it should not include any time necessary for separation of public from non-public data. The District encourages Mr. Pachl to follow-up with Ms. Butler for clarification of the estimated cost. Issue:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Pachl asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 3(c), a person requesting copies of public data may not be charged for separating public from not public data. Mr. Cady acknowledges that the District erred in its response to Mr. Pachl insofar as the copy cost it quoted included the cost to redact not public data. Accordingly, the District should provide to Mr. Pachl, without delay, the actual and reasonable cost to search for, retrieve, and copy the data he requested. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue raised by Mr. Pachl is as follows:
Signed: David F. Fisher
Dated: October 20, 2000 |
