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June 4, 1998; City of St. Cloud
6/4/1998 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 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 PIPA and, except for any data classified as not public, are available for public access. On April 9, 1998, PIPA received a letter from Duane Scepaniak, in which Mr. Scepaniak asked the Commissioner to issue an opinion regarding his rights to gain access to certain data maintained by the Housing Redevelopment Authority of St. Cloud (HRA.) Mr. Scepaniak enclosed copies of related correspondence. In response to Mr. Scepaniak's request, PIPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Marshall Weems, Executive Director of the HRA. The purposes of this letter, dated April 14, 1998, were to inform Mr. Weems of Mr. Scepaniak's request, and to ask him to provide information or support for the HRA's position. On May 4, 1998, PIPA received a response from Gerald W. Von Korff, attorney for the HRA. A summary of the detailed facts of this matter follows. Beginning in November 1997, Mr. Scepaniak has sought access to the names, addresses, classification and hourly wages of workers on the Paramount Theatre project in St. Cloud, in order to determine compliance with prevailing wage requirements. The HRA is providing some financial support for the Paramount project, and a condition for that support is that the private contractors involved in the project comply with prevailing wage requirements. In response to his requests, Mr. Scepaniak was told that the data he requested were not covered by the Data Practices Act, but that under long-standing St. Cloud HRA policy he could get access to the data with names and addresses removed. Issue:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Scepaniak asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Section 13.02, subdivision 7, government data are all data collected, created, received, maintained or disseminated by any government entity, such as the HRA, which is subject to the requirements of Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13, the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. Pursuant to Section 13.03, subdivision 1, all government data are presumed to be public, unless otherwise classified by statute, temporary classification (see Section 13.06), or federal law. The HRA collects, receives and/or maintains data documenting the names, addresses, classification and hourly wages of employees working on the Paramount Theatre project. Therefore, pursuant to Section 13.02, subdivision 7, those data are government data. Pursuant to Section 13.03, subdivision 1, those data are public, unless specifically classified otherwise. In his response to the Commissioner, Mr. Von Korff states that the HRA is requiring private contractors on the Paramount project to comply with prevailing wage requirements as a matter of policy and not statutory obligation. Therefore, according to Mr. Von Korff, as there is no statutory enforcement mechanism, it is appropriate for the HRA to treat related data according to its historical practice, which is that . . . names, addresses and wages of private employees working for private contractors are private, not public data. Mr. Von Korff then discusses cases involving the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and the federal Privacy Act of 1974 (see 5 U.S.C. 552 and 552a). Mr. Von Korff seems to suggest that FOIA applies to the data maintained by the HRA, and appears to urge the Commissioner to use a FOIA analysis to make a determination as to their classification. However, FOIA applies only to federal agencies. As to data maintained by a state government entity in Minnesota, as noted above, the data are presumed to be public unless explicitly classified otherwise by the Legislature or by Congress. Federal law may classify data maintained by a Minnesota government entity as not public, if it applies to specific data maintained by the government entity. Mr. Von Korff did not cite any provision of federal or state law that classifies the data in question as not public, and the Commissioner is not aware of any such provision. Accordingly, the data are public. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue raised by Mr. Scepaniak is as follows:
Signed: Elaine S. Hansen
Dated: June 4, 1998 |
Response to data requests
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
