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May 26, 2000; City of Greenwood
5/26/2000 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 IPA and, except for any data classified as not public, are available for public access. On April 10, 2000, IPA received a letter from John Musgjerd. In this letter, Mr. Musgjerd asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding his right to inspect certain data maintained by the City of Greenwood. In response to Mr. Musgjerd's request, IPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Sandra R. Langley, an employee of the City of Deephaven, who provides administrative services to Greenwood under contract. The purposes of this letter, dated April 11, 2000, were to inform her of Mr. Musgjerd's request and to ask her to provide information or support for Greenwood's position. On April 18, 2000, IPA received a response from Mark W. Kelly, attorney for Greenwood. A summary of the facts of this matter follows. On January 18, 2000, Greenwood enacted City Ordinance Number 127, Establishing procedures for Management of Government Data. On February 7, 2000, Mr. Musgjerd made a request for access to inspect four items of public data. Mr. Musgjerd included a check in the amount of fifty dollars, per the requirements of City Ordinance No. 127. In his opinion request, Mr. Musgjerd asked the Commissioner to address whether Greenwood may lawfully require a cash deposit before it will make government data available for inspection. He also asked whether the City may impose a ten dollar minimum data information access fee as provided for in Ordinance No. 127. Issue:In his request for an opinion, Mr. Musgjerd asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:
Discussion:In his February 7, 2000, written request to the City, Mr. Musgjerd clearly stated that he wished to inspect government data. He included his check for $50.00, as required under City of Greenwood Ordinance No. 127, subdivision 3, which states: [a]ll applications [for government data] shall be accompanied by a cash deposit of $50.00. Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 3 (a): [i]f a person requests access [to government data] for the purpose of inspection, the responsible authority may not assess a charge or require the requesting person to pay a fee to inspect data. In his response to the Commissioner, Mr. Kelly cited the provision of section 13.03, subdivision 3, that allows government entities to recover some of the costs of providing copies of public government data. He stated: [t]he City is of the opinion that it has the legal authority under [section 13.03, subdivision 3] to 1) assess lawfully recoverable costs back to the requesting party and 2) require the requesting party to make a deposit toward those anticipated costs. (Excess deposit is refunded.) However, Mr. Musgjerd asked only to inspect government data. According to section 13.03, subdivision 3 (a), the City may not require a cash deposit in order to inspect government data. Greenwood Ordinance No. 127, subdivision 4, requires that [t]he applicant shall be charged a minimum data information access fee of $10.00 for each written request. Mr. Kelly stated this ordinance adopts the language of [section 13.03, subdivision 3] and is in conformance with the authority granted to cities there under. The use of a $10.00 minimum data information access fee is a nominal fee' which the City will incur . . . whatever the nature of the written data request. The Commissioner respectfully disagrees with Mr. Kelly. Pursuant to section 13.03, subdivision 3(a), a government entity may not charge any fee for purposes of inspection of government data. The Commissioner wishes to note that before it enacted Ordinance No. 127, the City asked for an advisory opinion as to its legality. The Commissioner determined that a review of a proposed ordinance was outside his authority under section 13.072, and declined to issue an opinion. However, IPA staff provided Greenwood with extensive comments and concerns raised by the proposed ordinance. The Commissioner calls Greenwood's attention to those comments and suggests it examine Ordinance No. 127 in light of them. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue raised by Mr. Musgherd is as follows:
Signed: David F. Fisher
Dated: May 26, 2000 |
Inspection
Ordinances
