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About Search Results
The advisory opinion library currently includes:
- Data practices advisory opinions issued by the Commissioner of Administration from 1993 to the present.
- Open Meeting Law advisory opinions issued by the Commissioner of Administration from 2003 to the present.
The Commissioner's authority is found in Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072. Opinions are nonbinding, but a court may give them deference in a court action. Parties to a court action that act in conformity with an advisory opinion are not liable for certain damages or attorneys fees.
A written, numbered, and published opinion issued by the attorney general shall take precedence over an advisory opinion issued by the Commissioner of Administration.
Results 1 - 10 of 18
Advisory Opinion 21-006
October 21, 2021; Aitkin County Sheriff's Office
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2020). It is based on the facts and information ...
Description: A member of the public asked the Commissioner whether a County Sheriff’s Office responded appropriately to a data request, and a request for a “short description explaining the necessity” for a security information classification pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.37. The Commissioner concluded that the Sheriff’s Office did not respond appropriately to the data request, as the response was ambiguous and did not properly indicate whether responsive data existed. The Commissioner also concluded that the Sheriff’s Office did not respond appropriately to a request for a “short description explaining the necessity for the classification” after withholding responsive data as “security information” pursuant to section 13.37.
Category: Response to data requests, Security information
Keywords: Response to data requests, Security information, Security information (13.37, subds. 1(a), 2)
Commissioner: Alice Roberts-Davis
Advisory Opinion 13-010
April 11, 2013; Department of Public Safety
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2012). It is based on the facts and information ...
Description: A member of the public sought access
from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety/
Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (DPS/BCA) Archive
Service Repository to certain license plate data. BCA
and the local law enforcement agency have a joint
powers agreement that governs the collection and
maintenance of the data; however, neither DPS/BCA
nor the agency maintains all of the data that together
were responsive to the request. The Commissioner
also discussed whether any of the requested data are
system log files and/or audit trail data subject to a DPS
security information declaration under section 13.37,
as well as the applicability of the federal Driver’s
Privacy Protection Act to the classification of the data.
Category: Security information, Records management/retention
Keywords: Security information, Records management/retention, Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), Official Records Act (15.17) See also: Records management, Entity's discretion to withhold
Commissioner: Spencer Cronk
Advisory Opinion 11-011
June 29, 2011; City of Saint Paul
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data ...
Description: May the City of Saint Paul classify architectural plans and other documents related to the construction of a particular building as not public “security information” pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.37, subdivision 1(a)?
Category: Security information
Keywords: Security information, Security information (13.37, subds. 1(a), 2)
Commissioner: Spencer Cronk
Advisory Opinion 07-010
March 27, 2007; Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data ...
Description: Did Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) comply with Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, when it denied access to the following data: "contingency plans the University may have for strikes by any groups of employees at MSUM?"
Category: Security information
Keywords: Security information, Definition (subd. 1(c)), Entity's discretion to withhold, Strike plan, Data classification's origin
Commissioner: Dana B. Badgerow
Advisory Opinion 04-023
April 9, 2004; Minnesota Department of Corrections
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data ...
Description: Are any "materials associated" with a sexual offender's end-of-confinement review "public data" under Minnesota Statutes?
Are any "materials associated" with a sexual offender's review for civil commitment "public data" under Minnesota Statutes?
Did the Minnesota Department of Corrections respond appropriately under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, when it denied Star Tribune's request for access to data associated with the confinement and release of Alfonso Rodriguez, Jr.?
Category: Redaction, Security information
Keywords: Redaction, Security information, Personal/psychological data defined, Public document/annual report (13.05, subd. 1 and 1205.1200), Redaction (See also: Multiple data subjects; Separation of data), Security information (13.37, subds. 1(a), 2), Sex offender
Commissioner: Brian J. Lamb
Advisory Opinion 03-043
October 29, 2003; Minnesota State Department of Transportation
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data ...
Description: Do the following data that the Minnesota Department of Transportation collects and maintains meet the definition of "security information" as that term is defined in Minnesota Statutes, section 13.37, subdivision 1(a):
• Information on physical addresses of hazmat shipper and carrier facilities;
• Specific information on classes or divisions of hazmat shipped, carried, or stored;
• Terminals owned and/or operated by the applicant;
• Information on numbers and sizes of cargo tanks operated; and
• Specific information on routes of movement, volumes and frequency of movement, and origins/destinations of hazmat shipments?
Category: Security information
Keywords: Security information, Security information (13.37, subds. 1(a), 2)
Commissioner: Brian J. Lamb
Advisory Opinion 02-014
April 5, 2002; City of Rochester
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data ...
Description: Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, what is the classification of the following types of data relating to the City of Rochester's electric and water utility services:
design, operation of, or methods of access to any equipment, building or other facility,
hardware or software that is used in providing public utility services,
data describing the design, maintenance, or operation of hydro electric and dam structure facilities; water towers; water well sites; electric generation facilities; electric substations and transmission lines,
computer software and hardware that control electric generation, water flow, water pumping, and water services provided to residential, commercial and government customers
Category: Security information
Keywords: Security information, Municipal utility customer data (13.685 / 13.612), Entity reliance on opinion, Entity's discretion to withhold
Commissioner: David F. Fisher
Advisory Opinion 01-084
October 9, 2001; City of Blaine
Note: The legislature changed the definition of "security information" in 2012 to include a requirement that entities make a determination to designate data ...
Description: Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, did the City of Blaine respond appropriately to a request for the following data: the locations of National Night Out parties?
Category: Security information
Keywords: Security information, Security information (13.37, subds. 1(a), 2)
Commissioner: David F. Fisher
Advisory Opinion 01-068
August 27, 2001; City of Farmington
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data ...
Description: Did the City of Farmington respond appropriately to a request for a copy of the City's Police Department Policy Manual when it redacted portions of the Manual pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.37?
Category: Security information
Keywords: Security information, Entity's discretion to withhold
Commissioner: David F. Fisher
Advisory Opinion 01-029
February 27, 2001; Mahnomen County
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data ...
Description: Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, what is the classification of "site evaluations" and "site designs" submitted to Mahnomen County as part of the septic permit application process?
Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, what is the classification of telephone numbers and home addresses submitted to Mahnomen County as part of the septic permit application process, in cases where concerns have been raised about individual safety?
Category: Security information, Trade secret
Keywords: Security information, Trade secret, Entity's discretion to withhold, Independent economic value from not being generally known (subd. 1(b))
Commissioner: David F. Fisher