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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 - 2 of 2

Advisory Opinion 14-018

November 17, 2014; Department of Public Safety

This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2014). It is based on the facts and information ...

Description: A requester asked for access to copies of contracts and non-disclosure agreements for cell phone exploitation equipment. The entity said it could not redact the documents because they contained inextricably intertwined trade secret data (section 13.37, subdivision 1(b)), and “deliberative process/ investigative techniques” data (section 13.82, subdivision 25). Contracts and non-disclosure agreements contain standard clauses that are presumptively public. Accordingly, the entity must redact any data that are properly classified under sections 13.37 and/or 13.82, and release the remaining public data.

Category: Contracts/privatization, Law enforcement data, Trade secret

Keywords: Contracts/privatization, Law enforcement data, Trade secret, Deliberative processes (13.82, subd. 25 / subd. 16), Contracts, Privatization, 13.03 subdivision 11, Classification generally

Commissioner: Matthew Massman Acting

mn.gov/admin/data-practices/opinions/library/opinions-library.jsp?id=36-267495

Advisory Opinion 95-003

January 16, 1995; City of Saint Paul

Note: Minnesota Statutes section 13.82's subdivisions were renumbered in 2000. 13.82 subdivision 16 discussed below is now codified in 13.82 subdivision 25. ...

Description: A member of the public asked whether the St. Paul Police Department responded appropriately for a request for a videotape of an interview between an individual and police officers. The Police Department argued that the videotape is not public under Minnesota Statutes section 13.82, subdivision 16, as it contained deliberative processes or investigative techniques. The Commissioner determined that this videotape of an interrogation of a criminal suspect is not a deliberative processes, and that it does not reveal investigative techniques.

Category: Law enforcement data, Statutory construction (Ch. 645)

Keywords: Law enforcement data, Statutory construction (Ch. 645), Deliberative processes (13.82, subd. 25 / subd. 16), Interrogation/investigative technique, defined, Words and phrases construed (645.08)

Commissioner: Robert A. Schroeder Acting

mn.gov/admin/data-practices/opinions/library/opinions-library.jsp?id=36-267790

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