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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 - 4 of 4
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 health and medical data maintained in the personnel file of a public employee considered medical data within the meaning of Minnesota Statutes Section 13.42, or personnel data under Section 13.43? When a settlement agreement within the meaning of Minnesota Statutes Section 13.43, subdivision 2 (a) (6), contains private personnel data - whether health and medical or otherwise - concerning a party to the settlement agreement, do the provisions of Section 13.43, subdivision 2 (a) 6), require disclosure of this information, together with the remainder of the settlement agreement?
Category: Litigation, Personnel data
Keywords: Litigation, Personnel data, Evidentiary privilege (Chapter 595), Personnel files, Medical data, Settlement agreements, Change in classification 13.03
Commissioner: Elaine S. Hansen
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: Does ISD #709's failure to deliver this memorandum to X within five (5) days of his 7/15/94 request violate Minn. Stat. §13.04, subd. 3? Does ISD #709's failure to deliver this memorandum to X within five (5) days of his 10/13/94 request violate Minn. Stat. §13.04, subd. 3? Would destruction of the said memorandum by ISD #709 violate the Minnesota Data Practices Act, viz., Minn. Stat. §§ 13.04, subd. 3 and 13.05, subd. 5? Would alteration of the said memorandum by ISD #709 violate Minn. Stat. §§ 13.04, subd. 3 and 13.05, subd. 5 of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act?
Category: Legislative authority and intent, Personnel data, Records management/retention
Keywords: Legislative authority and intent, Personnel data, Records management/retention, Labor and Industry Department, Personnel data, Data subject access to personnel data, Supervisor file, Data destruction
Commissioner: Robert A. Schroeder Acting
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: For which files have there been "final dispositions of any disciplinary action?" Within the files in which there has been a "final disposition of any disciplinary action," which data are public data "documenting the basis for the action" and are there any data which need to be redacted under any other provision of the MGDPA?
Category: Personnel data
Keywords: Personnel data, Collective bargaining agreements, Specific reasons and data documenting basis for action, Settlement agreements, Personnel files
Commissioner: Debra Rae Anderson
Note: The Minnesota Supreme Court in Burks v. Metropolitan Council, No. A14-1651 (Minn. Aug. 24, 2016), held that data subjects have the right to access data ...
Description: Are the documents, other than the personnel file and the building file, that have been requested by the employee subject to disclosure to the employee given the nature by which those documents were generated, kept and maintained in the District?
Category: Legislative authority and intent, Personnel data
Keywords: Legislative authority and intent, Personnel data, Data subject access, Complainant identity, Supervisor file, Personnel files
Commissioner: Debra Rae Anderson

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