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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 145
Advisory Opinion 25-006
June 30, 2025; Independent School District No. 623, Roseville
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued under Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2024). It is based on the facts and information available ...
Description: A member of the public asked whether a school district responded appropriately to a request for public data. The requester asked for data 11 months prior, and had only received portions of the data after inquiries from the Department of Administration and the requester. Additionally, the District indicated it was providing only a subset of the data due to technical difficulties with retrieving all the data requested. The Commissioner determined that the District did not respond appropriately to the request.
Category: Response to data requests, Requests for data
Keywords: Response to data requests, Requests for data, Appropriate response generally, Inappropriate response, generally, Burdensome or harassing
Commissioner: Tamar Gronvall
Advisory Opinion 25-005
June 30, 2025; Iron Range Resources & Rehabilitation
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued under Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2024). It is based on the facts and information available ...
Description: A member of the public asked whether a state agency responded appropriately to a data request for "all emails" related to specific topics when the agency did not also provide documents attached to the responsive emails. The state agency's email retention policy then automatically destroyed several of the emails and attachments before the agency provided access to the missing responsive documents. The state agency maintained that the requester was not clear that the request for "all emails" included the attached documents. The Commissioner noted documents attached to an email message are part of an email itself. Therefore, the agency did not respond appropriately when it failed to provide access to email attachments in its response to the request. Further, the agency could not remedy the situation because the email auto-delete policy destroyed responsive data. The Commissioner encouraged government entities to ensure they have procedures in place to retain official records and data responsive to a request when using email auto-delete policies.
Category: Response to data requests, Records management/retention
Keywords: Response to data requests, Records management/retention, Destruction of data, Appropriate response generally, Data destruction
Commissioner: Tamar Gronvall
Advisory Opinion 24-004
October 3, 2024; City of Kasota
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2023). It is based on the facts and information ...
Description: A member of the public asked whether a city responded appropriately to a request for public data that he made while using a pseudonym. The City had informed the requester that it would not provide access to data until he identified himself. The Commissioner opined that the city did not respond appropriately because Minnesota Statutes, section 13.05, subdivision 12 prohibits government entities from requiring data requesters to identify themselves as a condition to obtain access to public data.
Category: Requests for data, Response to data requests
Keywords: Requests for data, Response to data requests, Reason/justify request and identity not required (13.05, subd. 12)
Commissioner: Tamar Gronvall
Advisory Opinion 23-002
August 23, 2023; Benton County
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2022). It is based on the facts and information ...
Description: A member of the public asked whether a county responded appropriately to a request for the entity’s data inventory. The county informed the member of the public that the data inventory required by Minnesota Statutes, section 13.025, subdivision did not exist. As a result, Commissioner opined that the entity did not respond appropriately to the request.
Category: Response to data requests
Keywords: Response to data requests, Response to data request
Commissioner: Stacie Christensen Temporary
Advisory Opinion 23-001
June 14, 2023; Western Prairie Human Services
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2022). It is based on the facts and information ...
Description: A data subject asked whether a joint powers entity responded appropriately to a data subject request when it did not provide responsive data within 10 business days. The Commissioner opined that the entity did not respond appropriately. She encouraged government entities to discuss the requirements of section 13.04 with contractors and IT personnel to ensure data subject requests are responded to within the required timeframe.
Category: Data subjects, Response to data requests
Keywords: Data subjects, Response to data requests, Access by data subject or parent, Response to data request, Data subjects (13.04)
Commissioner: Stacie Christensen Temporary
Advisory Opinion 22-007
November 23, 2022; Hennepin County
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2022). It is based on the facts and information ...
Description: A member of the public asked whether a county attorney’s office responded appropriately to a request for data, including correspondence and non-work product materials. The county indicated that any responsive data were governed by Minnesota Statutes, section 13.393, and thus were exempt from the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. The Commissioner opined that if the county attorney’s office maintained responsive government data that were not maintained by attorneys acting in their professional capacity for the entity and governed by provisions specific to attorney work pursuant to section 13.393, then it did not respond appropriately to the member of the public’s data request.
Category: Attorney data, Response to data requests
Keywords: Attorney data, Response to data requests, Attorney data
Commissioner: Alice Roberts-Davis
Advisory Opinion 22-003
June 17, 2022; City of Minneapolis
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2021). It is based on the facts and information ...
Description: A member of the public asked whether a city responded appropriately to a request for a copy of body camera data that was presented as evidence in court. The city argued that the request should have been directed to the prosecutor’s office, and that the body camera data were private pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.825. The Commissioner determined that the city did not respond properly to the data request because prosecutors are not law enforcement agencies for purposes of Minnesota Statutes, section 13.82, and the obligation to provide access to data under this section resides with the law enforcement agency. Further, the body camera data are public pursuant to section 13.82, subdivision 7 as data presented as evidence in court.
Category: Law enforcement data, Response to data requests
Keywords: Law enforcement data, Response to data requests, Body camera data 13.825
Commissioner: Alice Roberts-Davis
Advisory Opinion 22-001
January 4, 2022; SouthWest Transit
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2021). It is based on the facts and information ...
Description: A member of the public asked whether a joint powers entity responded appropriately to a request for a copy of its data access policies as well as to a request for data about himself made pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.04. The Commissioner determined that the entity did not respond properly to the request for a copy of its policies because the entity had not yet adopted the required access policies at the time of the request. Additionally, the Commissioner noted that the entity contacting the requester during the afternoon of the day the 10-day deadline expired to offer an opportunity to inspect data did not reasonably meet the requirements of section 13.04, subdivision 3. As a result, the Commissioner opined that the entity did not respond appropriately to the data request made by a data subject. Finally, the Commissioner provided guidance on government entities’ responsibilities related to large data requests and internal procedures that consider respectful workplace policies.
Category: Policies and Procedures, Data subjects, Response to data requests
Keywords: Policies and Procedures, Data subjects, Response to data requests, Data subject access, Data access policy
Commissioner: Alice Roberts-Davis
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 20-003
March 3, 2020; ISD 181, Brainerd Public Schools
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2019). It is based on the facts and information ...
Description: A member of the public made a data request to a school district. He requested an email attachment that contained a district employee’s “contact list.” The school district denied access to the contact list, asserting contact lists are private personnel data. The Commissioner opined that the contact list may contain public data and/or not public data depending on the contacts listed. The fact that an individual maintains a list of contacts does not, by itself, make the contacts about that individual.
Category: Requests for data, Response to data requests, Personnel data
Keywords: Requests for data, Response to data requests, Personnel data, Timeliness of response to public - prompt, reasonable time (13.03, subd. 2), (1205.0300), Timely, generally, Email, Electronic data, email, Email/internet
Commissioner: Alice Roberts-Davis
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