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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 12
Advisory Opinion 12-006
April 20, 2012; School District 191 (Burnsville-Eagan-Savage)
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.072 (2011). It is based on the facts and information ...
Description: A school district asked about the
classification of certain data in a separation agreement
between the district and a former employee. The district
provided redacted copies of the agreement in response to
data requests by the media, stating that the redacted
portions contained data classified as private by Minnesota
Statutes, section 13.43, subdivision 4. Some of the
redacted data were public under Minnesota Statutes,
section 13.43, subdivision 2(a), as well as the general
presumption. Also, some of the data were properly
classified as private personnel data
Category: Personnel data
Keywords: Personnel data, Settlement agreements
Commissioner: Spencer Cronk
Advisory Opinion 09-024
November 30, 2009; School District 626 (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: Minnesota Statutes, section 13.43, subdivision 2(a)(6), requires a government entity to include in a settlement agreement “specific reasons for the settlement agreement.” School District 625, Saint Paul, entered into a settlement agreement and received a request for the settlement agreement. Has the District provided to the requestor the “specific reasons for the settlement agreement”?
Category: Personnel data
Keywords: Personnel data, Settlement agreements
Commissioner: Sheila M. Reger
Advisory Opinion 09-015
July 7, 2009; City of Oakdale
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 “settlement agreements” between a municipality’s workers’ compensation insurer and employee public documents pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.43, subdivision 2(a)(6)?
If such agreements are public, what, if any, information is the employer required to redact from the documents before making them available to the public?
Category: Personnel data
Keywords: Personnel data, Settlement agreements, Negotiated agreement
Commissioner: Sheila M. Reger
Advisory Opinion 06-008
March 8, 2006; School District 191 (Burnsville-Eagan-Savage)
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 data maintained by Independent School District 191, Burnsville-Eagan-Savage: data in five memoranda relating to a former District employee?
Category: Personnel data
Keywords: Personnel data, Policy or contract determines, Settlement agreements
Commissioner: Dana B. Badgerow
Advisory Opinion 03-036
September 15, 2003; City of La Crescent
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, did the City of La Crescent respond appropriately to a request for access to all public data about an employee?
Category: Personnel data
Keywords: Personnel data, Status, Settlement agreements
Commissioner: Brian J. Lamb
Advisory Opinion 01-022
February 7, 2001; City of Maplewood
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 data that the City of Maplewood maintains: data in a letter regarding a former city employee?
Category: Civil investigative data, Personnel data
Keywords: Civil investigative data, Personnel data, Notice of claim, Civil investigative data (13.39), Settlement agreements
Commissioner: David F. Fisher
Advisory Opinion 98-016
April 3, 1998; Minnesota Department of Public Safety
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: An employee of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety was disciplined. The employee grieved the matter and it went to arbitration. Before the arbitrator rendered a decision, a settlement was reached in which the discipline was rescinded and related records were to be expunged. What is the classification of the Department's data (investigative files, expunged disciplinary letters, etc.) relating to this matter?
Category: Personnel data
Keywords: Personnel data, Settlement, Disciplinary action not taken, data not public, Settlement agreements
Commissioner: Elaine S. Hansen
Advisory Opinion 97-017
May 5, 1997; School District 2071 (Lake Crystal)
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
Advisory Opinion 96-020
April 30, 1996; City of Northfield
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: Is the resignation agreement between the City and a former City employee public or private data under Minnesota Statutes Section 13.43, subdivision 2(a)(6), or any other law?
Category: Personnel data
Keywords: Personnel data, Settlement agreements
Commissioner: Elaine S. Hansen
Advisory Opinion 95-039
September 12, 1995; University of Minnesota
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 the "Letter of Agreement," signed by the faculty member and the student, constitute "the terms of any agreement settling any dispute" within the meaning of Minnesota Statutes Section 13.43, subdivision 2? If so, may the contents of the letter be disclosed to the public?
Category: Personnel data, Statutory construction (Ch. 645)
Keywords: Personnel data, Statutory construction (Ch. 645), Settlement agreements, Promise of confidentiality, Words and phrases construed (645.08)
Commissioner: Elaine S. Hansen