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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 23
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 98-046
October 19, 1998; Metropolitan Mosquito Control District
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, how are the following data classified: individuals' names, addresses, telephone numbers and specific requests regarding services provided by the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District?
Category: Security information
Keywords: Security information, Entity's discretion to withhold
Commissioner: Elaine S. Hansen
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
Advisory Opinion 01-006
January 12, 2001; 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: Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, has the Minnesota Department of Public Safety responded appropriately to a request for access to the following data: weekly timesheets for certain employees of the Department?
Category: Personnel data, Security information
Keywords: Personnel data, Security information, Time sheets or payroll, Entity's discretion to withhold
Commissioner: Kirsten Cecil Deputy
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 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 00-074
December 22, 2000; Minnesota Department of Human Services
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: Whether the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) responded appropriately to X's request to have access to all data maintained about him/her when the Department provided copies of audio tapes that are difficult to understand?
Whether DHS responded appropriately to X's request to have access to all data maintained about him/her when the Department has not provided access to data to reflect a history of more than 10 years of interactions, including professional contacts and applications for employment, by the data subject with the Department?
Whether DHS appropriately withheld data from the data subject, pursuant to Minn. Stat. §§ 13.30; 13.37, subds. 1 and 2; and 13.43, subd. 8?
Category: Attorney data, Educational data, Personnel data, Security information
Keywords: Attorney data, Educational data, Personnel data, Security information, Attorney data, Explanation of data, Harassment data (13.43, subd. 8), Entity's discretion to withhold
Commissioner: David F. Fisher
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
... data in those specific situations in which an entity has reason to believe that the disclosure would ... in the exercise of this discretion, a government entity must have reason to believe that public disclosure ...
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 04-023
April 9, 2004; Minnesota Department of Corrections
... 1205.0600 (permitting access by individuals within the entity whose work assignments reasonably require access). Further, this ... Commissioner addressed the issue of whether a government entity may disseminate a Level II Sex Offender notification ...
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