Advisory Opinions Library
Search and research 1,071 opinions published by the Minnesota Department of Administration (1993–present). New to the legal archive? Try Exploring by topic.
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Advisory Opinion 20-002 20-002A board of directors of a nonprofit broadband corporation made up of government entities asked whether it was subject to the Open Meeting Law. The Commissioner opined that the board was not subject to the OML, but rathe…
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Advisory Opinion 20-001 20-001A member of the public asked whether the Greenwood Township Board of Supervisors violated the Open Meeting Law when they denied access to the votes of its members based on a Board resolution. The Commissioner concluded …
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Advisory Opinion 19-013 19-013a data requester asked if a County had responded appropriately to two requests she made for public data. The Commissioner opined that the County responded appropriately to a request for public comments when it emailed t…
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Advisory Opinion 19-012 19-012In Advisory Opinion 19-012, a member of the public asked whether the conduct of a School Board violated the Open Meeting Law when a quorum of the School Board was present at a committee meeting. The Commissioner determi…
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Advisory Opinion 19-011 19-011A City asked about the classification of data that the police department collected from a school district pursuant to a subpoena, as part of a criminal investigation. The District argued that the data were private perso…
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Advisory Opinion 19-010 19-010In Advisory Opinion 19-010, a member of the public asked whether a state agency had violated the Data Practices Act because it had not provided her with access to the data he requested (public personnel data on two empl…
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Advisory Opinion 19-009 19-009The Office of Higher Education (OHE) asked about the classification of certain program review data it maintained on a private/out-of-state university. The Commissioner opined that while the OHE is conducting the review …
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Advisory Opinion 19-008 19-008a City Council held closed meetings to discuss allegations against a staff member after it decided to hire an investigator. Minnesota Statutes, section 13D.05, subd. 2(b), requires a public body to close a meeting(s) to…
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Advisory Opinion 19-007 19-007A member of the public asked whether the Houston County Agricultural Society (“Society”) is subject to both the Data Practices Act and the Open Meeting Law. The Society conceded it is subject to the Open Meeting Law, bu…
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Advisory Opinion 19-006 19-006A city council held a special meeting and provided notice by posting the proposed agenda. At the special meeting, the Council took action on three items that it had not identified in the notice. At a subsequent regular …
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Advisory Opinion 19-005 19-005A law enforcement agency asked about the classification of data in an inactive criminal investigation of an officer-involved fatal shooting. The Commissioner opined that the data were variously classified under Minnesot…
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Advisory Opinion 19-004 19-004A school district asked whether it should provide access to a video of two students engaged in an altercation to one of the parents of one of the students. The Commissioner stated that where possible, schools must segre…
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Advisory Opinion 19-003 19-003A member of the public asked about his right to obtain government data maintained on the cell phones of county sheriff employees. In its response, the county stated that its employees’ personal cell phone records are no…
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Advisory Opinion 19-002 19-002A member of the public asked if a state board was in compliance with the Data Practices Act if it did not provide access to the policies required under Minnesota Statutes, section 13.025. The board did not reply to the …
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Advisory Opinion 19-001 19-001A city asked whether it responded appropriately to a data request for information from a Facebook page maintained by the mayor, when it replied to the requester that the information was not government data. The Commissi…
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Advisory Opinion 18-019 18-019A watershed district asked whether a member of the board of commissioners could attend meetings via interactive television from Florida. The Commissioner concluded that the geographical limitation imposed by the Minneso…
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Advisory Opinion 18-018 18-018A member of the public asked if a watershed district had violated the Open Meeting Law when it allowed members to participate in a meeting via telephone in order to reach a quorum. The Commissioner opined that per secti…
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Advisory Opinion 18-017 18-017A city asked about the classification of certain data related to the final disposition of disciplinary action in an “Investigation File,” which is now part of an active criminal investigation. The city discussed the ope…
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Advisory Opinion 18-016 18-016A government entity asked about the classification of certain financial data that it maintains about one of its licensee racetracks. The entity argued that the data at issue did not meet the definition of “trade secret”…
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Advisory Opinion 18-015 18-015A member of the public asked the Commissioner about the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board’s (PELSB) response to a request for access to additional information regarding the reasons PELSB entered into a…
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Advisory Opinion 18-014 18-014Multiple school districts asked whether private educational data could be released pursuant to a subpoena. The Commissioner opined that since Minnesota Statutes, section 13.32, subdivision 3(e), incorporates the FERPA r…
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Advisory Opinion 18-013 18-013The Star Tribune asked the Commissioner about the classification of correspondence between a County Commissioner and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC). The Commissioner relied on the reasoning of A…
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Advisory Opinion 18-012 18-012Metropolitan Emergency Services Board (MESB) asked the Commissioner about the classification of a geospatial dataset that MESB creates and maintains. MESB is a regional joint powers board established by the nine metropo…
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Advisory Opinion 18-011 18-011A member of the public asked whether a town board had violated the Open Meeting Law (OML) by not providing, in the public packet of members’ materials, a copy of a document the board discussed. The Commissioner acknowle…
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Advisory Opinion 18-010 18-010A data requester asked whether a school district had responded appropriately to several data requests he made, including one for data about himself. The Commissioner opined that the district did not respond appropriatel…Requests for data Response to data requests #Timeliness of response to data subject - immediately or ten business days #Timeliness of response to public - prompt, reasonable time (13.03, subd. 2), (1205.0300) #Timely response required, access immediately or within ten business days #Timely, generally