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.
Where this category sits in our topic hierarchy
Requesting & Accessing Data (391 opinions)
Response to data requests
Narrow down within “Requesting & Accessing Data”
Response to data requests (202)
Copy costs (103)
Requests for data (88)
Inspection (49)
Existence of data (27)
Redaction (20)
Multiple data subjects (19)
Summary data (12)
Standing requests (3)
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Advisory Opinion 26-006 26-006The Commissioner opined that the City of New Prague did not initially respond appropriately to a January 20, 2026, data request for an automated license plate reader data audit trail required by Minnesota Statutes, sect…
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Advisory Opinion 26-005 26-005The Commissioner opined that the City of Minneapolis did not respond appropriately to a request for body camera data, classified by Minnesota Statutes, section 13.825 as nonpublic, that document the requester’s home and…
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Advisory Opinion 26-002 26-002A member of the public asked whether a city responded appropriately to a request for documents that an individual gave to city council members during a council meeting. The city maintained that the data its council memb…
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Advisory Opinion 25-009 25-009Several media requesters asked whether a county sheriff’s office responded appropriately to a request for a 911 transcript. The County argued that portions of the transcript were active investigative data under section …
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Advisory Opinion 25-007 25-007A member of the public asked whether a city responded appropriately to their requests for public data. The requester made four data requests between September 1, 2023 and September 13, 2024, but received no response fro…
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Advisory Opinion 25-006 25-006A 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 …
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Advisory Opinion 25-005 25-005A member of the public asked whether a state agency responded appropriately to a data request for
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Advisory Opinion 24-004 24-004A 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 h…
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Advisory Opinion 23-002 23-002A 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, se…
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Advisory Opinion 23-001 23-001A 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 respo…
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Advisory Opinion 22-007 22-007A 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 …
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Advisory Opinion 22-003 22-003A 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 …
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Advisory Opinion 22-001 22-001A 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, …
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Advisory Opinion 21-006 21-006A 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 clas…
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Advisory Opinion 20-003 20-003A 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 con…
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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 19-010 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 19-007 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 19-001 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 18-010 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
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Advisory Opinion 18-009 18-009A member of the public asked whether a state agency had violated the Data Practices Act because it denied him access to the data he requested (school building radon testing/mitigation data). The agency stated that per M…
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Advisory Opinion 18-006 18-006A member of the public asked whether a University had violated the Data Practices Act because it had not provided him with access to the data he requested (public personnel data on three employees) as of the date of his…
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Advisory Opinion 18-005 18-005A data subject asked if a county responded appropriately to a data request when it failed to comply within ten business days. The Commissioner concluded that Minn. Stat. § 13.04, subdivision 3, is clear: entities must c…
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Advisory Opinion 18-002 18-002A police department asked about the classification of records involving juveniles. The Commissioner opined that per Minnesota Statutes, section 260B.171, when a juvenile is or may be delinquent or is or may be involved …
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Advisory Opinion 15-003 15-003A member of the public asked about a government contractor’s obligation to respond to a request for data the contractor maintained in connection with its work for a City. The contractor did not respond to the request. T…