HF3325

Purpose of the Bill

The purpose of this legislative bill is to update Minnesota's data practices laws. It focuses on modifying how government data requests are handled, including new fee guidelines, retention rules, and providing mechanisms to ensure compliance.

Main Provisions

• Public Data Access: The bill clarifies that no fees can be charged for inspecting government data. For electronic data access, remote access fees can only be charged if data enhancement is requested.
• Copying Costs: When copies of public data are requested, the person may be charged for the actual costs of searching, retrieving, and transmitting data, but not for separating public from non-public data. However, copying up to 100 pages of standard-sized paper is capped at 25 cents per page.
• Time Limit for Fulfillment: State agencies are required to fulfill data requests as soon as possible, not exceeding 30 days. If unable to do so, they must provide written explanations and report these incidents annually.
• Commercial Value Data: If requested data has commercial value, an additional reasonable fee can be charged, with government entities needing to justify this fee.
• Fee Waivers: Individuals can apply for a fee waiver if accessing the data serves the public interest rather than a commercial interest.
• Data Retention and Disposal: Enhancements to the retention and destruction policies include guidelines for digitizing and preserving governmental correspondence and historical records for a minimum of 25 years if digital.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Safety Measures in Data Disposal: Records containing non-public data must be destroyed securely to prevent any breach of private information.
• Enforcement and Penalties: Courts may impose penalties on government entities for non-compliance with data practices, including a civil penalty up to $1,000 payable to the state fund. Plaintiffs who win cases against non-compliant entities may recover legal costs.
• Historical Records Management: The Minnesota Historical Society may acquire records deemed to have historical value, and all non-public data within records must be disposed of securely.

Relevant Terms

• Data practices
• Public data access
• Fee waiver
• Record retention
• Remote access fees
• Non-public data
• Government transparency