MARCH 2020    

Data Practices, Open Meetings and the Legislature

The Minnesota Legislature began its 2020 session on February 11, and several Legislators have introduced bills on data practices (House bills and Senate bills). Additionally, Legislators have introduced a small number of open meeting bills in the House and Senate.

The Data Practices Office will track proposed legislation throughout the 2020 legislative session. Our July newsletter will provide a full summary of all government data practices and open meeting bills that become law.

Sunshine Week Coming Soon!

Sunshine Week for 2020 is March 15-21. Sunshine Week is a national initiative to highlight the role and importance of freedom of information and open government in functional democracies. Sunshine Week happens in March of each year and coincides with James Madison's birthday on March 16.

The Data Practices Office has several resources on our website to help both the public and government understand transparency requirements in Minnesota. Be sure to check out these great resources for all of your data practices and open meetings questions!

Upcoming Data Practices Trainings

Government Personnel Data Webinar Series

Our free lunchtime webinar series on government personnel data continues on March 11 at Noon. The third installment of this series will cover discipline and employee complaint data.

More information about this webinar series is available on our website, and you can view recordings of past webinars on our YouTube channel.

Law Enforcement Data Workshop

We will be hosting a workshop on March 17 that focuses on key law enforcement provisions in Minnesota law, featuring:

• Discussion of general legal requirements, including criminal investigative data, juvenile data, and traffic accident data;
• Real-life problem solving scenarios based on actual inquiries;
• Question and answer time.

More information about this workshop is available on our website.

Advisory Opinion Updates

Open Meeting Law and Journal of Votes

In Advisory Opinion 20-001, a member of the public asked whether the Greenwood Township Board of Supervisors violated the Open Meeting Law when it denied access to the votes of its members based on a Board resolution. The Commissioner concluded that the Board violated the Open Meeting Law because section 13D.01, subdivisions 4 and 5 require the Board to keep a journal of votes and have the journal available during normal business hours.

Entities Subject to Open Meeting Law

In Advisory Opinion 20-002, a 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 rather subject to the requirements in Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 317A, which allow boards of directors of nonprofits to change some of the statutory requirements for holding meetings by changing articles or bylaws.