Open Records

Minnesota’s public records law is the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA), found at Minnesota Statutes Chapter 13. It presumes that all government data are public and accessible for inspection and copying, unless a federal law, state statute, or temporary classification specifically makes the data not public.

Who can request records

Any member of the public may request public data – individuals, media, government agencies, employees, vendors, unions, companies, or attorneys. Government entities cannot require requesters to identify themselves or explain their reason for requesting. The MGDPA applies to government entities in Minnesota but does NOT apply to the Legislature or the courts.

What’s covered

“Government data” means all recorded information a government entity has, in any form – paper, electronic files, email, CDs/DVDs, photographs, and more. Public data is available to anyone for any reason; private or nonpublic data is available only to the person who is the subject of that data; confidential or protected nonpublic data is limited to government employees who need it for work-related reasons.

How to request

Send a written request to the “responsible authority” (RA) for the government entity, or their designee – most entities publish this contact in their data access policy. If the RA can’t be identified, the law designates default responsible parties (e.g., city clerk for cities, agency commissioner for state agencies).

Response timeline

This is one of Minnesota’s distinctive features: for a general public data request, the law only requires a response “within a reasonable amount of time” – there’s no fixed statutory number of days. For requests where the requester is asking about data concerning themselves (a “data subject” request), the government must respond immediately or within 10 business days – that’s the one clear numeric deadline. Because standard requests have no hard deadline, actual turnaround varies significantly by agency – some cite typical windows of 10-14 business days, others note it depends on request size and complexity.

Fees

– Inspecting data in person is free. – Fees generally can’t be charged for the labor of searching, retrieving, or copying data unless a request exceeds 100 physical pages (for standard requests) – smaller electronic distributions or in-person inspections typically can’t carry search/retrieval fees. – Agencies may charge for actual copying costs. – The MGDPA specifically prohibits charging requesters for the staff time needed to redact nonpublic data from otherwise-public data. – If the total cost of fulfilling a request exceeds $25, agencies may require payment before completing it, and multiple requests from the same person within a 30-business-day period can be treated as one request for this calculation. – Common hourly rates for larger requests run around $30/hour after a few free hours, though this varies by agency.

Exemptions

Since the MGDPA works on a presumption-of-public-access model, exemptions come from specific classifications elsewhere in Chapter 13 or other state/federal law, rather than a single unified exemption list – the “not public” classification has to trace back to a specific statute.

If your request is denied or delayed

Because there’s no fixed response deadline for standard requests, an unresponsive agency can be a real friction point. Requesters can pursue an administrative complaint, seek a formal advisory opinion from the Department of Administration, or file a lawsuit in district court. A government entity found in violation may be ordered to comply, pay a civil penalty of up to $1,000, and cover the requester’s costs and attorney’s fees. The MGDPA also provides for criminal penalties and disciplinary action (including dismissal) for anyone who willfully and knowingly violates the Act.

A note on terminology

Minnesota’s law is officially the “Government Data Practices Act” (MGDPA) – the same basic type of law that other states call an “Open Records Act,” “FOIA Laws” (South Carolina), or “Public Records Laws” (Tennessee).