HF 5478

as introduced - 93rd Legislature (2023 - 2024) Posted on 05/16/2024 11:40am

A bill for an act
relating to data practices; modifying certain data request and retention provisions;
creating a state electronic document repository; appropriating money; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2022, sections 13.03, subdivision 3, by adding a subdivision;
138.17, subdivisions 1, 7; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 13.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 13.03, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Request for access to data.

(a) Upon request to a responsible authority or
designee, a person shall be permitted to inspect and copy public government data at
reasonable times and places, and, upon request, shall be informed of the data's meaning. If
a person requests access for the purpose of inspection, the responsible authority may not
assess a charge or require the requesting person to pay a fee to inspect data.

(b) For purposes of this section, "inspection" includes, but is not limited to, the visual
inspection of paper and similar types of government data. Inspection does not include
printing copies by the government entity, unless printing a copy is the only method to provide
for inspection of the data. In the case of data stored in electronic form and made available
in electronic form on a remote access basis to the public by the government entity, inspection
includes remote access to the data by the public and the ability to print copies of or download
the data on the public's own computer equipment. Nothing in this section prohibits a
government entity from charging a reasonable fee for remote access to data under a specific
statutory grant of authority. A government entity may charge a fee for remote access to data
where either the data or the access is enhanced at the request of the person seeking access.

(c) The responsible authority or designee shall provide copies of public data upon request.
If a person requests copies or electronic transmittal of the data to the person, the responsible
authority may require the requesting person to pay the actual costs of searching for and
retrieving government data, including the cost of employee time, and for making, certifying,
and electronically transmitting the copies of the data or the data, but may not charge for
separating public from not public data. However, if 100 or fewer pages of black and white,
letter or legal size paper copies are requested, actual costs shall not be used, and instead,
the responsible authority may charge no more than 25 cents for each page copied. If the
responsible authority or designee is not able to provide copies at the time a request is made,
copies shall be supplied as soon as reasonably possible. new text begin For state agencies, "as soon as
reasonably possible" means no more than 30 days. If the request cannot be filled within 30
days, the agency must provide the requester a written explanation on why compliance with
this paragraph was not possible. An agency that is required to provide a written explanation
during a fiscal year must report to the Legislative Commission on Data Practices by February
1 of the following fiscal year. The report must include the number of requests received by
the agency, the number of requests that were not fulfilled within 30 days, and the exigent
circumstances of those requests that made compliance with this paragraph unreasonable.
new text end

(d) When a request under this subdivision involves any person's receipt of copies of
public government data that has commercial value and is a substantial and discrete portion
of or an entire formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique, process,
database, or system developed with a significant expenditure of public funds by the
government entity, the responsible authority may charge a reasonable fee for the information
in addition to the costs of making and certifying the copies. Any fee charged must be clearly
demonstrated by the government entity to relate to the actual development costs of the
information. The responsible authority, upon the request of any person, shall provide
sufficient documentation to explain and justify the fee being charged.

(e) The responsible authority of a government entity that maintains public government
data in a computer storage medium shall provide to any person making a request under this
section a copy of any public data contained in that medium, in electronic form, if the
government entity can reasonably make the copy or have a copy made. This does not require
a government entity to provide the data in an electronic format or program that is different
from the format or program in which the data are maintained by the government entity. The
entity may require the requesting person to pay the actual cost of providing the copy.

(f) If the responsible authority or designee determines that the requested data is classified
so as to deny the requesting person access, the responsible authority or designee shall inform
the requesting person of the determination either orally at the time of the request, or in
writing as soon after that time as possible, and shall cite the specific statutory section,
temporary classification, or specific provision of federal law on which the determination is
based. Upon the request of any person denied access to data, the responsible authority or
designee shall certify in writing that the request has been denied and cite the specific statutory
section, temporary classification, or specific provision of federal law upon which the denial
was based.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 13.03, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

new text begin Subd. 3a. new text end

new text begin Fee waiver. new text end

new text begin Notwithstanding subdivisions 3, paragraphs (b) to (e), and 10, a
person may apply for a fee waiver. A state agency must evaluate the following factors in
determining whether to issue a fee waiver:
new text end

new text begin (1) if the data concerns the operations or activities of the government;
new text end

new text begin (2) if the data is likely to contribute to an increased understanding of government
operations of importance to the public;
new text end

new text begin (3) if the data is likely to contribute to a public understanding of the subject;
new text end

new text begin (4) if the data is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of government
operations or activities; and
new text end

new text begin (5) if the data is not primarily requested due to a commercial interest in disclosure.
new text end

Sec. 3.

new text begin [13.12] STATE ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT REPOSITORY.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Establishment. new text end

new text begin By ......., the chief information officer must develop and
maintain a state electronic document repository.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Contents. new text end

new text begin The following documents created or received by a state agency must
be accessible in the repository:
new text end

new text begin (1) documents relating to permits, including any draft or final permit for a mining,
pipeline, or energy facility; feedlot; water appropriation; any permit noticed for public
comment; and any permit subject to federal review shall be available online with its
application, technical support documents, federal review comments, comments of the public,
and Tribal comments;
new text end

new text begin (2) documents relating to task forces and studies, including applications, technical
materials, drafts, and research;
new text end

new text begin (3) rulemaking record documents under section 14.365; and
new text end

new text begin (4) documents relating to public health exposure testing, including testing of the
concentration of mercury in fish and monitoring of ambient air quality near emissions
sources.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Capabilities. new text end

new text begin (a) The state electronic document repository must be capable of
multi-faceted search by at least the following criteria: agency, date created, keyword, and
permit or rulemaking number.
new text end

new text begin (b) Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, documents must be retained in the repository
for the longer of 20 years or the time required by other law prescribing a retention timeline
for the content.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Timeline. new text end

new text begin (a) Within 18 months of completion of the system, an agency with
existing documents required for access under subdivision 2, that does not contain not public
data as defined by section 13.02, subdivision 8a, must be available in the repository.
new text end

new text begin (b) Within four years of completion of the system, an agency with existing documents
required for access under subdivision 2 that contain not public data must be available in the
repository.
new text end

new text begin (c) An agency with new documents required for access under subdivision 2 that do not
contain not public data must be available in the repository within one month of their creation.
new text end

new text begin (d) An agency with new documents required for access under subdivision 2 that contain
not public data must be available in the repository within three months of the documents'
creation.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 138.17, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Destruction, preservation, reproduction of records; prima facie
evidence.

(a) The attorney general, legislative auditor in the case of state records, state
auditor in the case of local records, and director of the Minnesota Historical Society,
hereinafter director, shall constitute the Records Disposition Panel. The members of the
panel shall have power by majority vote to direct the destruction or sale for salvage of
government records determined to be no longer of any value, or to direct the disposition by
gift to the Minnesota Historical Society or otherwise of government records determined to
be valuable for preservation. The Records Disposition Panel may by majority vote order
any of those records to be reproduced by photographic or other means, and order that
photographic or other reproductions be substituted for the originals of them. It may direct
the destruction or sale for salvage or other disposition of the originals from which they were
made. Photographic or other reproductions shall for all purposes be deemed the originals
of the records reproduced when so ordered by the records disposition panel, and shall be
admissible as evidence in all courts and in proceedings of every kind. A facsimile,
exemplified or certified copy of a photographic, optical disk imaging, or other reproduction,
or an enlargement or reduction of it, shall have the same effect and weight as evidence as
would a certified or exemplified copy of the original. The Records Disposition Panel, by
majority vote, may direct the storage of government records, except as herein provided, and
direct the storage of photographic or other reproductions. Photographic or other reproductions
substituted for original records shall be disposed of in accordance with the procedures
provided for the original records.

(b) For the purposes of this chapter:

(1) the term "government records" means state and local records, including all cards,
correspondence, discs, maps, memoranda, microfilms, papers, photographs, recordings,
reports, tapes, writings, optical disks, and other data, information, or documentary material,
regardless of physical form or characteristics, storage media or conditions of use, made or
received by an officer or agency of the state and an officer or agency of a county, city, town,
school district, municipal subdivision or corporation or other public authority or political
entity within the state pursuant to state law or in connection with the transaction of public
business by an officer or agency;

(2) the term "state record" means a record of a department, office, officer, commission,
commissioner, board or any other agency, however styled or designated, of the executive
branch of state government; a record of the state legislature; a record of any court, whether
of statewide or local jurisdiction; new text begin a correspondence of a state agency; new text end and any other record
designated or treated as a state record under state law;

(3) the term "local record" means a record of an agency of a county, city, town, school
district, municipal subdivision or corporation or other public authority or political entity;

(4) the term "records" excludes data and information that does not become part of an
official transaction, library and museum material made or acquired and kept solely for
reference or exhibit purposes deleted text begin , deleted text end new text begin ; new text end extra copies of documents kept only for convenience of
reference and stock of publications and processed documents, and bonds, coupons, or other
obligations or evidences of indebtedness, the destruction or other disposition of which is
governed by other laws;

(5) the term "state archives" means those records preserved or appropriate for preservation
as evidence of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or
other activities of government or because of the value of the information contained in them,
when determined to have sufficient historical or other value to warrant continued preservation
by the state of Minnesota and accepted for inclusion in the collections of the Minnesota
Historical Society deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin ; and
new text end

new text begin (6) the term "correspondence" includes any written or electronic text-based
communication to or from state agency staff that documents events, decisions, business,
and functions of the agency, including agendas, notes, slides, chat functions, and presentations
from meetings, phone conferences, and virtual meetings. Correspondence excludes purely
personal communications, announcements of social events, and unsolicited advertising or
promotional material that bears no substantive relationship to the events, decisions, business,
or functions of the agency, public authority, or political entity.
new text end

(c) If the decision is made to dispose of records by majority vote, the Minnesota Historical
Society may acquire and retain whatever they determine to be of potential historical value.

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 138.17, subdivision 7, is amended to read:

Subd. 7.

Records management.

It shall be the duty of the head of each state agency
and the governing body of each county, municipality, and other subdivision of government
to establish and maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and efficient
management of the records of each agency, county, municipality, or other subdivision of
government. Public officials shall prepare an inclusive inventory of records in their custody,
to which shall be attached a schedule, approved by the head of the governmental unit or
agency having custody of the records, establishing a time period for the retention or disposal
of each series of records. new text begin Correspondence by a state agency must be digitized, if not already
in a digital format, and retained for no less than 20 years from the date of creation or receipt.
new text end When the schedule is unanimously approved by the records disposition panel, the head of
the governmental unit or agency having custody of the records may dispose of the type of
records listed in the schedule at a time and in a manner prescribed in the schedule for
particular records which were created after the approval. A list of records disposed of
pursuant to this subdivision shall be maintained by the governmental unit or agency. When
records containing not public data as defined in section 13.02, subdivision 8a, are being
disposed of under this subdivision, the records must be destroyed in a way that prevents
their contents from being determined.

Sec. 6. new text begin APPROPRIATION.
new text end

new text begin $....... in fiscal year 2025 is appropriated from the general fund to the chief information
officer to create the state electronic document repository under Minnesota Statutes, section
13.12.
new text end