Agenda - Council - 10/10/2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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IMinnesota Session Laws 2000, Chapter 468 http://www.revisor.leg.state,mn.us/slaws/2000/c468.html 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. 5. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 13.03, subdivision 5, is amended to read: Subd. 5. [COPYRIGHT OR PATENT OF COMPUTER PROCP~M GOVERNMENT DATA.] Nothing in +~,,~ ~,,~~ ....... ~ any other s~atuto shall bo construcd to prevent A state agency, statewide system, or political subdivision from acquiring may enforce a copyright or acquire a patent for a computer software program or components of a program created by that government agency without statutory authority. In the event that a government agency does acquire acquires a pa~ent or copyright to a computer software program or component of a program, the data shall be treated as trade secret information pursuant to section 13.37. Sec. 6. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 13/05, is amended by adding a subdivision to read: Subd. 12. [IDENTIFICATION OR JUSTIFICATION.] Unless specifically authorized by statute, government entities may not require persons to identify themselves, state a reason for, or justify a request to gain access to public government data. A person may be asked to provide certain identifying or clarifying information for the sole purpose of facilitatinq access to the data. Sec. 7. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 13.05, is amended ~y adding a subdivision to read: Subd. 13. [DATA PRACTICES COMPLIANCE OFFICIAL.] By December 1, 2000, each responsible authority or other ~ppropriate authority in every government entity shall appoint or designate an employee of the government entity to act as the entity's data practices compliance official. The data practices compliance official is the designated employee of the government entity to whom persons may direct questions or concerns regarding problems in obtaining access to data or other data practices problems. The responsible authority may be the data practices compliance official. ~-- Sec. 8. Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 13.08, subdivision 4, is amended to read: Subd. 4. [ACTION TO COMPEL COMPLIANCE.] (a) In addition to the remedies provided in subdivisions 1 to 3 or any qther law, any aggrieved person seeking to enforce the person's richts under this cha~ter or obtain access to data may bring an action in district court to compel compliance with this chapter and may recover costs and disbursements, including reasonable attorney's fees, as determined by the court. If the court determines that an action brought under this subdivision is frivolous and without merit and a basis in fact, it may award reasonable costs and attorney fees to the responsible authority. If the court issues an order to compel compliance under this subdivision, the court may impose a civil penalty of up to $300 against the government entity. This penalty is payable to the state general fund and is in addition to damaqes under subdivision 1. The mat~er shall be heard as soon as possible. In an action involving a request for government data under section 13.03 or 13.04, the court may inspect in camera the government data in dispute, but shall conduct its hearing in public and in a manner -73- 3 of 12 10/2/2000 7:42 AM