Minnesota Government Data Practices Act: Access, Fees, and Body Camera Rules

Minnesota does not have a conventional public records act. Its Government Data Practices Act, Minn. Stat. ch. 13, presumes government data are public unless a statute, a temporary classification or federal law says otherwise, then layers a detailed classification scheme on top of that presumption. It sets no fixed response deadline, makes inspection and redaction free, and gives police body camera footage its own detailed section.

This page covers data held by Minnesota state agencies, counties, cities, school districts and other government entities under chapter 13. Federal agency records run under the separate federal Freedom of Information Act: see how to file a FOIA request. For the rules in every other state, start at our public records laws by state hub.

A presumption of openness, plus a classification layer

Minnesota starts where other state records laws start. Section 13.03, subd. 1 provides that all government data collected, created, received, maintained or disseminated by a government entity "shall be public unless classified by statute, or temporary classification pursuant to section 13.06, or federal law, as nonpublic or protected nonpublic, or with respect to data on individuals, as private or confidential." Section 13.01, subd. 3 says the same thing in plainer words: the chapter "establishes a presumption that government data are public and are accessible by the public for both inspection and copying" unless federal law, a state statute or a temporary classification provides that certain data are not public.

What is genuinely different in Minnesota is the layer built on top of that presumption. The Government Data Practices Act treats everything a government entity maintains as "government data" and assigns each item a classification. Data on individuals may be public, private or confidential. Data not on individuals may be public, nonpublic or protected nonpublic. The classification determines two separate questions that other states tend to blur: what the general public may see, and what the person the data is about may see. Those answers frequently differ, which is why a Minnesota entity can tell a member of the public "no" and tell the data subject "yes" about the same file without contradicting itself.

Each government entity designates a "responsible authority" who owns compliance. Section 13.03, subd. 2(a) requires that authority to establish procedures ensuring that requests "are received and complied with in an appropriate and prompt manner."

Practically, that means asking two questions rather than one. Start from the presumption, because the burden sits on the entity to identify a specific classification. Then ask how the data is classified and under which authority. Subdivision 3(f) requires the responsible authority to inform you of the determination orally at the time of the request or in writing as soon after as possible, and to "cite the specific statutory section, temporary classification, or specific provision of federal law on which the determination is based." On request the authority must also certify the denial in writing with that same citation. A responsible authority who cannot name the classifying authority has not done the analysis the Act requires.

The right of access

Section 13.03, subd. 3(a) states the core entitlement: "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."

That last clause is doing real work and is easy to miss. You are entitled not only to the data but to an explanation of what it means, which matters when what you receive is a coded database extract or an internal form with unlabeled fields.

There is no residency or citizenship condition. Subdivision 2(b) adds an unusually strong access guarantee for researchers: "Full convenience and comprehensive accessibility shall be allowed to researchers including historians, genealogists and other scholars to carry out extensive research and complete copying of all records containing government data except as otherwise expressly provided by law." The only limit the statute attaches is that closing clause.

Deadlines: "prompt," not a number

Minnesota is one of the states with no fixed statutory response deadline, and it is worth being precise about what the statute does say rather than importing a number from elsewhere.

• Requests must be "received and complied with in an appropriate and prompt manner."
• If copies cannot be provided at the time of the request, they "shall be supplied as soon as reasonably possible."

That is the whole of it. There is no 5-day, 10-day or 20-day rule to point at, which cuts both ways. A straightforward request should be filled faster than a fixed deadline state would require, because nothing entitles the entity to sit on it until day ten. A genuinely complex request gets the time it needs without an artificial extension dance. But a requester facing an entity that is simply slow has no bright line to invoke, and that is where the escalation routes below become the practical tool.

One fixed day count does appear in section 13.03, and it runs against the requester. Under subdivision 3(g), if the responsible authority has notified you that data or copies are available for inspection or collection and you do not act within five business days, the entity may suspend further response until you do.

Fees: inspection free, redaction free, 25 cents capped

Minnesota's fee rules are among the most requester-friendly in the country, and three of them are worth memorizing.

Inspection costs nothing. "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."

Redaction costs nothing. When charging for copies, the responsible authority "may not charge for separating public from not public data." In states without that rule, redaction time is frequently the largest line on the invoice.

Small copy requests are capped. If the request is for 100 or fewer pages of black and white letter or legal size paper copies, actual costs may not be used and the charge may not exceed 25 cents per page.

Outside that cap, the responsible authority may charge the actual costs of searching for and retrieving data, including employee time, and of making, certifying and electronically transmitting copies. Data with documented commercial value may carry a reasonable additional charge tied to the cost of developing it.

What chapter 13 does not appear to contain is a fee waiver. Section 13.03 has no indigency waiver and no public-interest waiver, and research for this page did not confirm one elsewhere in the chapter. This page does not assert a waiver right the statute does not state. If cost is a barrier, the honest advice is procedural: inspect rather than copy where you can, keep paper requests under the 100-page cap, ask for electronic transmission, and ask the responsible authority in writing whether that entity has adopted any policy on reducing charges.

How to make a data request in Minnesota

1. Address the request to the entity's responsible authority or that person's designee. Every Minnesota government entity must designate one.
2. State whether you are requesting inspection or copies. The distinction has a direct fee consequence, and inspection is free.
3. State whether you are the subject of the data. A data subject often has access rights that the general public does not, and saying so up front lets the entity apply the right classification analysis.
4. Describe the data specifically: subject, date range, unit, and any case, permit or incident number.
5. Ask to be informed of the data's meaning if you expect coded or database output. Subdivision 3(a) entitles you to that.
6. Watch for a notice that data is ready. You have five business days to inspect or collect before the entity may suspend further response.

Our free FOIA request generator will assemble a Minnesota-specific letter with the right citations, and nothing you enter into it is stored or transmitted.

If the answer is no

Advisory opinion from IPAD. The Information Policy Analysis Division of the Minnesota Department of Administration issues advisory opinions interpreting the Act. The opinions are not binding, but they are free, they are published, and a classification dispute is exactly what they exist to resolve. For a disagreement about how data should be classified rather than about deliberate stonewalling, this is the efficient first move.

Complaint to the Office of Administrative Hearings. Section 13.085 provides the formal administrative remedy. The complaint must be filed within 2 years, in writing and under oath, with a $1,000 filing fee or bond. The respondent answers within 15 business days. An administrative law judge makes a probable cause determination within 20 business days, and a scheduled hearing must occur within 30 business days. The ALJ may dismiss, find a violation, impose a civil penalty of up to $300, or order compliance. A substantially prevailing complainant is presumptively entitled to attorney fees of up to $5,000 and a refund of the filing fee, and judicial review runs under sections 14.63 to 14.69. The $1,000 up-front cost is the practical barrier, which is why the advisory opinion route usually comes first.

Civil action. Section 13.08 provides a separate court remedy, and it is the route with real financial teeth. Subdivision 1 makes a responsible authority or government entity that violates the chapter liable to a person who suffers damage for the damages sustained plus costs and reasonable attorney fees, and for a willful violation adds exemplary damages of not less than $1,000 and not more than $15,000 for each violation. Subdivision 2 allows the district court to enjoin a violation or a proposed violation. Subdivision 4 provides a separate action to compel compliance, with costs and disbursements including reasonable attorney fees and a civil penalty of up to $1,000 against the entity. Venue under subdivision 3 is the county where the person alleging damage resides, the county where the political subdivision exists, or any county in the case of the state. Body camera violations carry more: section 13.825, subd. 12 subjects a law enforcement agency that willfully violates that section to exemplary damages of not less than twice the minimum and not more than twice the maximum allowed under 13.08, subd. 1.

Body camera footage: the section 13.825 track

Minnesota gives portable recording system data its own statute, and it is more detailed than most states' treatment.

The default. Data collected by a portable recording system are private data on individuals or nonpublic data, subject to the exceptions below.

What is public. Data that record, describe or otherwise document the discharge of a firearm by a peace officer in the course of duty, where a notice is required under section 626.553, subd. 2, or the use of force by a peace officer that results in substantial bodily harm as defined in section 609.02, subd. 7a, are public. Data are also public if the subject of the data requests release, subject to redaction protections for non-consenting third parties and for officers whose identities are protected.

Death from use of force: the 5-day inspection right. When an individual dies as a result of a peace officer's use of force, the involved officer's agency must allow the deceased individual's next of kin, the legal representative of the next of kin, and the other parent of the deceased individual's minor child, upon request, to inspect all portable recording system data documenting the incident, redacted no more than what is required by law, within five days of the request.

Death from use of force: the 14-day public release. In that same circumstance the agency "shall release all portable recording system data, redacted no more than what is required by law, documenting the incident no later than 14 days after the incident," unless the chief law enforcement officer asserts in writing that public classification would interfere with an ongoing investigation, in which case the data remain classified under section 13.82, subd. 7.

Retention. Data that are not active or inactive criminal investigative data must be kept for at least 90 days. Data documenting a firearm discharge requiring notice, or a use of force causing substantial bodily harm, are kept longer, as are data subject to a formal complaint. Data documenting a peace officer's use of deadly force must be maintained indefinitely.

What the Data Practices Act does not cover

Birth, death and marriage certificates run through the Minnesota Department of Health's Office of Vital Records under eligibility rules tied to your relationship to the person named. See our Minnesota death records guide.

Emergency call audio raises classification questions that differ from ordinary agency data, particularly where an investigation is active. We cover the general framework in Are 911 calls public records?.

Federal agency records fall outside chapter 13 entirely and run under 5 U.S.C. 552, with a 20-working-day determination clock and a formal administrative appeal. See our guide to filing a federal FOIA request.

Information on this page reflects Minnesota law as of August 2026 and is general legal information, not legal advice. Data classifications and agency practices change. For advice on a specific denial or a data practices complaint, consult an attorney licensed in Minnesota.