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Committee codifies court ruling allowing public enforcement of Official Records Act via Data Practices Act
Summary
Lawmakers adopted a technical amendment and recommended Senate File 7 94 to the State and Local Government Committee to codify the effect of a Minnesota Supreme Court decision that the Official Records Act may be enforced through remedies in the Government Data Practices Act.
Senate File 7 94 would reconcile statutory cross-references to reflect a Minnesota Supreme Court decision holding that the Official Records Act can be enforced using the private right of action available under the Government Data Practices Act.
Sponsor Senator Mark Limmer described the background: a privacy and records lawsuit (Helva v. MnSCU and related litigation) prompted the court to find the Official Records Act lacked its own private right of action but could be enforced via the Data Practices Act. The bill inserts an explicit cross-reference so the Official Records Act's preservation and retention obligations can be enforced using existing data-practices remedies.
Minnesotans for Open Government supported the change as a clarification of current law. The committee adopted an author's A1 technical amendment and passed the bill on to the Committee on State and Local Government for further consideration.
The change is procedural and designed to make statutory language track the court's interpretation, rather than change the underlying preservation or access obligations of public entities.
