1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to data privacy; expanding personal information protections for judicial 
1.3 	officials to state legislators; creating a legislative task force to study personal 
1.4 	information protections for government officials; requiring a report; appropriating 
1.5 	money;amending Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement, sections 480.40, 
1.6 	subdivision 1; 480.45, subdivision 2.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement, section 480.40, subdivision 1, is amended 
1.9 	to read:
1.10 		Subdivision 1.Definitions. (a) For purposes of this section and section 480.45, the 
1.11 	following terms have the meanings given.
1.12 	(b) "Judicial official" "Covered official" means:
1.13 	(1) every Minnesota district court judge, senior judge, retired judge, and every judge of 
1.14 	the Minnesota Court of Appeals and every active, senior, recalled, or retired federal judge 
1.15 	who resides in Minnesota;
1.16 	(2) a current or retired justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court;
1.17 	(3) employees of the Minnesota judicial branch;
1.18 	(4) judicial referees and magistrate judges; and
1.19 	(5) current and retired judges and current employees of the Office of Administrative 
1.20 	Hearings, Department of Human Services Appeals Division, Workers' Compensation Court 
1.21 	of Appeals, and Tax Court; and
1.22 	(6) a current or former member of the Minnesota legislature.
2.1 	(c) "Personal information" does not include publicly available information. Personal 
2.2 	information means:
2.3 	(1) a residential address of a judicial covered official;
2.4 	(2) a residential address of the spouse, domestic partner, or children of a judicial covered
2.5 	official;
2.6 	(3) a nonjudicial branch issued personal telephone number or email address of a judicial
2.7 	covered official;
2.8 	(4) the name of any child of a judicial covered official; and
2.9 	(5) the name of any child care facility or school that is attended by a child of a judicial
2.10 	covered official if combined with an assertion that the named facility or school is attended 
2.11 	by the child of a judicial covered official.
2.12 	(d) "Publicly available information" means information that is lawfully made available 
2.13 	through federal, state, or local government records or information that a business has a 
2.14 	reasonable basis to believe is lawfully made available to the general public through widely 
2.15 	distributed media, by a judicial covered official, or by a person to whom the judicial covered
2.16 	official has disclosed the information, unless the judicial covered official has restricted the 
2.17 	information to a specific audience.
2.18 	(e) "Law enforcement support organizations" do not include charitable organizations.
2.19 	(f) "Real property records" has the meaning given in section 480.50, subdivision 1, 
2.20 	paragraph (f).

2.21 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement, section 480.45, subdivision 2, is amended 
2.22 	to read:
2.23 		Subd. 2.Removal of personal information; exception. (a) Upon receipt of an affidavit 
2.24 	requesting removal of the personal information of a judicial covered official that meets the 
2.25 	requirements of subdivision 1, the person, business, association, or government entity shall 
2.26 	remove the publicly posted personal information within 30 days. If the person, business, 
2.27 	association, or government entity fails to remove the publicly posted personal information 
2.28 	within 30 days after an affidavit is submitted, the judicial covered official may file a civil 
2.29 	action in a court of competent jurisdiction seeking a court order compelling compliance, 
2.30 	including injunctive and declarative relief.
2.31 	(b) Paragraph (a) shall not apply to personal information contained in real property 
2.32 	records, as defined in section 480.50, subdivision 1, paragraph (f), when disseminated 
3.1 	directly by a government entity or when publicly posted or published in a manner required 
3.2 	by statute.

3.3 	Sec. 3. LEGISLATIVE TASK FORCE ON GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL PRIVACY 
3.4 	PROTECTIONS.
 3.5 		Subdivision 1.Task force established. A government official privacy protection task 
3.6 	force is established within the legislative branch to analyze the need for expanded protection 
3.7 	of the personal information and privacy of Minnesota government officials and explore 
3.8 	options for efficiently and effectively administering such protections.
3.9 		Subd. 2.Membership. (a) The government official privacy protection task force consists 
3.10 	of 12 members, including:
3.11 	(1) the eight members of the Legislative Commission on Data Practices and Personal 
3.12 	Data Privacy;
3.13 	(2) one person appointed by the secretary of state;
3.14 	(3) one person appointed by the commissioner of administration;
3.15 	(4) one person appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court; and
3.16 	(5) the president of the Minnesota Association of County Officers, or a designee thereof.
3.17 	(b) Each appointing authority must appoint task force members no later than August 1, 
3.18 	2026.
3.19 		Subd. 3.Duties. The task force must analyze and evaluate:
3.20 	(1) the need for changing the personal information protections currently available to 
3.21 	government officials under law;
3.22 	(2) the need for changing what government officials qualify for those protections;
3.23 	(3) options for effectively and efficiently administering current protections as well as 
3.24 	any proposed expanded protections; and
3.25 	(4) other issues the task force considers relevant to protection of the personal information 
3.26 	and privacy of Minnesota government officials.
3.27 		Subd. 4.Meetings, administration, and compensation. (a) The task force shall elect 
3.28 	a chair and vice-chair and may elect other officers as necessary.
3.29 	(b) The chair of the Legislative Commission on Data Practices shall convene the first 
3.30 	meeting of the task force no later than August 1, 2026. The Legislative Commission on 
4.1 	Data Practices shall provide meeting space and administrative assistance as necessary for 
4.2 	the task force to conduct its work.
4.3 	(c) The task force shall meet at least monthly or upon the call of the chair. The task force 
4.4 	shall meet sufficiently enough to accomplish the tasks identified in this section. Meetings 
4.5 	of the task force are subject to Minnesota Statutes, section 3.055.
4.6 	(d) Minnesota Statutes, section 15.059, subdivision 3, governs compensation of the 
4.7 	members of the task force.
4.8 	(e) Members of the task force serve at the pleasure of the appointing authority or until 
4.9 	the task force expires. Vacancies shall be filled by the appointing authority consistent with 
4.10 	the qualifications of the vacating member required by this subdivision.
4.11 		Subd. 5.Report required. The task force must issue a report to the chairs and ranking 
4.12 	minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over data practices by 
4.13 	January 15, 2027, discussing the task force's conclusions, including any recommended 
4.14 	changes to state laws. The report must be prepared and filed consistent with the requirements 
4.15 	of Minnesota Statutes, section 3.195.
4.16 		Subd. 6.Expiration. The task force expires January 15, 2027, or the day following the 
4.17 	issuance of the report required under subdivision 5, whichever occurs first.

4.18 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

4.19 	Sec. 4. APPROPRIATION; LEGISLATIVE TASK FORCE ON GOVERNMENT 
4.20 	OFFICIAL PRIVACY PROTECTIONS.
 4.21 	$....... in fiscal year 2026 is appropriated from the general fund to the Legislative 
4.22 	Coordinating Commission for the legislative task force on government official privacy 
4.23 	protections established in section 3. This appropriation does not cancel, but is available 
4.24 	until January 15, 2027, or until the expiration of the task force, whichever occurs first. This 
4.25 	is a onetime appropriation.

4.26 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.

4.27 	Sec. 5. REVISOR INSTRUCTION.
 4.28 	(a) The revisor of statutes shall substitute the term "covered official" for "judicial official" 
4.29 	in Minnesota Statutes, sections 13.991, 480.40 to 480.50, and 609.476, as amended by Laws 
4.30 	2025, chapter 35, article 9, sections 6 and 10 to 13, when referring to those individuals 
5.1 	whose personal information is protected by those sections. The revisor shall also make 
5.2 	grammatical changes related to the changes in terms.
5.3 	(b) In Minnesota Statutes, the revisor of statutes shall renumber as chapter 10B the 
5.4 	personal information protection laws that are currently coded as Minnesota Statutes, sections 
5.5 	480.40 to 480.50, and shall appropriately revise any statutory cross-references consistent 
5.6 	with that recoding.