HF 1143

1st Engrossment - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to data privacy; classifying certain
investigative and licensing data; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2004, sections 13.3805, by adding a
subdivision; 13.46, subdivision 4.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 13.3805, is
amended by adding a subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Office of health facility complaints;
investigative data. new text end

new text begin Except for investigative data under section
626.556, all investigative data maintained by the Department of
Health's Office of Health Facility Complaints are subject to
provisions of and classified pursuant to section 626.557,
subdivision 12b, paragraphs (b) to (d). Notwithstanding
sections 626.556, subdivision 11, and 626.557, subdivision 12b,
paragraph (b), data identifying an individual substantiated as
the perpetrator are public data. For purposes of this
subdivision, an individual is substantiated as the perpetrator
if the commissioner of health determines that the individual is
the perpetrator and the determination of the commissioner is
upheld after the individual either exercises applicable
administrative appeal rights or fails to exercise these rights
within the time allowed by law.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 13.46,
subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Licensing data.

(a) As used in this subdivision:

(1) "licensing data" means all data collected, maintained,
used, or disseminated by the welfare system pertaining to
persons licensed or registered or who apply for licensure or
registration or who formerly were licensed or registered under
the authority of the commissioner of human services;

(2) "client" means a person who is receiving services from
a licensee or from an applicant for licensure; and

(3) "personal and personal financial data" means Social
Security numbers, identity of and letters of reference,
insurance information, reports from the Bureau of Criminal
Apprehension, health examination reports, and social/home
studies.

(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (c), the following
data on current and former licensees are public: name, address,
telephone number of licensees, date of receipt of a completed
application, dates of licensure, licensed capacity, type of
client preferred, variances granted, type of dwelling, name and
relationship of other family members, previous license history,
class of license, and the existence and status of complaints.
When a correction order or fine has been issued, a license is
suspended, immediately suspended, revoked, denied, or made
conditional, or a complaint is resolved, the following data on
current and former licensees are public: the substance and
investigative findings of the new text begin licensing or maltreatment
new text end complaint deleted text begin , licensing violation, or substantiated maltreatment deleted text end ;
the record of informal resolution of a licensing violation;
orders of hearing; findings of fact; conclusions of law;
specifications of the final correction order, fine, suspension,
immediate suspension, revocation, denial, or conditional license
contained in the record of licensing action; and the status of
any appeal of these actions. new text begin Notwithstanding sections 626.556,
subdivision 11, and 626.557, subdivision 12b, new text end when an individual
deleted text begin licensee deleted text end is a substantiated perpetrator of maltreatment deleted text begin , and the
substantiated maltreatment is a reason for the licensing
action deleted text end new text begin in a program licensed under chapter 245A new text end , the identity of
the deleted text begin licensee as a deleted text end perpetrator is public data. For purposes of
this clause, a person is a substantiated perpetrator if the
maltreatment determination has been upheld under section
626.556, subdivision 10i, 626.557, subdivision 9d, or
256.045, new text begin or chapter 14, new text end or an individual or facility has not
timely exercised appeal rights under these sections.

(2) For applicants who withdraw their application prior to
licensure or denial of a license, the following data are
public: the name of the applicant, the city and county in which
the applicant was seeking licensure, the dates of the
commissioner's receipt of the initial application and completed
application, the type of license sought, and the date of
withdrawal of the application.

(3) For applicants who are denied a license, the following
data are public: the name of the applicant, the city and county
in which the applicant was seeking licensure, the dates of the
commissioner's receipt of the initial application and completed
application, the type of license sought, the date of denial of
the application, the nature of the basis for the denial, and the
status of any appeal of the denial.

(4) The following data on persons subject to
disqualification under section 245C.14 in connection with a
license to provide family day care for children, child care
center services, foster care for children in the provider's
home, or foster care or day care services for adults in the
provider's home, are public: the nature of any disqualification
set aside under section 245C.22, subdivisions 2 and 4, and the
reasons for setting aside the disqualification; and the reasons
for granting any variance under section 245A.04, subdivision 9.

(5) When maltreatment is substantiated under section
626.556 or 626.557 and the victim and the substantiated
perpetrator are affiliated with a program licensed under chapter
245A, the commissioner of human services, local social services
agency, or county welfare agency may inform the license holder
where the maltreatment occurred of the identity of the
substantiated perpetrator and the victim.

(c) The following are private data on individuals under
section 13.02, subdivision 12, or nonpublic data under section
13.02, subdivision 9: personal and personal financial data on
family day care program and family foster care program
applicants and licensees and their family members who provide
services under the license.

(d) The following are private data on individuals: the
identity of persons who have made reports concerning licensees
or applicants that appear in inactive investigative data, and
the records of clients or employees of the licensee or applicant
for licensure whose records are received by the licensing agency
for purposes of review or in anticipation of a contested
matter. The names of reporters under sections 626.556 and
626.557 may be disclosed only as provided in section 626.556,
subdivision 11, or 626.557, subdivision 12b.

(e) Data classified as private, confidential, nonpublic, or
protected nonpublic under this subdivision become public data if
submitted to a court or administrative law judge as part of a
disciplinary proceeding in which there is a public hearing
concerning a license which has been suspended, immediately
suspended, revoked, or denied.

(f) Data generated in the course of licensing
investigations that relate to an alleged violation of law are
investigative data under subdivision 3.

(g) Data that are not public data collected, maintained,
used, or disseminated under this subdivision that relate to or
are derived from a report as defined in section 626.556,
subdivision 2, or 626.5572, subdivision 18, are subject to the
destruction provisions of sections 626.556, subdivision 11c, and
626.557, subdivision 12b.

(h) Upon request, not public data collected, maintained,
used, or disseminated under this subdivision that relate to or
are derived from a report of substantiated maltreatment as
defined in section 626.556 or 626.557 may be exchanged with the
Department of Health for purposes of completing background
studies pursuant to section 144.057 and with the Department of
Corrections for purposes of completing background studies
pursuant to section 241.021.

(i) Data on individuals collected according to licensing
activities under chapters 245A and 245C, and data on individuals
collected by the commissioner of human services according to
maltreatment investigations under sections 626.556 and 626.557,
may be shared with the Department of Human Rights, the
Department of Health, the Department of Corrections, the
Ombudsman for Mental Health and Retardation, and the
individual's professional regulatory board when there is reason
to believe that laws or standards under the jurisdiction of
those agencies may have been violated.

(j) In addition to the notice of determinations required
under section 626.556, subdivision 10f, if the commissioner or
the local social services agency has determined that an
individual is a substantiated perpetrator of maltreatment of a
child based on sexual abuse, as defined in section 626.556,
subdivision 2, and the commissioner or local social services
agency knows that the individual is a person responsible for a
child's care in another facility, the commissioner or local
social services agency shall notify the head of that facility of
this determination. The notification must include an
explanation of the individual's available appeal rights and the
status of any appeal. If a notice is given under this
paragraph, the government entity making the notification shall
provide a copy of the notice to the individual who is the
subject of the notice.