HF 1329

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to government data; amending Minnesota 
  1.3             Statutes 1998, section 13.03, subdivisions 3 and 5. 
  1.4   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.5      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 13.03, 
  1.6   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.7      Subd. 3.  [REQUEST FOR ACCESS TO DATA.] Upon request to a 
  1.8   responsible authority or designee, a person shall be permitted 
  1.9   to inspect and copy public government data at reasonable times 
  1.10  and places, and, upon request, shall be informed of the data's 
  1.11  meaning.  If a person requests access for the purpose of 
  1.12  inspection, the responsible authority may not assess a charge or 
  1.13  require the requesting person to pay a fee to inspect data.  For 
  1.14  purposes of this section, "inspection" includes but is not 
  1.15  limited to the visual inspection of paper and similar types of 
  1.16  government data.  In the case of data stored in electronic form 
  1.17  and available in an on-line format to personnel of the entity, 
  1.18  inspection includes on-line access to the data by the public and 
  1.19  the ability to print copies of or down load the data being 
  1.20  accessed.  Any communication and terminal costs of on-line 
  1.21  access for the purpose of inspection shall be borne by the 
  1.22  public.  The responsible authority or designee shall provide 
  1.23  copies of public data upon request.  If a person requests copies 
  1.24  or electronic transmittal of the data to the person, the 
  2.1   responsible authority may require the requesting person to 
  2.2   pay only the actual marginal costs of searching for and 
  2.3   retrieving government data, including the cost of employee time, 
  2.4   and for making, certifying, compiling, and electronically 
  2.5   transmitting the copies of the data or the data, unless a 
  2.6   statute clearly authorizes assessment of any additional fee, but 
  2.7   may not charge for separating public from not public data.  For 
  2.8   purposes of this section, "marginal cost" means only the actual 
  2.9   cost of making the copies themselves excluding any costs 
  2.10  associated with labor, overhead, or development costs.  If the 
  2.11  responsible authority or designee is not able to provide copies 
  2.12  at the time a request is made, copies shall be supplied as soon 
  2.13  as reasonably possible. 
  2.14     When a request under this subdivision involves any person's 
  2.15  receipt of copies of public government data that has commercial 
  2.16  value and is a substantial and discrete portion of or an entire 
  2.17  formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, 
  2.18  technique, process, database, or system developed with a 
  2.19  significant expenditure of public funds by the agency, the 
  2.20  responsible authority may charge a reasonable fee for the 
  2.21  information in addition to the costs of making, certifying, and 
  2.22  compiling the copies.  Any fee charged must be clearly 
  2.23  demonstrated by the agency to relate to the actual development 
  2.24  costs of the information.  The responsible authority, upon the 
  2.25  request of any person, shall provide sufficient documentation to 
  2.26  explain and justify the fee being charged.  The responsible 
  2.27  authority of a state agency, political subdivision, or statewide 
  2.28  system, which maintains public government data in a computer 
  2.29  storage medium, shall provide to any person making a request 
  2.30  under this section, a copy of any public data contained in that 
  2.31  medium, in electronic form, if the government agency can 
  2.32  reasonably make the copy or have a copy made.  The agency may 
  2.33  require the requesting person to pay the marginal cost of 
  2.34  providing the copy. 
  2.35     If the responsible authority or designee determines that 
  2.36  the requested data is classified so as to deny the requesting 
  3.1   person access, the responsible authority or designee shall 
  3.2   inform the requesting person of the determination either orally 
  3.3   at the time of the request, or in writing as soon after that 
  3.4   time as possible, and shall cite the specific statutory section, 
  3.5   temporary classification, or specific provision of federal law 
  3.6   on which the determination is based.  Upon the request of any 
  3.7   person denied access to data, the responsible authority or 
  3.8   designee shall certify in writing that the request has been 
  3.9   denied and cite the specific statutory section, temporary 
  3.10  classification, or specific provision of federal law upon which 
  3.11  the denial was based.  
  3.12     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 13.03, 
  3.13  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  3.14     Subd. 5.  [COPYRIGHT OR PATENT OF COMPUTER PROGRAM OF 
  3.15  GOVERNMENT DATA.] Nothing in this chapter or any other statute 
  3.16  shall be construed to prevent A state agency, statewide system, 
  3.17  or political subdivision from acquiring may acquire a copyright 
  3.18  or patent for a computer software program or components of a 
  3.19  program created by that government agency.  In the event that a 
  3.20  government agency does acquire a patent or copyright to a 
  3.21  computer software program or component of a program, the data 
  3.22  shall be treated as trade secret information pursuant to section 
  3.23  13.37.  No state agency, political subdivision, or statewide 
  3.24  system shall copyright any other type of government data unless 
  3.25  the state agency, political subdivision, or statewide system has 
  3.26  obtained legislative approval for the copyright.