2006 Minnesota Statutes

13.82 COMPREHENSIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT DATA.
    Subdivision 1. Application. This section shall apply to agencies which carry on a law
enforcement function, including but not limited to municipal police departments, county sheriff
departments, fire departments, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Minnesota State
Patrol, the Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training, the Department of Commerce, and
the program integrity section of, and county human service agency client and provider fraud
prevention and control units operated or supervised by the Department of Human Services.
    Subd. 2. Arrest data. The following data created or collected by law enforcement agencies
which documents any actions taken by them to cite, arrest, incarcerate or otherwise substantially
deprive an adult individual of liberty shall be public at all times in the originating agency:
(a) time, date and place of the action;
(b) any resistance encountered by the agency;
(c) any pursuit engaged in by the agency;
(d) whether any weapons were used by the agency or other individual;
(e) the charge, arrest or search warrants, or other legal basis for the action;
(f) the identities of the agencies, units within the agencies and individual persons taking
the action;
(g) whether and where the individual is being held in custody or is being incarcerated by
the agency;
(h) the date, time and legal basis for any transfer of custody and the identity of the agency or
person who received custody;
(i) the date, time and legal basis for any release from custody or incarceration;
(j) the name, age, sex and last known address of an adult person or the age and sex of any
juvenile person cited, arrested, incarcerated or otherwise substantially deprived of liberty;
(k) whether the agency employed wiretaps or other eavesdropping techniques, unless the
release of this specific data would jeopardize an ongoing investigation;
(l) the manner in which the agencies received the information that led to the arrest and the
names of individuals who supplied the information unless the identities of those individuals
qualify for protection under subdivision 17; and
(m) response or incident report number.
    Subd. 3. Request for service data. The following data created or collected by law
enforcement agencies which documents requests by the public for law enforcement services shall
be public government data:
(a) the nature of the request or the activity complained of;
(b) the name and address of the individual making the request unless the identity of the
individual qualifies for protection under subdivision 17;
(c) the time and date of the request or complaint; and
(d) the response initiated and the response or incident report number.
    Subd. 4. Audio recording of 911 call. The audio recording of a call placed to a 911 system
for the purpose of requesting service from a law enforcement, fire, or medical agency is private
data on individuals with respect to the individual making the call, except that a written transcript
of the audio recording is public, unless it reveals the identity of an individual otherwise protected
under subdivision 17. A transcript shall be prepared upon request. The person requesting the
transcript shall pay the actual cost of transcribing the call, in addition to any other applicable costs
provided under section 13.03, subdivision 3. The audio recording may be disseminated to law
enforcement agencies for investigative purposes. The audio recording may be used for public
safety and emergency medical services training purposes.
    Subd. 5. Domestic abuse data. The written police report required by section 629.341,
subdivision 4 , of an alleged incident described in section 629.341, subdivision 1, and arrest data,
request for service data, and response or incident data described in subdivision 2, 3, or 6 that arise
out of this type of incident or out of an alleged violation of an order for protection must be released
upon request at no cost to the victim of domestic abuse, the victim's attorney, or an organization
designated by the Minnesota Center for Crime Victims Services, the Department of Corrections, or
the Department of Public Safety as providing services to victims of domestic abuse. The executive
director or the commissioner of the appropriate state agency shall develop written criteria for this
designation in consultation with the Advisory Council on Battered Women and Domestic Abuse.
    Subd. 6. Response or incident data. The following data created or collected by law
enforcement agencies which documents the agency's response to a request for service including,
but not limited to, responses to traffic accidents, or which describes actions taken by the agency
on its own initiative shall be public government data:
(a) date, time and place of the action;
(b) agencies, units of agencies and individual agency personnel participating in the action
unless the identities of agency personnel qualify for protection under subdivision 17;
(c) any resistance encountered by the agency;
(d) any pursuit engaged in by the agency;
(e) whether any weapons were used by the agency or other individuals;
(f) a brief factual reconstruction of events associated with the action;
(g) names and addresses of witnesses to the agency action or the incident unless the identity
of any witness qualifies for protection under subdivision 17;
(h) names and addresses of any victims or casualties unless the identities of those individuals
qualify for protection under subdivision 17;
(i) the name and location of the health care facility to which victims or casualties were taken;
(j) response or incident report number;
(k) dates of birth of the parties involved in a traffic accident;
(l) whether the parties involved were wearing seat belts; and
(m) the alcohol concentration of each driver.
    Subd. 7. Criminal investigative data. Except for the data defined in subdivisions 2, 3, and
6, investigative data collected or created by a law enforcement agency in order to prepare a case
against a person, whether known or unknown, for the commission of a crime or other offense for
which the agency has primary investigative responsibility is confidential or protected nonpublic
while the investigation is active. Inactive investigative data is public unless the release of the
data would jeopardize another ongoing investigation or would reveal the identity of individuals
protected under subdivision 17. Photographs which are part of inactive investigative files and
which are clearly offensive to common sensibilities are classified as private or nonpublic data,
provided that the existence of the photographs shall be disclosed to any person requesting access
to the inactive investigative file. An investigation becomes inactive upon the occurrence of any of
the following events:
(a) a decision by the agency or appropriate prosecutorial authority not to pursue the case;
(b) expiration of the time to bring a charge or file a complaint under the applicable statute of
limitations, or 30 years after the commission of the offense, whichever comes earliest; or
(c) exhaustion of or expiration of all rights of appeal by a person convicted on the basis of
the investigative data.
Any investigative data presented as evidence in court shall be public. Data determined to be
inactive under clause (a) may become active if the agency or appropriate prosecutorial authority
decides to renew the investigation.
During the time when an investigation is active, any person may bring an action in the
district court located in the county where the data is being maintained to authorize disclosure
of investigative data. The court may order that all or part of the data relating to a particular
investigation be released to the public or to the person bringing the action. In making the
determination as to whether investigative data shall be disclosed, the court shall consider whether
the benefit to the person bringing the action or to the public outweighs any harm to the public,
to the agency or to any person identified in the data. The data in dispute shall be examined by
the court in camera.
    Subd. 8. Child abuse identity data. Active or inactive investigative data that identify a
victim of child abuse or neglect reported under section 626.556 are private data on individuals.
Active or inactive investigative data that identify a reporter of child abuse or neglect under section
626.556 are confidential data on individuals, unless the subject of the report compels disclosure
under section 626.556, subdivision 11.
    Subd. 9. Inactive child abuse data. Investigative data that become inactive under
subdivision 7, clause (a) or (b), and that relate to the alleged abuse or neglect of a child by a person
responsible for the child's care, as defined in section 626.556, subdivision 2, are private data.
    Subd. 10. Vulnerable adult identity data. Active or inactive investigative data that identify
a victim of vulnerable adult maltreatment under section 626.557 are private data on individuals.
Active or inactive investigative data that identify a reporter of vulnerable adult maltreatment
under section 626.557 are private data on individuals.
    Subd. 11. Inactive vulnerable adult maltreatment data. Investigative data that becomes
inactive under subdivision 7, paragraph (a) or (b), and that relate to the alleged maltreatment of a
vulnerable adult by a caregiver or facility are private data on individuals.
    Subd. 12. Name change data. Data on court records relating to name changes under
section 259.10, subdivision 2, which is held by a law enforcement agency is confidential data
on an individual while an investigation is active and is private data on an individual when the
investigation becomes inactive.
    Subd. 13. Access to data for crime victims. On receipt of a written request, the prosecuting
authority shall release investigative data collected by a law enforcement agency to the victim of a
criminal act or alleged criminal act or to the victim's legal representative unless the release to
the individual subject of the data would be prohibited under section 13.821 or the prosecuting
authority reasonably believes:
(a) that the release of that data will interfere with the investigation; or
(b) that the request is prompted by a desire on the part of the requester to engage in unlawful
activities.
    Subd. 14. Withholding public data. A law enforcement agency may temporarily withhold
response or incident data from public access if the agency reasonably believes that public access
would be likely to endanger the physical safety of an individual or cause a perpetrator to flee,
evade detection or destroy evidence. In such instances, the agency shall, upon the request of any
person, provide a statement which explains the necessity for its action. Any person may apply to a
district court for an order requiring the agency to release the data being withheld. If the court
determines that the agency's action is not reasonable, it shall order the release of the data and may
award costs and attorney's fees to the person who sought the order. The data in dispute shall be
examined by the court in camera.
    Subd. 15. Public benefit data. Any law enforcement agency may make any data classified
as confidential or protected nonpublic pursuant to subdivision 7 accessible to any person, agency,
or the public if the agency determines that the access will aid the law enforcement process,
promote public safety, or dispel widespread rumor or unrest.
    Subd. 16. Public access. When data is classified as public under this section, a law
enforcement agency shall not be required to make the actual physical data available to the public
if it is not administratively feasible to segregate the public data from the not public. However,
the agency must make the information described as public data available to the public in a
reasonable manner. When investigative data becomes inactive, as described in subdivision 7,
the actual physical data associated with that investigation, including the public data, shall be
available for public access.
    Subd. 17. Protection of identities. A law enforcement agency or a law enforcement
dispatching agency working under direction of a law enforcement agency shall withhold public
access to data on individuals to protect the identity of individuals in the following circumstances:
(a) when access to the data would reveal the identity of an undercover law enforcement
officer, as provided in section 13.43, subdivision 5;
(b) when access to the data would reveal the identity of a victim or alleged victim of criminal
sexual conduct or of a violation of section 617.246, subdivision 2;
(c) when access to the data would reveal the identity of a paid or unpaid informant being used
by the agency if the agency reasonably determines that revealing the identity of the informant
would threaten the personal safety of the informant;
(d) when access to the data would reveal the identity of a victim of or witness to a crime
if the victim or witness specifically requests not to be identified publicly, unless the agency
reasonably determines that revealing the identity of the victim or witness would not threaten the
personal safety or property of the individual;
(e) when access to the data would reveal the identity of a deceased person whose body was
unlawfully removed from a cemetery in which it was interred;
(f) when access to the data would reveal the identity of a person who placed a call to a 911
system or the identity or telephone number of a service subscriber whose phone is used to place a
call to the 911 system and: (1) the agency determines that revealing the identity may threaten
the personal safety or property of any person; or (2) the object of the call is to receive help in a
mental health emergency. For the purposes of this paragraph, a voice recording of a call placed to
the 911 system is deemed to reveal the identity of the caller;
(g) when access to the data would reveal the identity of a juvenile witness and the agency
reasonably determines that the subject matter of the investigation justifies protecting the identity
of the witness; or
(h) when access to the data would reveal the identity of a mandated reporter under section
609.456, 626.556, or 626.557.
Data concerning individuals whose identities are protected by this subdivision are private
data about those individuals. Law enforcement agencies shall establish procedures to acquire the
data and make the decisions necessary to protect the identity of individuals described in clauses
(c), (d), (f), and (g).
    Subd. 18. Data retention. Nothing in this section shall require law enforcement agencies to
create, collect or maintain data which is not required to be created, collected or maintained by
any other applicable rule or statute.
    Subd. 19. Data in arrest warrant indices. Data in arrest warrant indices are classified as
confidential data until the defendant has been taken into custody, served with a warrant, or appears
before the court, except when the law enforcement agency determines that the public purpose
is served by making the information public.
    Subd. 20. Property data. Data that uniquely describe stolen, lost, confiscated, or recovered
property are classified as either private data on individuals or nonpublic data depending on the
content of the not public data.
    Subd. 21. Reward program data. To the extent that the release of program data would
reveal the identity of an informant or adversely affect the integrity of the fund, financial records of
a program that pays rewards to informants are protected nonpublic data in the case of data not on
individuals or confidential data in the case of data on individuals.
    Subd. 22. Data on registered criminal offenders. Data described in section 243.166 shall
be classified as described in that section.
    Subd. 23. Data in missing children bulletins. Data described in section 299C.54 shall be
classified as described in that section.
    Subd. 24. Exchanges of information. Nothing in this chapter prohibits the exchange of
information by law enforcement agencies provided the exchanged information is pertinent and
necessary to the requesting agency in initiating, furthering, or completing an investigation, except
not public personnel data.
    Subd. 25. Deliberative processes. Data that reflect deliberative processes or investigative
techniques of law enforcement agencies are confidential data on individuals or protected
nonpublic data; provided that information, reports, or memoranda that have been adopted as the
final opinion or justification for a decision of a law enforcement agency are public data.
    Subd. 26. Booking photographs. (a) For purposes of this subdivision, "booking photograph"
means a photograph or electronically produced image taken by law enforcement for identification
purposes in connection with the arrest of a person.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, a booking photograph is public data. A
law enforcement agency may temporarily withhold access to a booking photograph if the agency
determines that access will adversely affect an active investigation.
    Subd. 27. Pawnshop data. Data that would reveal the identity of persons who are customers
of a licensed pawnbroker or secondhand goods dealer are private data on individuals. Data
describing the property in a regulated transaction with a licensed pawnbroker or secondhand
goods dealer are public.
    Subd. 28. Disclosure of predatory offender registrant status. Law enforcement agency
disclosure to health facilities of the registrant status of a registered predatory offender is governed
by section 244.052.
    Subd. 29. Juvenile offender photographs. Notwithstanding section 260B.171, chapter
609A, or other law to the contrary, photographs or electronically produced images of children
adjudicated delinquent under chapter 260B shall not be expunged from law enforcement records
or databases.
History: 1979 c 328 s 21; 1981 c 311 s 36,39; 1982 c 545 s 24; 1982 c 558 s 1; 1984 c 552 s
2; 1985 c 298 s 30-36; 1986 c 444; 1988 c 625 s 1; 1989 c 177 s 1; 1989 c 351 s 12,13; 1990 c
402 s 1; 1991 c 285 s 1,2; 1991 c 319 s 9,10; 1993 c 351 s 16-18; 1994 c 618 art 1 s 14,15; 1994
c 636 art 4 s 3; 1995 c 229 art 3 s 1-3; 1995 c 231 art 2 s 2; 1995 c 259 art 1 s 19-23; art 4 s
3; 1996 c 440 art 1 s 16,17; 1997 c 85 art 5 s 1; 1998 c 371 s 4; 1999 c 227 s 22; 2000 c 445
art 2 s 1; 2002 c 352 s 7; 2004 c 269 art 1 s 1; 2004 c 290 s 16; 2005 c 136 art 3 s 1; 2005 c
163 s 49,50; 2006 c 260 art 3 s 2