Public Data Requests

The Government Data Practices Act (Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13) presumes that all government data are public unless a state or federal law says the data are not public. Government data means all recorded information a government entity has, including paper, email, flash drives, CDs, DVDs, photographs, etc.

The Government Data Practices Act provides that Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) must keep all government data in a way that makes it easy for you to access public data. You have the right to inspect, free of charge, all public data that we keep. You also have the right to get copies of public data. The Government Data Practices Act allows the SBI to charge for copies. You have the right to look at data, free of charge, before deciding to request copies.

The Minnesota State Board of Investment may charge members of the public for copies of government data. Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 3(c) allows us to charge for copies.

The SBI does not charge for copies if the cost is less than $50.00.

If possible, and upon request, we will provide you with an estimation of the total cost of supplying copies.

An invoice will be sent to you outlining total copying costs. Copying costs must be paid before the data is sent to the requestor.

For 100 or fewer paper copies – 25 cents per page
100 or fewer pages of black and white, letter or legal size paper copies cost 25¢ for a one-sided copy, or 50¢ for a two-sided copy.

Most other types of copies – actual cost
The charge for most other types of copies, when a charge is not set by statute or rule, is the actual cost of searching for and retrieving the data, and making the copies or electronically sending the data.

In determining the actual cost of making copies, we include employee time, the cost of the materials onto which we are copying the data (paper, CD, DVD, flash drive, etc.), and mailing costs (if any). If your request is for copies of data that we cannot copy ourselves, such as photographs, we will charge you the actual cost we must pay an outside vendor for the copies.

Employees time to make copies is $30.00 per hour.

If, based on your request, we find it necessary for a higher-paid employee to search for and retrieve the data, we will calculate search and retrieval charges at the higher salary/wage.

Fees cannot be charged for separating public data from private, confidential, nonpublic, or protected nonpublic data.

To inspect public data or request copies of public data that the SBI keeps, make a written request to the SBI and submit your request using the Data Request Form. Using the Data Request Form is encouraged but not required. You may submit your written request via email, or mail.

Email Address for Submitting Requests: information.sbi@state.mn.us

Mailing Address for Submitting Requests: 60 Empire Drive, Suite 355, St. Paul, MN 55103.

If you do not use the data request form, your request should:

• Say that you are making a request for public data under the Government Data Practices Act (Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13).
   
• Include whether you would like to inspect the data, have copies of the data, or both.
   
• Provide a clear description of the data you would like to inspect or have copied.

You are not required to identify yourself or explain the reason for your data request. However, you may need to provide us with some personal information for practical reasons (for example: if you want us to mail copies to you, you need to provide us with an address or P.O Box). If we do not understand your request and have no way to contact you, we cannot respond to your request.

Upon receiving your request, we will review it.

• If the data you have requested is nonpublic, we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible and identify the law that prevents us from providing the data.
   
• If the data requested is public, we will respond to your request appropriately and promptly, within a reasonable amount of time by doing one of the following:
   
  • If your request is to inspect data, we will contact you to arrange a date, time, and place for you to inspect the data at our office. Appointments made to inspect data are scheduled between the hours of 9:00 am to 4:00 pm; based on staffing availability.
     
  • If your request is for copies of data, you will need to let us know if you wish to pick up the copies, or if you would want us to mail or email them to you, you will need to provide us with an address. We will provide electronic copies (such as email, CD-ROM, or flash drive) upon request, if we keep the data in electronic format.
     
  • Response time may be impacted by the size and/or complexity of your request, and also by the number of requests you make in a given period of time.
     
  • We will provide an invoice outlining fees to be charged. At times, an estimation of fees will be sent if it is determined that the amount could exceed $100. The SBI requires confirmation of fees exceeding $100.
     
  • Following our response, if you do not make arrangements within 10 business days to inspect the data or pay for the copies, we will conclude that you no longer want the data and will consider your request closed.
     
• If we don’t have the data we will notifying you in writing as soon as reasonably possible.

The Government Data Practices Act does not require us to create or collect new data in response to a data request, or to provide data in a specific form or arrangement if we do not keep the data in that form or arrangement. For example, if the data you request are on paper only, we are not required to create electronic documents to respond to your request. If we agree to create data in response to your request, we will work with you on the details of your request, including cost and response time.

We are also not required to respond to questions that are not about your data requests, or requests for government data.

Summary data are statistical records or reports that are created by removing identifying information about individuals from entirely private or confidential data. We will prepare summary data if you make your request in writing and pay us the cost of preparing the data. We may require prepayment of this cost. You may use the SBI’s Data Request Form to request summary data. We will respond to your request within ten business days with the data or details of when the data will be ready and how much we will charge you.