Minnesota Statutes

Minn. Stat. § 15.17 (2026)

Official Records

✓ current as of May 2026

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Subdivision 1.Must be kept.

All officers and agencies of the state, counties, cities, towns, school districts, municipal subdivisions or corporations, or other public authorities or political entities within the state, hereinafter "public officer," shall make and preserve all records necessary to a full and accurate knowledge of their official activities. Government records may be produced in the form of computerized records. All government records shall be made on a physical medium of a quality to insure permanent records. Every public officer is empowered to reproduce records if the records are not deemed to be of permanent or archival value by the commissioner of administration and the records disposition panel under section 138.17. The public officer is empowered to reproduce these records by any photographic, photostatic, microphotographic, optical disk imaging system, microfilming, or other reproduction method that clearly and accurately reproduces the records. Each public officer may order that those photographs, photostats, microphotographs, microfilms, optical images, or other reproductions, be substituted for the originals of them. The public officer may direct the destruction or sale for salvage or other disposition of the originals from which they were made, in accordance with the disposition requirements of section 138.17. Photographs, photostats, microphotographs, microfilms, optical images, or other reproductions are for all purposes deemed the original recording of the papers, books, documents, and records reproduced when so ordered by any public officer and are admissible as evidence in all courts and proceedings of every kind. A facsimile or exemplified or certified copy of a photograph, photostat, microphotograph, microfilm, optical image, or other reproduction, or an enlargement or reduction of it, has the same effect and weight as evidence as would a certified or exemplified copy of the original.

Subd. 2.Responsibility for records.

The chief administrative officer of each public agency shall be responsible for the preservation and care of the agency's government records, which shall include written or printed books, papers, letters, contracts, documents, maps, plans, computer-based data, and other records made or received pursuant to law or in connection with the transaction of public business. It shall be the duty of each agency, and of its chief administrative officer, to carefully protect and preserve government records from deterioration, mutilation, loss, or destruction. Records or record books may be repaired, renovated, or rebound when necessary to preserve them properly.

Subd. 3.Delivery to successor.

Every legal custodian of government records, at the expiration of that official's term of office or authority, or on the official's death a legal representative, shall deliver to a successor in office all government records in custody; and the successor shall receipt therefor to the predecessor or legal representative and shall file in the office a signed acknowledgment of the delivery. Every public officer shall demand from a predecessor in office, or the predecessor's legal representative, the delivery of all government records belonging to the office.

Subd. 4.Accessible to public.

Access to records containing government data is governed by sections 13.03 and 138.17.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 13 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1968–2023 · leading case: Westrom v. Minnesota Dep't of Labor & Indus., 686 N.W.2d 27 (Minn. 2004).

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Westrom v. Minnesota Dep't of Labor & Indus., 686 N.W.2d 27 (Minn. 2004). · cites it 8× “" Minn.Stat. § 15.17, subd. 1 (2002). Under subdivision 4 of section 15.”

Troy K. Scheffler v. City of Anoka, City of Coon Rapids, Hicken, Scott, Howard & Anderson, P. A., 890 N.W.2d 437 (Minn. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 6× “The MGDPA does not expose government attorneys to liability for their alleged failure to provide data under the MGDPA: Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter and section 15.17, the use, collection, storage, and dissemination of data by an attorney acting in a…”

Minnesota Med. Ass'n v. State, 274 N.W.2d 84 (Minn. 1978). · cites it 6× “"Public data on individuals" means "data which is accessible to the public in accordance with the provisions of section 15.17." Minn.St. 15.162, subd. 5b.”

Prior Lake Am. v. Mader, 642 N.W.2d 729 (Minn. 2002). · cites it 4× “" [4] The complaint also sought a declaration that respondents violated Minn.Stat. § 15.17, subd. 1 (2000), when they removed Schutz's objection to the meeting's closure from the minutes of the February 7, 2000, meeting, and an order requiring respondents to restore the record…”

Johnson v. Dirkswager, 315 N.W.2d 215 (Minn. 1982). · cites it 2× “Section 15.17, subd. 4 (1978). For violation of the Act, the responsible authority, such as the commissioner, could be liable for both civil and criminal penalties, as well as loss of his or her job.”

Kottschade v. Lundberg, 160 N.W.2d 135 (Minn. 1968). · cites it 4× “The statute involved differed *504 materially from § 15.17, so the statutory analysis is not helpful here, but the court went further, saying that at common law such notes did not constitute public records.”

Star Tribune v. Minnesota Twins P'ship, 659 N.W.2d 287 (Minn. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 2× “The statute states: Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter and section 15.17, the use, collection, storage, and dissemination of data by an attorney acting in a professional capacity for the state, a state agency or a political subdivision shall be governed by statutes,…”

Westrom v. Minnesota Dep't of Labor & Indus., 667 N.W.2d 148 (Minn. Ct. App. 2003). · cites it 3× “” Minn.Stat. § 15.17, subd. 1 (2002). Access to such records is governed in relevant part by Minn.”

Conant v. City of Hibbing, 131 F. Supp. 2d 1129 (D. Minnesota 2000). · cites it 8× “In our considered view, the technical violation of a record-keeping Statute, such as Section 15.17, fails to sustain a claim for emotional distress, which is intended to rectify the most abominable of human acts.”

Norlander v. Schleck, 345 F. Supp. 595 (D. Minnesota 1972). · cites it 2× “In default of such appearance or in case of unsatisfactory explanation, their names shall be excluded from the eligible list. 3 . Defendants’ claim to confidentiality is based upon Civil Service Rule 45B, quoted in note 2, supra, which in turn is claimed to make an exception to…”

William Findling v. Grp. Health Plan, Inc., d/b/a Health Partners & Regions Hosp., ... (Minn. 2023). · cites it 20× “2d at 504–05 (refusing to recognize a private right of action to enforce the Official Records Act, Minn. Stat. § 15.17 (2020), because the Legislature provided an alternative enforcement mechanism in Minn.”

Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. State, 163 N.W.2d 46 (Minn. 1968). · cites it 3× “” Section 15.17 provides, in part: “Subdivision 1.”

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— Minn. Stat. § 15.17(1) — 1 case

Conant v. City of Hibbing, 131 F. Supp. 2d 1129 (D. Minnesota 2000). “In our considered view, the technical violation of a record-keeping Statute, such as Section 15.17, fails to sustain a claim for emotional distress, which is intended to rectify the most abominable of human acts.”

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