Minnesota State Laws on Optical Images

State Archivist:

Robert Horton

Minnesota Historical Society

345 Kellogg Blvd., West St. Paul MN 55102

651-215-5866 fax: 612-296-9961

Donald A. Gembeling, Div. Director

Dept. of Administration, Information Policy Office

Public Information Policy, Analysis Div.

320 Centennial Office Bldg., 658 Cedar St., St. Paul MN 55155

651-296-6733 fax: 612-296-5800

15.17 Official records.

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. 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. If a record is deemed to be of permanent or

archival value, any reproduction of the record must meet

archival standards specified by the Minnesota historical society

provided, however, that this section does not prohibit the use

of nonerasable optical imaging systems for the preservation of

archival records without the preservation of paper or microfilm

copies. 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, 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.

HIST: 1941 c 553 s 1-4; 1957 c 28 s 1,2; 1973 c 123 art 5 s 7;

1973 c 422 s 1; 1979 c 328 s 23; 1981 c 311 s 39; 1982 c 545 s

24; 1982 c 573 s 1; 1986 c 444; 1990 c 506 art 2 s 4; 1993 c 71

s 1

138.17 Government records; administration.

Subdivision 1. Destruction, preservation, reproduction

of records; prima facie evidence. (a) The attorney general,

legislative auditor in the case of state records, state auditor

in the case of local records, and director of the Minnesota

historical society, hereinafter director, shall constitute the

records disposition panel. The members of the panel shall have

power by majority vote to direct the destruction or sale for

salvage of government records determined to be no longer of any

value, or to direct the disposition by gift to the Minnesota

historical society or otherwise of government records determined

to be valuable for preservation. The records disposition panel

may by majority vote order any of those records to be reproduced

by photographic or other means, and order that photographic or

other reproductions be substituted for the originals of them.

It may direct the destruction or sale for salvage or other

disposition of the originals from which they were made.

Photographic or other reproductions shall for all purposes be

deemed the originals of the records reproduced when so ordered

by the records disposition panel, and shall be admissible as

evidence in all courts and in proceedings of every kind. A

facsimile, exemplified or certified copy of a photographic,

optical disk imaging, or other reproduction, or an enlargement

or reduction of it, shall have the same effect and weight as

evidence as would a certified or exemplified copy of the

original. The records disposition panel, by majority vote, may

direct the storage of government records, except as herein

provided, and direct the storage of photographic or other

reproductions. Photographic or other reproductions substituted

for original records shall be disposed of in accordance with the

procedures provided for the original records.

(b) For the purposes of this chapter:

(1) the term "government records" means state and local

records, including all cards, correspondence, discs, maps,

memoranda, microfilms, papers, photographs, recordings, reports,

tapes, writings, optical disks, and other data, information, or

documentary material, regardless of physical form or

characteristics, storage media or conditions of use, made or

received by an officer or agency of the state and an officer or

agency of a county, city, town, school district, municipal

subdivision or corporation or other public authority or

political entity within the state pursuant to state law or in

connection with the transaction of public business by an officer

or agency;

(2) the term "state record" means a record of a department,

office, officer, commission, commissioner, board or any other

agency, however styled or designated, of the executive branch of

state government; a record of the state legislature; a record of

any court, whether of statewide or local jurisdiction; and any

other record designated or treated as a state record under state

law;

(3) the term "local record" means a record of an agency of

a county, city, town, school district, municipal subdivision or

corporation or other public authority or political entity;

(4) the term "records" excludes data and information that

does not become part of an official transaction, library and

museum material made or acquired and kept solely for reference

or exhibit purposes, extra copies of documents kept only for

convenience of reference and stock of publications and processed

documents, and bonds, coupons, or other obligations or evidences

of indebtedness, the destruction or other disposition of which

is governed by other laws;

(5) the term "state archives" means those records preserved

or appropriate for preservation as evidence of the organization,

functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations or other

activities of government or because of the value of the

information contained in them, when determined to have

sufficient historical or other value to warrant continued

preservation by the state of Minnesota and accepted for

inclusion in the collections of the Minnesota historical society.

majority vote, the Minnesota historical society may acquire and

retain whatever they determine to be of potential historical

value.

Subd. 1a. Records inspection. Government records

which a state agency, political subdivision, or statewide system

lists on a records disposition application or records schedule,

or on which archival assistance or advice is requested, may be

inspected by state archives' employees if state archives gives

prior notice. Employees of the archives shall have access to

the records for the purpose of determining the historical or

other continuing value of the records, regardless of the

records' classification pursuant to chapter 13 or 270B.

Employees of the archives shall be liable to the penalties set

forth for improper disclosure by them of private, confidential,

nonpublic, or protected nonpublic data inspected for this

purpose.

Subd. 1b. Transfer process. After July 1, 1982, all

records deemed to be of continuing value and authorized for

transfer to the archives by the records disposition panel shall

be retained by the requesting agency or may be transferred to

the archives in accordance with subdivision 1, notwithstanding

the provisions of chapter 13. The responsible authority of the

state agency, political subdivision, or statewide system

transferring records to the archives shall notify the archivist

or a designee with regard to the records transferred of the

classification of the records pursuant to chapter 13.

Subd. 1c. Access to archives records. (a) All

records transferred to the archives shall be accessible to the

public unless the archives determines that the information:

(1) Was compiled for law enforcement purposes and

disclosure would (i) materially impair the effectiveness of an

ongoing investigation, criminal intelligence operation, or law

enforcement proceeding; (ii) identify a confidential informant;

(iii) reveal confidential investigative techniques or

procedures, including criminal intelligence activity; or (iv)

endanger the life of an individual;

(2) Is administrative or technical information, including

software, operating protocols, employee manuals, or other

information, the disclosure of which would jeopardize the

security of a record keeping system;

(3) Is proprietary information, including computer programs

and software and other types of information manufactured or

marketed by persons under exclusive legal right, owned by the

agency or entrusted to it;

(4) Contains trade secrets or confidential commercial and

financial information obtained, upon request, from a person;

(5) Is library, archival, or museum material contributed by

private persons to the extent of any lawful limitation imposed

upon the material; or

(6) Disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted

invasion of personal privacy. Disclosure of an individually

identifiable record does not constitute a clearly unwarranted

invasion of personal privacy if the public interest in

disclosure outweighs the privacy interest of the individual.

(b) The society may withhold access to state archives from

any person who willfully mutilates, damages, or defaces archival

records, or wrongfully removes them from state archives;

provided that the society shall notify the person of the

decision to withhold access, and the person may, within 30 days,

appeal the decision to the executive council of the society.

access is withheld pursuant to clause (a). The person may,

within 30 days of the day the notice is sent, appeal the

archivist's determination to the executive council of the

society. The executive council shall, within 30 days of the

filing of an appeal, issue a decision determining if the

archivist has correctly applied the standards of clause (a).

The decision of the executive council may be appealed to the

district court of Ramsey county.

Subd. 2. Repealed, 1971 c 529 s 15

Subd. 3. University; state agricultural society;

historical society. Laws 1971, chapter 529, sections 1 to 14

shall not apply to the public records of the University of

Minnesota, the Minnesota state agriculture society, or the

Minnesota historical society.

Subd. 4. State library. No public records of the

Minnesota state library shall be subject to the disposition or

orders provided by Laws 1971, chapter 529, except with the

consent of the state librarian.

Subd. 5. Supreme court. No public records of the

supreme court shall be subject to the disposition or orders

provided by Laws 1971, chapter 529, except with the consent of

the court.

Subd. 6. Archivist; equipment; supplies. The

Minnesota historical society shall employ a professional

archivist, who shall be known as the state archivist, and other

agents and personnel as are necessary to enable it to carry out

its duties and powers. The archivist shall be appointed by the

director of the society.

Subd. 7. Records management program. A records

management program for the application of efficient and

economical management methods to the creation, utilization,

maintenance, retention, preservation, and disposal of official

records shall be administered by the commissioner of

administration. The state records center which stores and

services state records not in state archives shall be

administered by the commissioner of administration. The

commissioner of administration is empowered to (1) establish

standards, procedures, and techniques for effective management

of government records, (2) make continuing surveys of paper work

operations, and (3) recommend improvements in current records

management practices including the use of space, equipment, and

supplies employed in creating, maintaining, preserving and

disposing of government records. It shall be the duty of the

head of each state agency and the governing body of each county,

municipality, and other subdivision of government to cooperate

with the commissioner in conducting surveys and to establish and

maintain an active, continuing program for the economical and

efficient management of the records of each agency, county,

municipality, or other subdivision of government. When

requested by the commissioner, public officials shall assist in

the preparation of an inclusive inventory of records in their

custody, to which shall be attached a schedule, approved by the

head of the governmental unit or agency having custody of the

records and the commissioner, establishing a time period for the

retention or disposal of each series of records. When the

schedule is unanimously approved by the records disposition

panel, the head of the governmental unit or agency having

custody of the records may dispose of the type of records listed

in the schedule at a time and in a manner prescribed in the

schedule for particular records which were created after the

approval. A list of records disposed of pursuant to this

subdivision shall be forwarded to the commissioner and the

archivist by the head of the governmental unit or agency. The

archivist shall maintain a list of all records destroyed.

Subd. 8. Emergency records preservation. In light

of the danger of nuclear or natural disaster, the commissioner

of administration shall establish and maintain a program for the

selection and preservation of public records considered

essential to the operation of government and to the protection

of the rights and interests of persons, and shall make or cause

to be made preservation duplicates or designate as preservation

duplicates existing copies of such essential public records.

Preservation duplicates shall be durable, accurate, complete,

and clear, and such duplicates reproduced by photographic or

other process which accurately reproduces and forms a durable

medium for so reproducing the original shall have the same force

and effect for all purposes as the original record whether the

original record is in existence or not. A transcript,

exemplification, or certified copy of such preservation

duplicate shall be deemed for all purposes to be a transcript,

exemplification, or certified copy of the original record. Such

preservation duplicates shall be preserved in the place and

manner of safekeeping prescribed by the commissioner.

Every county, municipality, or other subdivision of

government may institute a program for the preservation of

necessary documents essential to the continuity of government.

Such a program shall first be submitted to the commissioner for

approval or disapproval and no such program shall be instituted

until such approval is obtained.

Subd. 9. Optical disk standards. The records

disposition panel shall develop standards for storage of all

government records on optical disk by January 1, 1991.

Subd. 10. Optical image storage. (a) Any government

record, including a record with archival value, may be

transferred to and stored on a nonerasable optical imaging

system and retained only in that format, if the requirements of

this section are met.

(b) All documents preserved on nonerasable optical imaging

systems must meet standards for permanent records specified in

section 15.17, subdivision 1, and must be kept available for

retrieval so long as any law requires. Standards under section

15.17, subdivision 1, may not be inconsistent with efficient use

of optical imaging systems.

imaging system shall create and store a backup copy of the

record at a site other than the site where the original is

kept. The government entity shall retain the backup copy and

operable retrieval equipment so long as any law requires the

original to be retained. The backup copy required by this

paragraph must be preserved either (1) on a nonerasable optical

imaging system; or (2) by another reproduction method approved

by the records disposition panel.

(d) All contracts for the purchase of optical imaging

systems used pursuant to this chapter shall contain terms that

insure continued retrievability of the optically stored images

and conform to any guidelines that may be established by the

information policy office of the department of administration

for perpetuation of access to stored data.

HIST: 1947 c 547 s 5; 1961 c 175 s 3-8; 1963 c 695 s 2,3; 1971

c 529 s 4-10; 1973 c 32 s 2,3; 1973 c 123 art 5 s 7; 1974 c 184

s 8,9; 1976 c 324 s 22; 1978 c 717 s 2; 1981 c 311 s 39; 1982 c

545 s 24; 1982 c 573 s 3-8; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 365 s 18; 1990 c

506 art 2 s 17,18; 1991 c 291 art 21 s 4; 1991 c 345 art 1 s 77;

1993 c 71 s 2

600.135 Photographic copies of business and public

records.

Subdivision 1. Records; destruction, photographic

copies. If any business, institution, member of a profession

or calling, or any department or agency of government, in the

regular course of business or activity has kept or recorded any

memorandum, writing, entry, print, representation or combination

thereof, of any act, transaction, occurrence or event, and in

the regular course of business has caused any or all of the same

to be recorded, copied or reproduced by any photographic,

photostatic, microfilm, microcard, miniature photographic,

optical disk imaging, or other process which accurately

reproduces or forms a durable medium for so reproducing the

original, the original may be destroyed in the regular course of

business unless held in a custodial or fiduciary capacity or

unless its preservation is required by law. Such reproduction,

when satisfactorily identified, is as admissible in evidence as

the original itself in any judicial or administrative proceeding

whether the original is in existence or not and an enlargement

or facsimile of such reproduction is likewise admissible in

evidence if the original reproduction is in existence and

available for inspection under direction of court. The

introduction of a reproduced record, enlargement or facsimile,

does not preclude admission of the original.

Subd. 2. "In the regular course of business". The

phrase "in the regular course of business" as used in

subdivision 1 with reference to making reproductions of

originals not held in a custodial or fiduciary capacity nor

required by law to be preserved and also with reference to

destroying such originals shall be construed to include

reproducing at any time and destroying at any time,

respectively, if done in good faith and without intent to

defraud, and with reference to making reproductions of originals

held in a custodial or fiduciary capacity shall be construed to

mean reproducing at any time in good faith and without intent to

defraud and whether or not made with the intention of thereafter

destroying such originals. Neither the manner in which an

original is destroyed, whether voluntarily or by casualty or

otherwise, nor the fact that it was destroyed while it was held

in a custodial or fiduciary capacity shall affect the

admissibility of a reproduction. This subdivision shall not be

construed to exclude from evidence any document or copy thereof

which is otherwise admissible under the rules of evidence.

Subd. 3. Uniform. This section shall be so

interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose

of making uniform the law of those states which enact it.

Subd. 4. Citation. This section may be cited as the

uniform photographic copies of business and public records as

evidence act.

HIST: 1951 c 125 s 1-4; 1953 c 190 s 1; 1990 c 506 art 2 s 22

Back to the Law Page

Page last updated March 1, 1999 Conctact Webmaster