Minnesota gets an ‘F’ on freedom of government information

Minnesota and 37 other states got failing grades for their public-records laws from the Better Government Association (BGA), which scored states in five categories: response time, appeals, expedited review, fees and sanctions. Sluggish action on government-data requests sunk our state in the rankings (pdf), despite high marks for mercilessly punishing violators — an unusual combination.

Minnesota and Iowa were the only failing states to score a perfect 4 for “Sanctions.” (Nebraska, tied for best in the country with New Jersey, got the only other 4 in that category.

But Minnesota was among the worst states in the length of time it takes to respond to public-records requests under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA) and in its appeals process for dissatisfied citizens.

Maybe next time, if the BGA adds use of social media to its scoring system, Minnesota could get more points. Like any other 30-year old (pdf), the MGDPA recently started a Twitter account.