MnIndy requests four days’ worth of governor’s emails

Gov. Tim Pawlenty says his e-mails are off-limits to government data requests from citizens and the press. Four months ago in the Sunshine State, Gov. Charlie Crist, R-Fla., gave a Florida blogger four days’ worth of his e-mails. MnIndy has requested—in writing, not by email, in accordance with the governor’s rules—that Pawlenty match his GOP veepstakes rival Crist by supplying e-mails from the first four days of this work week. Or do Florida citizens enjoy more government sunshine than Minnesotans, along with the other kind of sunshine?

Here is the text of the request. Check back at MnIndy to see how the governor responds.

I request, under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, all of Gov. Pawlenty’s electronic mail (e-mail) communications dated Monday, July 21, 2008, through Thursday, July 24, 2008.

By e-mail communications I mean all such messages sent to, received by, or addressed to Gov. Pawlenty, as well as all e-mails from Gov. Pawlenty. I request the e-mails in their current format — that is, if they exist in an electronic format, I request them in an electronic format.

I have been advised that under Minnesota law a request for public access mandates that the public agency retain the data in question regardless of any retention schedule, and I remind you that the state’s data practices act requires that you respond to this request promptly. Thank you.

See previous MnIndy posts on the governor and his e-mails:

What we don’t know can’t hurt him: Tim Pawlenty’s adventures in closed government

Supreme Court case behind Pawlenty’s information policy is a ‘legal antique’

Sunshine Review shines light on governors’ e-mail records