Data on Domestic Abuse Act petitions
All data collected, created, received, or maintained by law enforcement agencies and courts under the Domestic Abuse Act is confidential until the temporary OFP is executed or served on the respondent/data subject. Minn. Stat. § 13.80.
Data Collected in Domestic Abuse Investigation
The report that is prepared as part of a domestic abuse investigation is private data. Victim impact statements are confidential. Minn. Stat. §§ 13.02, subd. 12; 13.871, subd. 3(b); and 609.2244.
Data Collected in Domestic Abuse Police Reports
Data that identifies a victim in a police report involving an allegation of domestic abuse is private data. Minn. Stat. § 629.341.
Protection of Petitioner’s Location or Residence
Upon the petitioner’s request in a Domestic Abuse Act proceeding, information maintained by the court regarding the petitioner’s location or residence is not accessible to the public. This information may be disclosed only to court personnel or law enforcement for purposes of service of process, conducting an investigation, or enforcing an order. Minn. Stat. § 518B.01, subd. 3b.
Data on Recipients of Emergency Shelter and Support Services
All data maintained by grantees of battered women emergency shelter and support services from which the identity of any battered woman can be determined is private data on individuals. Minn. Stat. §§ 13.871, subd. 5(c) and (d); and 611A.371.
Data Collection
The Commissioner of Corrections must, by rule, prescribe a uniform method for the collection of data on domestic abuse victims to document the incidence of assault on domestic abuse victims. All data collected by the commissioner under this procedure is summary data within the meaning of the Data Practices Act. Minn. Stat. §§ 13.02 and 611A.36.
Every local law enforcement agency must collect data related to domestic abuse victims in the form required by the commissioner and report this information to the commissioner, as the commissioner requires. Minn. Stat. § 611A.36.
Open Meeting Law
Meetings of governmental bodies that are normally open to the public must be closed when there is discussion of identifying data regarding victims and reporters of domestic abuse. Minn. Stat. § 13D.05.
This and any related posts have been adopted from the Minnesota House of Representatives Research Department’s Information Brief, Domestic Abuse Laws in Minnesota – An Overview, written by legislative analyst Judith Zollar.
This post is also part of a series of posts on Domestic Abuse in Minnesota.