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1 <br /> <br />Responsible Authority, Designee, and Data Practices Compliance Official <br /> <br /> <br />The Data Practices Act (Chapter 13 of Minnesota Statutes) and Minnesota Rules, Chapter 1205, assign a number <br />of duties to government entities. The specific employees in the entity who have the authority and responsibility <br />for carrying out these duties are the: <br />• responsible authority (RA); <br />• designee (one or more); and <br />• data practices compliance official (DPCO). <br /> <br /> <br />Responsible Authority: Each entity must identify, designate or appoint one individual as its RA. The RA is <br />the person who ultimately is responsible for the collection, use, and dissemination of all entity data, and for all <br />of the entity’s data practices decisions. The RA also must make sure the entity complies with all of the <br />requirements of the Act and the Rules. Both the entity and the RA are liable for violations of Chapter 13. <br />(Minnesota Statutes, sections 13.02, subdivision 16; 13.05; Minnesota Rules 1205.0200, subparts 12-15, and <br />1205.0800-1500) <br /> <br />State agency: the RA is the commissioner, the chief executive officer, or an agency official appointed by the <br />agency’s governing body. (Minnesota Rules 1205.0200, subpart 13) <br /> <br />Constitutional officer: the constitutional officer is the RA for his/her office. (Minnesota Rules 1205.0200, <br />subpart 13) <br /> <br />County <br />• Elected official: the elected official is the RA for his/her office. (Minnesota Rules 1205.0200, subpart <br />14(A)) <br />• Data outside of offices of elected officials: the governing body must appoint a county employee to be the <br />RA. (Minnesota Rules 1205.0200, subpart 14(A)) <br />• County social services agency: the RA is the director of the agency. (Minnesota Statutes, section 13.46, <br />subdivision 10) <br /> <br />City or school district: The governing body must appoint a city or school district employee, respectively, to be <br />the RA. (Minnesota Rules 1205.0200, subparts 14(B) and (C)) <br /> <br />If your entity is not one described above, look to Minnesota Rules 1205 and Chapter 13 for guidance. <br /> <br /> <br />Designee: A designee is a person designated by RA to help administer and implement the requirements of <br />Chapter 13 and the Rules. The law specifically states that a designee is responsible for receiving and complying <br />with requests for government data, and for answering inquiries from the public concerning the provisions of <br />Chapter 13 or the Rules. The RA decides whether to appoint designees and how many are appointed. The RA <br />is not required to appoint designees. <br /> <br />The law defines the designee as a person who is in charge of and responsible for individual files or systems <br />containing government data. Often, an RA will appoint a division head – or the director of a unit within the <br />entity – as the designee for the data maintained by that division or unit. (Minnesota Statutes, section 13.02, <br />subdivision 6) <br /> <br /> <br />Data Practices Compliance Official: The RA must designate or appoint one employee to be the entity’s <br />DPCO. Instead of making this appointment, the responsible authority may choose to serve as the DPCO. The <br />DPCO receives and responds to questions or concerns about data practices problems, including problems in <br />obtaining access to data the entity keeps. (Minnesota Statutes, section 13.05, subdivision 13)