In Minnesota, a Ramsey County judge has ordered the city of St. Paul to pay a resident more than $30,000 in damages and $750 in court costs for violating Minnesota’s open records law, according to reporting from KSTP. 

The case stems from a public records request submitted by attorney and longtime resident Bob Cattanach, who sought information about the city’s planning process for the Summit Avenue bike trail. Cattanach said the city failed to turn over documents before key votes on the project and delayed responses for more than a year. 

In his ruling, Judge Patrick Diamond cited 14 separate violations of the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act and determined the city “took too long” to respond. The judge ordered the city to pay $2,000 per violation in what he described as exemplary damages. 

Legal experts say the penalty is uncommon. University of Minnesota media law professor Jane Kirtley told KSTP that courts rarely impose such fines unless the violation is particularly egregious.  

The city plans to appeal the ruling. 

Some states, such as Washington, provide for even greater penalties, such as its state patrol paying $750,000 and Western Washington University paying $111,000 last year for violating the public records law. The three students who prevailed in the WWU lawsuit donated $42,000 of their winnings to launch an endowment this month to help students investigate government.

Posted: June 17, 2025
Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner FOI Project, Brechner Freedom of Information Project, open records laws, public records