Open government
We are a transparent and inclusive organization that is accountable to its residents. We work hard to be efficient and effective at providing the services and information you have a right to.
Counties perform hundreds of services, including record keeping, property assessment, road construction and maintenance, election administration, child welfare, public health, economic development, planning and zoning, and libraries, to name just a few.
To help determine how effective our efforts are, Hennepin County is taking part in a program sponsored by the state’s Council on Local Results and Innovation. This program established a set of performance measures that residents can use to see how effective counties are in providing key services.
Hennepin County tracks 13 performance measures in 10 different categories.
The Minnesota Government Data Practices Act defines “government data” as all data collected, created, received, maintained, or disseminated by any government entity regardless of its physical form, storage media, or conditions of use.
All government data is presumed to be public unless another state or federal law specifies it is not public data.
How to request data
Request data using Hennepin County’s online data request portal.
To make a request without using the data request portal, visit Submit a data request without using the data request portal.
Requesting private data on an individual
If you are requesting private data on yourself or your minor child, you will be required to provide reasonable identification to demonstrate your right to access the data.
To request private data on another person, please download, complete, and submit the consent for release of private data form with your data request.
Important: The consent form must be signed by the subject of the data.
Requesting summary data
Summary data are records or reports that do not include private or confidential data about individuals.
To request summary data, you must make your request using Hennepin County’s online data request portal.
State law allows the county to charge for the cost of creating summary data.
If you make a request for summary data, you will be informed of how much it will cost to create the data and an estimated timeline for producing the data.
The county is not required to produce the summary data if you do not pay for it.
Charging for data
State law allows the county to charge for access to data. The county will charge for data requests that exceed $50.00, including cumulative requests from a single requester/entity within 30 days, except when specific formats are required to produce your data.
You will be notified of any costs related to your data request.
For large requests, you may be asked to make half the payment prior to the county processing your request. Full payment is required prior to the data being released.
If you do not want to pay for the data, you can view the data at no charge.
If you would like to schedule a time to come in a view the responsive data during business hours, you can notify us of that in your request.
When you are not the subject of the data, the county can charge for:
- The time an employee spends identifying and compiling responsive data,
- The cost providing the data (e.g., electronically, US mail, USB, etc.), and
- The cost of providing physical copies of the data, if physical copies are requested.
When you are the subject of the data, the county can charge for:
- The actual cost of copying the responsive data.
What to expect when you make a data practices request
The county will begin to process your request when it receives it. If it is determined that your data request will exceed $50, you will be notified.
You can then determine if you want to pay for the cost of the data, view the data at no charge, or cancel your request for data.
Note that the initial cost is an estimate, and the final cost may change. You will be notified of the final cost and be expected to pay for the data, prior to it being released to you.
The county will:
- Notify you if data does not exist.
- Provide you with the legal citation for not releasing data to you.
- In general, provide you with electronic copies in a PDF format.
- If requested, explain technical terms, abbreviations, or acronyms found in the data to you.
- In situations in which there is a large volume of data, work with you to determine a process for a rolling production.
- If you choose to view data or pick up the data, work with you to schedule a time to view or pick up the data during business hours.
State law does not require the county to:
- Create or collect new data in response to a data request.
- Answer questions submitted as a data request.
- Provide data in a specific format or arrangement if the data does not exist in that format or arrangement. For example, if data exists only as a PowerPoint, the county is not required to produce it as a Word document.
Contacts
Hennepin County responsible authority and data practices compliance official
Kristi Lahti-Johnson
Hennepin County – Compliance
612-348-4307
Lucie Passus, responsible authority designee
Hennepin County – Compliance
612-596-8495
hcdatarequest@hennepin.us
Hennepin County Attorney's Office requests
Glenn Burt, responsible authority designee
612-348-6592
citizeninfo@hennepin.us
Human Services Department requests
Jesse Winsell, Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer
612-310-5359
jesse.winsell@hennepin.us
Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office requests
Captain Spencer Bakke, responsible authority designee
612-348-8988
sheriffsofficedatare@hennepin.us
Requests for Human Services and Public Health data to conduct research
Researchers must get approval to use, obtain, or access Human Services and Public Health Department data before conducting these types of research studies. Learn more about HSPH data requests.