Press/ON wins ruling that state-held gaming data is public information

(NAP/ON)  In a June 6 opinion regarding a request by this newspaper for Red Lake gaming records, the Minnesota Department of Administration ruled that tribal audits submitted to the state under tribal gaming compacts are public information subject to the state Data Practices Act.

Press/ON publisher Bill Lawrence filed his initial request to the Department of Public Safety for the Red Lake gaming audits on Feb. 26. Upon denial of his request by DPS, Lawrence appealed to the state administration department April 19, citing the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians v. Oregon that state records laws apply to information generated under state-tribal compacts unless the compact specifically stipulates to the contrary.

“Neither the Tribal-State Compacts nor Minnesota Statutes § 3.9221 precludes the release of Indian gambling audits,” Lawrence wrote. “The Red Lake Band’s gambling operations are reasonably a matter of public information—including the audits of the expenses and revenues generated by those operations.”

Commissioner David Fisher found that because Red Lake had not included explicit provisions in the compact requiring confidentiality of audits, it had not fulfilled one of the four requirements of Minnesota law for the withholding of business-related data held by the state government.

“The Band and the State did not agree to Compact language like the Oregon case that says proprietary data are protected, but instead agreed to a vague statement that the data are protected to the extent allowed by law. The failure to include such language indicates that the Band did not exert reasonable efforts to protect the data to the greatest extent possible,” wrote Fisher.

In the his submission to the Department of Administration, DPS Commissioner Charles Weaver contended the audit contained sensitive commercial information which could harm the tribe’s business interests if made public.

“The Red Lake Band of Chippewa’s audit is subject to compact non-disclosure terms, entitled to the Band’s nonpublic classification and includes accounting information which if known could undermine its independent economic values. Therefore, the data is nonpublic and should not be disclosed,” argued Weaver.

Although the state reluctantly complied with the ruling, Lawrence said the limited information released by the DPS raises questions about the extent to which the state is upholding its monitoring role outlined in the agreement. Although the state is authorized to request an audit at any time and to make suggestions for improvements in tribal audit procedures, Minnesota has obtained just one for Red Lake, in 1997.

Neither Weaver nor DPS’ director of  Alcohol & Gaming Enforcement Division Frank Ball could be reached for comment.