Purpose

The bill expands who is considered a “judicial official” and updates privacy-related definitions in Minnesota law. Specifically, it designates unemployment insurance judges and paid leave judges as judicial officials and amends Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement section 480.40 subdivision 1. The change aims to clarify who is covered by related protections and data definitions.

Main provisions

• Designation of judicial officials
  • Adds unemployment insurance judges and paid leave judges to the list of judicial officials.
  • Includes in the definition all district court judges, senior judges, retired judges, judges of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and current or retired federal judges who reside in Minnesota.
  • Covers current and retired justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court, employees of the Minnesota judicial branch, and judicial referees and magistrate judges.
  • Broadens the category to include current and retired judges and current employees of the Office of Administrative Hearings, specifically the Unemployment Insurance and Paid Leave divisions, as well as employees and divisions within the Department of Human Services Appeals, the Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals, and the Tax Court.
• Personal information and data protections
  • Defines personal information and explicitly lists items that do not count as personal information for the purposes of the statute. This includes residential addresses of a judicial official and the residential addresses of a spouse, domestic partner, or children; nonjudicial-branch phone numbers or email addresses; and the names of any child or of a child’s childcare facility or school if paired with a claim that the child attends that facility or school.
  • Defines publicly available information as data that is lawfully available through government records or widely distributed media, or information a business reasonably believes is publicly available, unless restricted by the judicial official.
• Related data definitions
  • Clarifies that “law enforcement support organizations” do not include charitable organizations.
  • References real property records as defined in Minnesota Statutes (section 480.50, subdivision 1, paragraph f).

Significant changes to existing law

• Expands who is treated as a judicial official for purposes of privacy and related protections by adding unemployment insurance judges and paid leave judges to the protected group.
• Revises the scope of “personal information” and “publicly available information,” potentially altering which data are shielded from public disclosure for a broader set of individuals connected to the judiciary and certain state agencies.
• Integrates certain agency employees (Office of Administrative Hearings, DHS Appeals, Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals, Tax Court) into the judicial official category, affecting how their information is protected or shared.

Potential impact and considerations

• Privacy and security: More individuals connected to unemployment insurance and paid leave matters may gain heightened privacy protections for personal data.
• Data access: Definitions of what information is publicly available may affect open records requests and how much contact information or personal details can be released.
• Administrative scope: The bill vertically expands the group of people covered by the defined terms, potentially affecting multiple state agencies and their operations.

Relevant Terms unemployment insurance judges; paid leave judges; judicial official; Minnesota judicial branch; Office of Administrative Hearings; Unemployment Insurance Division; Paid Leave Division; Department of Human Services Appeals Division; Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals; Tax Court; personal information; publicly available information; residential address; nonjudicial branch phone number; email address; child; child care facility; school; real property records; law enforcement support organizations