There should be no question this information is available to the public. It should be instinctive for clerks to release the information to anyone who asks. They don't need to know the name of the person requesting it or why they want it or what they might do with it. Certainly, they should not have to ask the superintendent first. The fact that sheriff's departments performed the worst in our survey should give everyone pause.
Sheriffs are among the most powerful people in our state.
As the top law enforcement officers in each county, they answer only to the electorate every four years. Certainly the voters should always know who is being put in jail. You cannot have basic human rights if you give the government the authority to arrest people and keep it secret, or to release the information only to people it approves of. It's time to recognize that the state law governing the public's information no longer works. The Minnesota Government Data Practices Act has become as unwieldy as its name.