Minnesota County’s Restriction on Feedlot Information Upheld
On July 31, a state official upheld a policy by Nobles County, Minnesota that raises a number of roadblocks to access information about feedlots in the county.
The Nobles County Commission approved a policy that adds additional requirements for people to meet if they want a copy of the comprehensive list of the 514 feedlots in the county. Individuals must submit a written request for the list, wait five days, pay $250, and retrieve the list in person.
The changes are in response to an April 2003 incident in which an animal rights activist trespassed on a feedlot in Nicollet County in order to photograph the site.
Commissioner of Administration Brian Lamb’s review of the policy largely upheld it with minor changes. The policy originally required individuals requesting the list to identify themselves, which Lamb overruled. The policy also originally said the list would be given to individuals only in printed format, but Lamb ruled that unless there was additional expense in doing so, the county should provide the list in electronic format as well if it were requested. Lamb also said that the county would have to prove that the $250 fee was necessary to cover its expenses — as it claims — should someone requesting the list demand such proof.
Steve Brake, president of the Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association, wants the state to go further and designate information about feedlots as “security information” that the state would not disclose to the public. Brake told the Worthington Daily Globe (Minnesota),
In the world we live in today, food is important to our national security. We have to start looking at ways to protect it . . . We have to be realistic. Terrorists are going to start looking at our food.
The full text of Lamb’s advisory opinion is available here.
Source:
State upholds Nobles County feedlot policy. Franny White, Worthington Daily Globe (Minnesota), August 5, 2003.
Minnesota Department of Administration Advisory Opinion:03-025, July 31, 2003.
Tags: Uncategorized