County fined for violating transparency law after election (3/3/2021)
Winona County must pay a $300 fine and up to $6,000 in legal fees after an administrative law judge ruled on Monday that the county violated state transparency laws by ignoring a freedom of information request from Winona City Council member and former mayoral candidate Michelle Alexander. In a strongly worded ruling, Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) Administrative Law Judge Jim Mortenson wrote, “The MGDPA [Minnesota Government Data Practices Act] does not allow government entities to ignore requests and just hope they go away.”
Alexander ran for mayor last year and was narrowly defeated in the primary. In a race for second place and the opportunity to advance to the November general election Alexander led fellow candidate Scott Sherman by two votes on election night. Because of valid but delayed results from mail-in ballots, Sherman beat Alexander by three