Subdivision 1. Payment. Except as otherwise provided in subdivision 3, a governmental entity obtaining the contents of communications, records, or other information under sections 626A.27, 626A.28, and 626A.29 shall pay to the person or entity assembling or providing the information a fee for reimbursement for costs that are reasonably necessary and that have been directly incurred in searching for, assembling, reproducing, or otherwise providing the information. The reimbursable costs must include any costs due to necessary disruption of normal operations of the electronic communication service or remote computing service in which the information may be stored.

Subd. 2. Amount. The amount of the fee provided by subdivision 1, must be as mutually agreed by the governmental entity and the person or entity providing the information, or, in the absence of agreement, must be as determined by the court that issued the order for production of the information or the court before which a criminal prosecution relating to the information would be brought, if no court order was issued for production of the information.

Subd. 3. Inapplicability. The requirement of subdivision 1 does not apply with respect to records or other information maintained by a communications common carrier that relate to telephone toll records and telephone listings obtained under section 626A.28. The court may, however, order a payment as described in subdivision 1 if the court determines the information required is unusually voluminous in nature or otherwise caused an undue burden on the provider.

History: 1988 c 577 s 52,62; 1989 c 336 art 2 s 8