Kandiyohi County estimates the cost for the footage will be at least $3,000. The cost may ultimately be higher if additional police time is needed to search for, review, redact, or reproduce the footage. We estimate that approximately $6,000 will be adequate to ensure that all fees payable to Kandiyohi County under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act are covered.
The request may take several weeks or even longer to process. There is no promise the footage will be received or received on any particular date. They may have a right to deny our request or cite an exemption that protects some portions of the footage. If the County denies our request, it is likely that this video or at least portions of this footage will eventually enter evidence and be made public once it has been admitted as evidence in Court. Minnesota law protects the privacy of individuals seen in bodycam footage and the footage may be censored. It is impossible to predict how censored the footage we obtain might be.
This money may be used in ways other than directly paying the bills of Kandiyohi County. In particular, Minnesota Law permits people involved to consent to having footage released, which greatly helps with getting it released. We are exploring the idea of financially compensating individuals who consent to the release of footage.
If there are significant excess funds, or if our request is denied and no participants consent to having the footage released, the money will be donated to an appropriate charity at my sole discretion (but I will probably run a poll first).