Your Daily Digest for Monday, February 20:
Despite promising to show constituents how he spends his time, Gov. Mark Dayton won’t release his daily calendar, the AP reported. After making that promise during the campaign, the AP filed an open records request to see Dayton’s calendar, but was told it is considered private. Dayton had said: “Yes, my calendar is a public calendar … I’m a public servant, and my salary is being paid from the taxpayers of Minnesota, like everyone else in state government. They have a right to know what I’m doing with my time.” The Minnesota executive branch office that handles appeals of such public records requests has ruled in the past that public officials’ schedules are private, including for some University of Minnesota officials.
In other leg news, redistricting maps are out tomorrow at 1 p.m. The state’s legislative and congressional maps are redrawn ever 10 years after the Census. You can find them here tomorrow afternoon.
Before a shooting at a northern Minnesota courthouse and especially since, state prosecutors have been looking to increase security in the courts, the Strib reported. Top officials from six of the seven metro counties have said they’re looking to up security precautions. They also acknowledge costs are a concern. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman — who you’ll see in the news as the Timothy Bakdash trial begins this week — said he’s comfortable with the security in courthouses but would like more where court officials work.
"Given the nature of the work, it's better to be safe than sorry," said John Choi, the Ramsey County attorney. "You always have a risk."