Itasca County Assessor’s Office Refuses Written Data Request | Deputies Called Over Lawful Recording

Описание: Incident at the Itasca County Assessor’s Office – September 30, 2025

On September 30, 2025, Travis Martin Larson entered the Itasca County Assessor’s Office inside the Itasca County Government Center during posted business hours to conduct lawful public business and submit a written data request.

While recording in the public counter area — an activity protected by the First Amendment — a staff member objected to being filmed and left the counter. Another employee placed a phone call. Within minutes, deputies from the Itasca County Sheriff’s Office arrived on scene.

Deputies informed staff that Larson’s recording was lawful and that he was free to remain in the public area.

Larson then attempted to hand-deliver a written data request to a male official in a private back office, reasonably believed to be the Assessor. The official refused to accept the written request and directed Larson to submit it through a law enforcement reporting portal — a system unrelated to statutory data requests.

The refusal to accept a written request, the redirection to an improper channel, and the summoning of law enforcement in response to protected activity raise serious constitutional and statutory concerns, including:

• Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (Minn. Stat. ch. 13)
• First Amendment protections for recording and petitioning government
• Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of equal access to public services

All events were contemporaneously documented on video.

This video presents the footage of what occurred inside the Assessor’s Office that afternoon.

Government offices are public institutions. Access to public services cannot be denied because a citizen is recording, asking questions, or attempting to submit a lawful written request.

We stand for justice and accountability.

#Minnesota #FirstAmendment #MGDPA #GovernmentTransparency #CivilRights