Attorney General Drew H. Wrigley | North Dakota Attorney General's Office
Attorney General Drew H. Wrigley | North Dakota Attorney General's Office
On September 10, 2025, the North Dakota Attorney General's Office issued Opinion 2025-O-14 to the City of Parshall. The opinion addresses a situation in which the city did not respond to a records request because it never received the request due to an error with its email service provider.
The opinion states: "The City of Parshall never received the records request due to an error with their email service provider. A public entity cannot respond to a request they never received, and the City of Parshall did not intentionally ignore a request for records."
This opinion clarifies that public entities are not at fault if they do not respond to requests they have no knowledge of, particularly when technical issues prevent receipt.
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