North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says Minot State University and the North Dakota University System violated the state's open records law in May.
Stenehjem issued his opinion in response to a request from a blogger who asked MSU for documents related to an education department investigation into possible violations involving the handling of sexual abuse complaints at the school.
The North Dakota University System initially rejected the request on behalf of MSU, claiming the documents were protected records under state and federal law.
Stenehjem ruled that the university system should have analyzed the records to determine whether it was possible to remove information that wasn't public record. The university system eventually did that and gave the blogger redacted documents. Stenehjem says no further action is necessary.