Major DVS cases

Bass, a former attorney for a law enforcement labor union, claims that about 340 officers queried her DVS file more than 750 times between 2005 and 2013. She has sued about 96 local governments, seeking more than $2 million in damages.

Potocnik, a former Minneapolis police officer, was fired after having a relationship with a minor at a school where he was working as an off-duty police officer. His suit against about 33 local governments alleges that more than 200 law enforcement officers viewed his DVS data a total of 420 times. He is seeking more than $1 million in ­damages.

A number of plaintiffs filed a suit seeking class-action status last year against Rock County in southwestern Minnesota. A child support officer was fired after making more than 4,000 DVS queries, prompting the county to send more than 3,000 letters alerting people that their data had been breached. The suit seeks more than $7.5 million in damages.

Five lawsuits seeking class-action status were filed after revelations this past winter that a manager at the Department of Natural Resources, John Hunt, allegedly made about 19,000 DVS queries over five years, many while off duty. The class, if certified, could exceed 5,000 people. This April, the attorney general's office wrote that finding the state liable for Hunt's actions "would be catastrophic, particularly if statutory liquidated damages of $2,500 per violation are imposed."