MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of current and former Minnesota residents who allege that dozens of public employees violated their privacy by illegally looking up their driver’s license data for political reasons.

The 18 plaintiffs, including some local elected officials, claimed they were targeted because they had been critical of Wabasha County government. They alleged officials in 26 counties, 36 cities, state agencies and other entities violated their privacy by looking up their driver’s license data 600 times from April 2003 until the lawsuit was filed last September.

U.S. District Judge Ann Montgomery said Thursday that all of the look-ups before Sept. 12, 2009, were too old and fell outside the statute of limitations.