Chapter 18
Open government and contacting officials
Your right to watch public bodies meet and to see their records, what to do when that right is denied, and how to reach the right official for a problem.
Open meetings
Iowa’s open meetings law covers city councils, county boards of supervisors, school boards, state boards and commissions, and their committees.1 The basics:
- Notice. A body must post the time, place and tentative agenda at least 24 hours before a meeting. Less notice is allowed only for good cause, and the minutes must say why.2
- Anyone can attend, record or take notes. The law doesn’t require a public comment period, but most local boards have one.
- Minutes must record what was decided and how each member voted.
- Closed sessions are allowed only for reasons the law lists, such as a lawsuit with the body’s lawyer, buying or selling property when talking in public would change the price, or a job evaluation the employee asks to keep private. Going into one takes a public vote of two-thirds of the members (or all present), the reason must be announced, and the closed part is recorded and sealed. Final votes still happen in public.3
- A gathering of a majority to discuss the body’s business counts as a meeting, even by email or phone, though social gatherings don’t.
Public records
Under the public records law, anyone can see and copy a government record, from a city’s contracts to a school district’s emails, unless a law makes that record confidential.4 You don’t have to say why you want it, or be an Iowan.
- Find the custodianThe office that keeps the record: the city clerk, county auditor, school district office or a state agency’s records officer.
- Ask in writingAn email is fine. Describe the records as clearly as you can, with dates and names. Phone requests count too.
- Ask about cost firstFees can only cover actual costs and must be told to you when the request comes in. Records that take under 30 minutes to produce should cost no more than copying.
- Give it timeThere’s no fixed deadline for every request, but an office that’s checking whether a record is confidential should take no more than 20 calendar days, and usually under 10 business days.
Fees and timing are in the Code.5 Some records are confidential by law, such as most personnel files, medical records, some police investigative reports and student records If an office holds back part of a record, ask which law it relies on.
When the rules are broken
The Iowa Public Information Board
A state board that takes complaints about open meetings and public records, for free and without a lawyer. File within 60 days of the problem or of when you learned of it. The board can help settle it, investigate, and order a fix. ipib.iowa.gov6
Court
Anyone can also sue in district court. A court that finds a violation can order the body to follow the law, in some cases undo what it did, and make each member who took part pay damages of $500 to $2,500, or up to $12,500 when they broke the law knowingly.7
Ask first
Many problems are mistakes. A short, polite note to the clerk or the board chair, quoting the law, often fixes it faster than a complaint.
Finding agendas and meetings
- Cities and counties: each county and city page lists recent and upcoming meetings with their agendas, a plain-language summary of what’s on each one, and a link to the agenda itself, for the places Iowa Funnel reads so far.
- Schools: school boards post their agendas on the district’s own website; each school district page shows who’s on the board.
- The Legislature: the calendar lists every subcommittee and committee meeting with its bills.
- On your own calendar: My calendar gathers the meetings for what you follow, with a feed for your phone’s calendar.
Who to contact for what
Find everyone who represents your address on My government. The Who does what chapter has more.
Writing, calling and testifying
Write
Keep it short: who you are, where you live, the bill number or agenda item, and what you want done. Officials weigh messages from their own constituents most. A personal note beats a form letter.
Call
Staff or the official will usually just note your view. Give your name and town, the issue, and your ask, in under a minute.
Speak at a meeting
Sign up if required, keep to about two or three minutes, and speak to an item on the agenda. Bring a written copy to leave behind.
Speak up helps you draft a comment, and Taking part covers subcommittees and public hearings at the Capitol.
What you send is usually public
Emails and letters to public officials and comments on the Legislature’s forms are generally public records. Don’t include anything you wouldn’t want published.
On Iowa Funnel
- Your county, city and school · meetings, agendas and who serves
- Legislative calendar · committee and subcommittee meetings
- My calendar · meetings for what you follow
- My government · everyone who represents your address
- Speak up · draft a comment or testimony
- Find your legislators · and how to reach them
Check yourself
Pick an answer to see how you did. Nothing is saved.
1. How far ahead must a public body post a meeting’s agenda?
At least 24 hours
Right. Notice with the tentative agenda must be posted at least 24 hours before, unless good cause makes that impossible (Iowa Code §21.4).
Only after the meeting
Not quite. Notice with the tentative agenda must be posted at least 24 hours before, unless good cause makes that impossible (Iowa Code §21.4).
At least a week
Not quite. Notice with the tentative agenda must be posted at least 24 hours before, unless good cause makes that impossible (Iowa Code §21.4).
2. What vote does a board need to go into closed session?
A simple majority
Not quite. A closed session takes a public vote of two-thirds of the members or all present, for a reason the law lists (Iowa Code §21.5).
The chair’s decision
Not quite. A closed session takes a public vote of two-thirds of the members or all present, for a reason the law lists (Iowa Code §21.5).
Two-thirds of members, or all present
Right. A closed session takes a public vote of two-thirds of the members or all present, for a reason the law lists (Iowa Code §21.5).
3. A board discusses a lawsuit in closed session. Where does it take the final vote?
In the same closed session
Not quite. Final action is taken in open session; the closed part is recorded and sealed.
In open session
Right. Final action is taken in open session; the closed part is recorded and sealed.
By private email
Not quite. Final action is taken in open session; the closed part is recorded and sealed.
4. Who can ask for a public record?
Anyone, without saying why
Right. Under Iowa Code §22.2, every person has the right to examine and copy a public record.
Only reporters
Not quite. Under Iowa Code §22.2, every person has the right to examine and copy a public record.
Only Iowa voters
Not quite. Under Iowa Code §22.2, every person has the right to examine and copy a public record.
5. A record takes 10 minutes to find. What can the office charge?
A flat $100
Not quite. Records that take under 30 minutes to produce should cost no more than copying, and fees can only cover actual costs (Iowa Code §22.3).
An hourly lawyer’s fee
Not quite. Records that take under 30 minutes to produce should cost no more than copying, and fees can only cover actual costs (Iowa Code §22.3).
Nothing beyond copying costs
Right. Records that take under 30 minutes to produce should cost no more than copying, and fees can only cover actual costs (Iowa Code §22.3).
6. How long can an office take to decide whether a record is confidential?
As long as it likes, if it sends a written notice first
Not quite. A good-faith delay for that purpose shouldn’t exceed 20 calendar days and ordinarily not 10 business days (Iowa Code §22.8).
Up to 20 calendar days, usually under 10 business days
Right. A good-faith delay for that purpose shouldn’t exceed 20 calendar days and ordinarily not 10 business days (Iowa Code §22.8).
Up to a year
Not quite. A good-faith delay for that purpose shouldn’t exceed 20 calendar days and ordinarily not 10 business days (Iowa Code §22.8).
7. Who takes open meetings and records complaints for free?
The Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board
Not quite. The Iowa Public Information Board takes these complaints for free; file within 60 days.
The Governor’s office
Not quite. The Iowa Public Information Board takes these complaints for free; file within 60 days.
The Iowa Public Information Board
Right. The Iowa Public Information Board takes these complaints for free; file within 60 days.
8. Within how many days should you file a complaint with the Public Information Board?
60 days
Right. Complaints must be filed within 60 days of the problem or of when you could have learned of it (Iowa Code §23.7).
7 days
Not quite. Complaints must be filed within 60 days of the problem or of when you could have learned of it (Iowa Code §23.7).
Two years
Not quite. Complaints must be filed within 60 days of the problem or of when you could have learned of it (Iowa Code §23.7).
9. Your water bill seems wrong. Who should you contact first?
Your city
Right. Water, sewer, streets and zoning are city services; start with the department, then your council member.
Your state senator
Not quite. Water, sewer, streets and zoning are city services; start with the department, then your council member.
The Governor
Not quite. Water, sewer, streets and zoning are city services; start with the department, then your council member.
10. Are emails you send to a public official usually private?
Yes, always
Not quite. Emails and letters to public officials are generally public records, so don’t include anything you wouldn’t want published.
Generally no; they’re public records
Right. Emails and letters to public officials are generally public records, so don’t include anything you wouldn’t want published.
Only if marked private
Not quite. Emails and letters to public officials are generally public records, so don’t include anything you wouldn’t want published.
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