What do we mean when we say that first of all we seek
liberty? I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes
too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts.
These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes.
Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies
there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it; no
constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.
While it lies there it needs no constitution, no law, no court
to save it.

— Judge Learned Hand, 1944

The Iowa Freedom of Information Council was organized in the fall of 1976 and formally incorporated in 1977 as a non-profit consortium of newspapers, radio and television stations, media associations, educators, publishers, broadcasters and others interested in openness in government and First Amendment rights. The Council is thus among the oldest, if not the oldest, of such statewide FOI organizations in the nation.

The Iowa Council was established primarily in response to increases in the amount and the costs of litigation involving the news media. The Council's by-laws still provide that it can serve as a voluntary assessment district to finance lengthy court battles that would benefit Iowans interested in open government. The Council also has created an Openness Defense Fund that is available to members of the Iowa Newspaper Association and Iowa Broadcasters Association to help finance lawsuits involving serious violations of the open meetings and records laws.

Over the years, however, the Council's work has been primarily educational in nature – acquainting journalists with the Iowa open records and meeting laws and conducting workshops for public officials and other citizens.

The Council publishes the IOWA OPEN MEETINGS, OPEN RECORDS HANDBOOK. The first edition was published in late 1978. That was soon after the Iowa Legislature had adopted a revised open meetings law to replace one that the Iowa Supreme Court found unconstitutional because of its combination of vagueness and criminal penalties.

The handbook is updated every two years and tens of thousands of copies have been distributed throughout Iowa, through county auditors' offices, the state ombudsman's office and journalism organizations. In a special project, the Council has provided material for First Amendment and Information-Access Resource Centers in each of public libraries in Iowa. The project was funded in part by a grant from the National Freedom of Information Coalition.

The Council operates on an annual budget of about $17,000. Most of the funds are from sustaining members, who pay annual dues of $500, and from the Iowa Broadcasters Association, which annually contributes $4,000 to help support Expanded Media Coverage of Iowa's courts.

The Council presidency rotates each year among representatives of the founding organizations of the Council - the Iowa Broadcasters Association, the Iowa Newspaper Association and the Des Moines Register and Tribune Company. The Council's trustees come from these three groups, other sustaining members, two representatives of the working news media and from the journalism programs at Iowa State University, the University of Iowa and Drake University.

Professor Herbert Strentz of the Drake University School of Journalism and Mass Communication served as the Council's executive secretary from its founding until June 2000, when Kathleen Richardson, a former news editor of the Des Moines Register, took over the day-to-day duties of the Council. Strentz remains in an advisory capacity.

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Attending the Organizational Meeting October 21, 1976

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Signers, Articles of Incorporation March 1977

James A. Autry, Meredith Corporation
Roger Bryant, Consolidated, Inc., Iowegian & Citizen
John M. Butler, Iowa High School Press Association
Michael Downey, The Des Moines Register and Tribune
E.G. "Red" Faust, Iowa Radio Network, KJAN
David Feingold, WOI-AM-FM
Michael Gartner,The Des Moines Register and Tribune
Gary G. Gerlach, The Des Moines Register and Tribune
Fred Grawe, Iowa Press Association
Robert H. Harter, Palmer Broadcasting Co.
Sid Hayman, Cedar Rapids Television Co.
Rox Laird, Des Moines Pro Chapter, SPJ/SDX
Edwin J. Lasko, Iowa Broadcasters Association and KCRG-TV
John McCormally, The Burlington Hawk Eye
Louise Moon, Iowa League of Women Voters
David Nixon, Sr., Greater Sioux City Press Club
Bruce Northcott, WMT Stations, Inc.
Frank Nye, The Gazette Company
Joe R. Patrick, Drake University
James W. Schwartz, Iowa State University
Charles J. Seel, Iowa Broadcast News Association and KRNT
Kenneth Starck, University of Iowa
Herbert Strentz, Drake University
William F. Turner, KCAU-TV, Forward of Iowa
Kirk Winkler, WOI-TV
Robert Woodward, Drake University
William Woodward, Iowa Daily Press Association, Dubuque Telegraph-Herald
George Zucker, The Associated Press

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Past Presidents of the Iowa FOI Council

1977 Edwin Lasko, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Broadcasters Association
1978 John McCormally (1922-1993), Burlington Hawk Eye, Iowa Daily Press Association
1979 C.W. "Bill" Wilcox (1925-1983), Madrid Register-News, Iowa Press Association
1980 Gary Gerlach, Des Moines Register and Tribune
1981 Jack Shelley, Iowa State University, IBA
1982 C.W. "Bill" Wilcox, Madrid Register-News, Iowa Newspaper Association
1983 Forrest Kilmer, Quad-City Times, INA
1984 Barbara Mack, Des Moines Register
1985 Jack Gilbert, KCAU-TV, Sioux City, IBA
1986 John Robertson, Cedar Rapids Gazette, INA
1987 David Witke, Des Moines Register
1988 Michael Giudicessi, WHO-TV, IBA
1989 Mark Hamilton, Iowa Falls Citizen, INA
1990 Rox Laird, Des Moines Register
1991 Mary Quass, KHAK Radio, IBA
1992 Bill Mertens, Burlington Hawk Eye, INA
1993 Diane Graham, Des Moines Register
1994 Bill Tubbs, North Scott Press, INA
1995 Bob Allen, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids, IBA
1996 Richard Doak, Des Moines Register
1997 Randall (Rusty) Cunningham, Ottumwa Courier
1998 Bob Day, KCCI-TV, Des Moines
1999 Randy Evans, Des Moines Register
2000 Mark Bowden, Cedar Rapids Gazette
2001 Jim Field, KJAN, Atlantic
2002 Rox Laird, Des Moines Register
2003 Brian Cooper, Dubuque Telegraph Herald
2004 John Phelan, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids

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