This handbook is the 10th edition of a publication designed to help keep Iowans abreast of the requirements of the state's open meetings and open records laws, Chapters 21 and 22 of the Code of Iowa. The handbook incorporates changes made in the chapters by the 2001 and 2002 Legislatures. Subsequent changes will be available in print and at the Iowa Freedom of Information Council website:
www.drake.edu/journalism/foi/ifoi2.html
Generally, Chapters 21 and 22 - the so-called openness or sunshine laws - have worked well in Iowa, thanks to the efforts of concerned and informed citizens, responsible and dedicated public officials, and accurate and attentive news media.
At least three points are central to understanding how the laws work:
· Iowa law assumes that meetings and records are open. Iowans do not have to make a case to attend a governmental meeting or to see a public record. To the contrary, meetings must be open and records must be available for inspection unless the case for closure is specified in law. The Iowa Supreme Court has been adamant on this point, citing, for example, 22.8(3), which notes that most records are open to public inspection, "even though such examinations may cause inconvenience or embarrassment to public officials or others."
· The laws are relatively brief, general and written for public understanding and use. The sunshine laws of many states are longer and more complex than Iowa's. Many other laws try to anticipate almost every conceivable issue that might arise.
Iowa laws provide a general approach - that of assumed openness - and establish guidelines regarding when a meeting can be (not must be) closed and what records are confidential. The laws provide a framework to help reasonable people ensure that public business is conducted in the public eye.
· The laws provide a framework for managing business by public agencies. The provisions for posting tentative agendas, keeping minutes of meetings, and dealing with personnel issues, etc., are instructive for any organization, public or private. But the laws also provide a mechanism for an aggrieved citizen who believes a governmental agency has improperly denied access to a meeting or record.
Both laws provide for reimbursement of legal fees at the trial and appellate court levels if a citizen is successful in a lawsuit against a governmental agency for holding an illegal meeting or denying access to a record that should be open for public inspection. While providing such clout to the citizen, however, the laws also provide under sections 21.6(3) and 22.10(3) ample protection for public officials who rely upon legal advice in interpreting finer points of the law. It's a good balance.
A final point about management: Unfortunately, citizens and the news media do not faithfully attend meetings of public agencies. Meeting just by themselves, public officials may lapse into informal ways of handling business, a habit that will ill-serve them when major or controversial issues put them in the spotlight. It is likely better to adhere to open meeting law protocols at all times, so that when difficult issues arise the focus can be on the issues and not on what procedures must be followed under Chapter 21.
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This handbook is published by the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, a consortium of news media associations, radio and television stations, newspapers, publishers, librarians, educators, lawyers and business leaders concerned about openness in government.
Kathleen Richardson, executive secretary of the Iowa FOI Council, supervised the updating of the booklet. Most of the text of the question-and-answer sections is the work of Herb Strentz, who was executive secretary of the Iowa FOI Council from its founding in 1976 until his retirement in 2000. Des Moines attorneys Michael Giudicessi of Faegre & Benson and Keith Luchtel of Nyemaster, Goode, Voigts, West, Hansell & O'Brien also contributed to the booklet. The Iowa Attorney General's Office also provided feedback.
Additional copies of the handbook are available at cost from the Iowa FOI Council. Also available is a 15-minute videotape, "Openness in Iowa," which helps acquaint viewers with the philosophy behind Chapters 21 and 22. The tape is narrated by former Iowa Gov. Robert Ray, who was governor when the open meetings law was revised in 1978.
This 10th edition and the videotape have been provided to libraries throughout Iowa as part of an effort, in concert with the Iowa Library Association, to establish First Amendment/Information Access Resource Centers in more than 300 libraries.
More than 90,000 copies of this booklet have been distributed by the Iowa FOI Council since the first edition was published in 1978 to help introduce Iowans to the open meetings law that took effect January 1, 1979. The third edition in 1986 included material on the Iowa public records law, as have all subsequent editions.
Over the years, the handbook has become an invaluable resource for Iowa government officials who seek to follow the letter and the spirit of the sunshine laws, and for all Iowans who want to ensure their rights to open government.
Iowa Freedom of Information Council
School of Journalism and
Mass Communication
Drake University
Des Moines, IA 50311
Table of Contents
Rules of Thumb: Chapter
21
Sustaining/First Amendment Members
Iowa Code: Chapter 21
Questions About Chapter 21
Iowa Code: Chapter 22
Questions About Chapter 22
Notes and Additions
Rules of Thumb: Chapter 22
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