21.2 Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
1. "Governmental body" means:
a. A board, council, commission or other governing body expressly created
by the statutes of this state or by executive order.
b. A board, council, commission, or other governing body of a political
subdivision or tax-supported district in this state.
c. A multimembered body formally and directly created by one or more boards,
councils, commissions, or other governing bodies subject to paragraphs "a"
and "b" of this subsection.
d. Those multimembered bodies to which the state board of regents or a president
of a university has delegated the responsibility for the management and
control of the intercollegiate athletic programs at the state universities.
e. An advisory board, advisory commission, or task force created by the
governor or the general assembly to develop and make recommendations on
public policy issues.
f. A nonprofit corporation whose facilities or indebtedness are supported
in whole or in part with property tax revenue and which is licensed to conduct
pari-mutuel wagering pursuant to chapter 99D or a nonprofit corporation
which is a successor to the nonprofit corporation which built the facility.
g. A nonprofit corporation licensed to conduct gambling games pursuant to
chapter 99F.
h. An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory committee, task force,
or other body created by statute or executive order of this state or created
by an executive order of a political subdivision of this state to develop
and make recommendations on public policy issues.
2. "Meeting" means a gathering in person or by electronic means,
formal or informal, of a majority of the members of a governmental body
where there is deliberation or action upon any matter within the scope of
the governmental body's policy-making duties. Meetings shall not include
a gathering of members of a governmental body for purely ministerial or
social purposes when there is no discussion of policy or no intent to avoid
the purposes of this chapter.
3. "Open session" means a meeting to which all members of the
public have access.
21.3 Meetings of governmental bodies.
Meetings of governmental bodies shall be preceded by public notice as provided
in section 21.4 and shall be held in open session unless closed sessions
are expressly permitted by law. Except as provided in section 21.5, all
actions and discussions at meetings of governmental bodies, whether formal
or informal, shall be conducted and executed in open session.
Each governmental body shall keep minutes of all its meetings showing the
date, time, and place, the members present, and the action taken at each
meeting. The minutes shall show the results of each vote taken and the information
sufficient to indicate the vote of each member present. The vote of each
member present shall be made public at the open session. The minutes shall
be public records open to public inspection.
21.4 Public notice.
1. A governmental body, except township trustees, shall give notice of the
time, date, and place of each meeting, and its tentative agenda, in a manner
reasonably calculated to apprise the public of that information. Reasonable
notice shall include advising the news media who have filed a request for
notice with the governmental body and posting the notice on a bulletin board
or other prominent place which is easily accessible to the public and clearly
designated for that purpose at the principal office of the body holding
the meeting, or if no such office exists, at the building in which the meeting
is to be held.
2. Notice conforming with all of the requirements of subsection 1 of this
section shall be given at least Twenty-four hours prior to the
commencement of any meeting of a governmental body unless for good cause
such notice is impossible or impractical, in which case as much notice as
is reasonably possible shall be given. Each meeting shall be held at a place
reasonably accessible to the public, and at a time reasonably convenient
to the public, unless for good cause such a place or time is impossible
or impractical. Special access to the meeting may be granted to persons
with disabilities.
When it is necessary to hold a meeting on less than twenty-four hours' notice,
or at a place that is not reasonably accessible to the public or at a time
that is not reasonably convenient to the public, the nature of the good
cause justifying that departure from the normal requirements shall be stated
in the minutes.
3. A formally constituted subunit of a parent governmental body may conduct
a meeting without notice as required by this section during a lawful meeting
of the parent governmental body, a recess in that meeting, or immediately
following that meeting, if the meeting of the subunit is publicly announced
at the parent meeting and the subject of the meeting reasonably coincides
with the subjects discussed or acted upon by the parent governmental body.
4. If another section of the Code requires a manner of giving specific notice
of a meeting, hearing, or an intent to take action by a governmental body,
compliance with that section shall constitute compliance with the notice
requirements of this section.
21.5 Closed session.
1. A governmental body may hold a closed session only by affirmative public
vote of either two-thirds of the members of the body or all of the members
present at a meeting. A governmental body may hold a closed session only
to the extent a closed session is necessary for any of the following reasons:
a. To review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state
or federal law to be kept confidential or to be kept confidential as a condition
for that governmental body's possession or continued receipt of federal
funds.
b. To discuss application for letters of patent.
c. To discuss strategy with counsel in matters that are presently in litigation
or where litigation is imminent where its disclosure would be likely to
prejudice or disadvantage the position of the governmental body in that
litigation.
d. To discuss the contents of a licensing examination or whether to initiate
licensee disciplinary investigations or proceedings if the governmental
body is a licensing or examining board.
e. To discuss whether to conduct a hearing or to conduct hearings to suspend
or expel a student, unless an open session is requested by the student or
a parent or guardian of the student if the student is a minor.
f. To discuss the decision to be rendered in a contest-ed case conducted
according to the provisions of chapter 17A.
g. To avoid disclosure of specific law enforcement matters, such as current
or proposed investigations, inspection or auditing techniques or schedules,
which if disclosed would enable law violators to avoid detection.
h. To avoid disclosure of specific law enforcement matters, such as allowable
tolerances or criteria for the selection, prosecution or settlement of cases,
which if disclosed would facilitate disregard of requirements imposed by
law.
i. To evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment,
hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent
needless and irreparable injury to that individual's reputation and that
individual requests a closed session.
j. To discuss the purchase of particular real estate only where premature
disclosure could be reasonably expected to increase the price the governmental
body would have to pay for that property. The minutes and the tape recording
of a session closed under this paragraph shall be available for public examination
when the transaction discussed is completed.
2. The vote of each member on the question of holding the closed session
and the reason for holding the closed session by reference to a specific
exemption under this section shall be announced publicly at the open session
and entered in the minutes. A governmental body shall not discuss any business
during a closed session which does not directly relate to the specific reason
announced as justification for the closed session.
3. Final action by any governmental body on any matter shall be taken in
an open session unless some other provision of the Code expressly permits
such actions to be taken in closed session.
4. A governmental body shall keep detailed minutes of all discussion, persons
present, and action occurring at a closed session, and shall also tape record
all of the closed session. The detailed minutes and tape recording of a
closed session shall be sealed and shall not be public records open to public
inspection. However, upon order of the court in an action to enforce this
chapter, the detailed minutes and tape recording shall be unsealed and examined
by the court in camera. The court shall then determine what part, if any,
of the minutes should be disclosed to the party seeking enforcement of this
chapter for use in that enforcement proceeding. In determining whether any
portion of the minutes or recording shall be disclosed to such a party for
this purpose, the court shall weigh the prejudicial effects to the public
interest of the disclosure of any portion of the minutes or recording in
question, against its probative value as evidence in an enforcement proceeding.
After such a determination, the court may permit inspection and use of all
or portions of the detailed minutes and tape recording by the party seeking
enforcement of this chapter. A governmental body shall keep the detailed
minutes and tape recording of any closed session for a period of at least
one year from the date of that meeting.
5. Nothing in this section requires a governmental body to hold a closed
session to discuss or act upon any matter.
21.6 Enforcement.
1. The remedies provided by this section against state governmental bodies
shall be in addition to those provided by section 17A.19. Any aggrieved
person, taxpayer to, or citizen of, the state of Iowa, or the attorney general
or county attorney, may seek judicial enforcement of the requirements of
this chapter. Suits to enforce this chapter shall be brought in the district
court for the county in which the governmental body has its principal place
of business.
2. Once a party seeking judicial enforcement of this chapter demonstrates
to the court that the body in question is subject to the requirements of
this chapter and has held a closed session, the burden of going forward
shall be on the body and its members to demonstrate compliance with the
requirements of this chapter.
3. Upon finding by a preponderance of the evidence that a governmental body
has violated any provision of this chapter, a court:
a. Shall assess each member of the governmental body who participated in
its violation damages in the amount of not more than five hundred dollars
nor less than one hundred dollars. These damages shall be paid by the court
imposing it to the state of Iowa, if the body in question is a state governmental
body, or to the local government involved, if the body in question is a
local governmental body. A member of a governmental body found to have violated
this chapter shall not be assessed such damages if that member proves that
the member did any of the following:
(1) Voted against the closed session.
(2) Had good reason to believe and in good faith believed facts which, if
true, would have indicated compliance with all the requirements of this
chapter.
(3) Reasonably relied upon a decision of a court or a formal opinion of
the attorney general or the governmental body.
b. Shall order the payment of all costs and reasonable attorneys' fees to
any party successfully establishing a violation of this chapter. The costs
and fees shall be paid by those members of the governmental body who are
assessed damages under paragraph "a" of this subsection. If no
such members exist because they have a lawful defense under that paragraph
to the imposition of such damages, the costs and fees shall be paid to the
successful party from the budget of the offending governmental body or its
parent.
c. Shall void any action taken in violation of this chapter, if the suit
for enforcement of this chapter is brought within six months of the violation
and the court finds under the facts of the particular case that the public
interest in the enforcement of the policy of the chapter outweighs the public
interest in sustaining the validity of the action taken in the closed session.
This paragraph shall not apply to an action taken regarding the issuance
of bonds or other evidence of indebtedness of a governmental body if a public
hearing, election or public sale has been held regarding the bonds or evidence
of indebtedness.
d. Shall issue an order removing a member of a governmental body from office
if that member has engaged in two prior violations of this chapter for which
damages were assessed against the member during the member's term.
e. May issue a mandatory injunction punishable by civil contempt ordering
the members of the offending governmental body to refrain for one year from
any future violations of this chapter.
4. Ignorance of the legal requirements of this chapter shall be no defense
to an enforcement proceeding brought under this section. A governmental
body which is in doubt about the legality of closing a particular meeting
is authorized to bring suit at the expense of that governmental body in
the district court of the county of the governmental body's principal place
of business to ascertain the propriety of any such action, or seek a formal
opinion of the attorney general or an attorney of the governmental body.
21.7 Rules of conduct at meetings.
The public may use cameras or recording devices at any open session. Nothing
in this chapter shall prevent a governmental body from making and enforcing
reasonable rules for the conduct of its meetings to assure those meetings
are orderly, and free from interference or interruption by spectators.
21.8 Electronic meetings.
1. A governmental body may conduct a meeting by electronic means only in
circumstances where such a meeting in person is impossible or impractical
and only if the governmental body complies with all of the following:
a. The governmental body provides public access to the conversation of the
meeting to the extent reasonably possible.
b. The governmental body complies with section 21.4. For the purpose of
this paragraph, the place of the meeting is the place from which the communication
originates or where public access is provided to the conversation.
c. Minutes are kept of the meeting. The minutes shall include a statement
explaining why a meeting in person was impossible or impractical.
2. A meeting conducted in compliance with this section shall not be considered
in violation of this chapter.
3. A meeting by electronic means may be conducted without complying with
paragraph "a" of subsection 1 if conducted in accordance with
all of the requirements for a closed session contained in section 21.5.
21.9 Employment conditions discussed.
A meeting of a governmental body to discuss strategy in matters relating
to employment conditions of employees of a governmental body who are not
covered by a collective bar gaining agreement under chapter 20 is exempt
from this chapter. For the purpose of this section, "employment conditions"
mean areas included in the scope of negotiations listed in section 20.9.
21.10 Information to be provided.
The authority which appoints members of governmental bodies shall provide
the members with information about this chapter and chapter 22. The appropriate
commissioner of elections shall provide that information to members of elected
governmental bodies.
21.11 Applicability to nonprofit corporations.
This chapter applies to nonprofit corporations which are defined as governmental
bodies subject to section 21.2, subsection 1, paragraph "f", only
when the meetings conducted by the nonprofit corporations relate to the
conduct of pari-mutuel racing and wagering pursuant to chapter 99D.
Table of Contents
Rules of Thumb: Chapter
21
Introduction
Sustaining/First Amendment Members
Questions About Chapter 21
Iowa Code: Chapter 22
Questions About Chapter 22
Notes and Additions
Rules of Thumb: Chapter 22