COMES NOW, Charlotte Miller, Executive Director for the Iowa Public Information Board (“IPIB”), on June 6, 2025, Jonathan Uhl (“Complainant”) filed formal complaint 25FC:0072, alleging Scott County (“County”) violated Iowa Code chapter 22. The IPIB accepted this Complaint on June 10, 2025. This Informal Resolution is adopted in response to the IPIB acceptance of the complaint.
[Note: The origional signed filing is avaialble here and printed below in full un-edited.]
Facts
The complainant alleges County violated Iowa Code Chapter 22 by failing to disclose records responsive to each request, unreasonable delay for production of the records, and unreasonable fees charged for production.
On April 27, 2025, Complainant emailed Ms. Wierman, an employee of the County, a formal public records request to County seeking information pertaining to conflicts of interest within the Scott County Attorney’s office.
On May 16, 2025, Complainant followed up with the Ms. Wierman asking the status of the request. On May 19, 2025, Ms. Wierman responded stating that the public records “request is currently being processed with our Risk Management department and remains in progress.” On the same date, Complainant asked the follow up questions to County regarding the risk management department and an anticipated production date.
On May 21, 2025, Complainant reached out to Ms. Wierman asking her to comply with Chapter 22 law in regards to his public records requests. On May 22, Ms. Wierman responded asserting the County commitment to complying with Iowa Code Chapter 22 and indicated that production of records for Complainant other public records request have been provided and that County is continuing to review responsive records that are related to the record request that IPIB Formal Complaint 25FC:0072 arises from.
On June 30, Complainant followed up with County and requested an update on the status of the public records request. County responded on July 1, 2025, providing a partial response, completed by County on June 26, 2025, responsive to the public records complain and stated that County had additional materials to review that may be relevant to the request.
On August 19, 2025, Complainant provided a memorandum in support of pending formal complaint 25FC:0072. Complainant followed up on October 3, 2025 to check the status of the formal complaint.
On October 6, 2025, IPIB reached out to County and Complainant inquiring the status of the production of the remaining records. Complainant alleged that he has not received any response in regards to his complaint.
On October 15, 2025, County outreached to Complainant and indicated that the documents were ready to be received. County stated the payment for release of the records for $678.84 which was based on 12 hours of work at the rate $56.57 per hour.
On October 29, Kristina Lyon, Scott County Civil Attorney, updated IPIB on the status of the information requested indicating that they had not received a response from the Complainant regarding the prepayment for the production of the outstanding public records.
Over the months of October, November, December, and January, communications occurred in which Complainant attempted to collect records and understand the status of his requests.
On January 15, 2025, IPIB directed staff to seek an informal resolution with parties regarding the delay in the productions of records. The County responded to the delay in production of records and indicated the process was involved and time consuming as it was broad and voluminous request.
Applicable Law
Iowa Code Chapter 22 governs the facts of this complaint.
The lawful custodian shall make every reasonable effort to provide the public record requested at no cost other than copying costs for a record which takes less than thirty minutes to produce. Iowa Code § 22.3(1).
In the event expenses are necessary, such expenses shall be reasonable and communicated to the requester upon receipt of the request. Iowa Code § 22.3(1).
The lawful custodian may charge a reasonable fee for the services of the lawful custodian or the custodian’s authorized designee in supervising the examination and copying of the records, but the fee for the copying service shall not exceed the actual cost of providing the service. Iowa Code § 22.3(2).
Actual costs shall include only those reasonable expenses directly attributable to supervising the examination of and making and providing copies of public records and shall not include charges for ordinary expenses or costs such as employment benefits, depreciation, maintenance, electricity, or insurance associated with the administration of the office of the lawful custodian. Iowa Code § 22.3(2).
Iowa caselaw allows for relief to a requestor when an unreasonable delay occurs. Belin v. Reynolds, 989 N.W. 2d 166, 174 (Iowa 2023). Unreasonable delay in the production of public records pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 22 requires an analysis that includes how promptly the lawful custodian acknowledged the request and follow-up inquiries, whether the requestor was assured of the intent to provide the requested records, whether the governmental body explained why requested records were not immediately available, whether the governmental body produced records as they became available, whether the governmental body updated the requestor on efforts to obtain and produce records, and whether the governmental body provided information about when records could be expected. Belin, 989 N.W.2d at 175.
Informal Resolution
Pursuant to Iowa Code § 23.9, the parties have agreed to the following terms and have executed an agreement (Informal Resolution) indicating consent to be governed by these terms:
The governmental body will acknowledge that there are sufficient facts to show the governmental body failed to produce records in compliance with Iowa Code Chapter 22. The governmental body will specifically state as follows: “This governmental body acknowledges there are sufficient facts to demonstrate this governmental body failed to produce records in compliance with Iowa Code Chapter 22. Specifically, this governmental body failed to charge a reasonable fee for production of records based on actual costs and exhibited unreasonable delay in production of records.” This acknowledgement will be provided to IPIB.
All members of the Scott County Attorney’s Office, will complete training related to public meetings and records. This training will be arranged by governmental body and conducted by IPIB, the Iowa League of Cities, or the Iowa State Association of Counties.
The Scott County Attorney’s Office will develop policies or procedures to address the following:
• Fees charged for production of records, including rates and how rates are calculated. The policy or procedure must include rates for members of the Scott County Attorney’s Office. The policies or procedures must be compliant with Iowa Code Chapter 22.
• Retention requirements for public records located on private devices of governmental officials, including personal computers and personal cell phones.
• Response to requests for public records and production of public records that contains the requirements established in Belin v. Reynolds.
Any developed policies or procedures will be provided to IPIB staff for review before approval by the governmental body.
The terms of the Informal Resolution will be completed within 60 days of the date of approval of this Informal Resolution by all parties. Upon showing of proof of compliance, the IPIB will dismiss this complaint as successfully resolved.
THIS INFORMAL RESOLUTION HAS BEEN REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY THE FOLLOWING PARTIES:
Author
Anonymous (not verified)
