Bill Text: IA HF169 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act allowing the Iowa public information board and the office of ombudsman access in the performance of their duties to the minutes and audio recording of a closed session.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-08 - Withdrawn. H.J. 806. [HF169 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2015-HF169-Introduced.html

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House File 169 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  ISENHART

                                 (COMPANION TO SF 82 BY
                                     JOCHUM)

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act allowing the Iowa public information board and the
  2    office of ombudsman access in the performance of their
  3    duties to the minutes and audio recording of a closed
  4    session.
  5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 1970YH (2) 86
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 21.5, subsection 4, Code 2015, is amended
  1  2 to read as follows:
  1  3    4.  a.  A governmental body shall keep detailed minutes of
  1  4 all discussion, persons present, and action occurring at a
  1  5 closed session, and shall also audio record all of the closed
  1  6 session.
  1  7    b.  The detailed minutes and audio recording of a closed
  1  8 session shall be sealed and shall not be public records open
  1  9 to public inspection. However, upon order of the court in
  1 10 an action to enforce this chapter, the detailed minutes and
  1 11 audio recording shall be unsealed and examined by the court
  1 12 in camera. The court shall then determine what part, if
  1 13 any, of the minutes should be disclosed to the party seeking
  1 14 enforcement of this chapter for use in that enforcement
  1 15 proceeding. In determining whether any portion of the
  1 16 minutes or recording shall be disclosed to such a party for
  1 17 this purpose, the court shall weigh the prejudicial effects
  1 18 to the public interest of the disclosure of any portion of
  1 19 the minutes or recording in question, against its probative
  1 20 value as evidence in an enforcement proceeding. After such
  1 21 a determination, the court may permit inspection and use of
  1 22 all or portions of the detailed minutes and audio recording by
  1 23 the party seeking enforcement of this chapter. A governmental
  1 24 body shall keep the detailed minutes and audio recording of any
  1 25 closed session for a period of at least one year from the date
  1 26 of that meeting, except as otherwise required by law.
  1 27    (1)  This paragraph "b" does not require the Iowa public
  1 28 information board to obtain a court order to examine the
  1 29 detailed minutes and audio recording of a closed session for
  1 30 the purpose of resolving a complaint  alleging a violation of
  1 31 this chapter. Any portion of the minutes or recording released
  1 32 by a governmental body to the Iowa public information board
  1 33 shall remain confidential pursuant to section 23.6, subsection
  1 34 6.
  1 35    (2)  This paragraph "b" does not require the office of
  2  1 ombudsman to obtain a court order to examine the detailed
  2  2 minutes and audio recording of a closed session when such
  2  3 examination is relevant to an investigation under chapter 2C
  2  4 and the information  sought is not available through other
  2  5 reasonable means. Any portion of the minutes or recording
  2  6 released by a governmental body to the Iowa public information
  2  7 board shall remain confidential pursuant to section 2C.9.
  2  8                           EXPLANATION
  2  9 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2 10 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  2 11    Under current law, meetings of a governmental body under
  2 12 Iowa's open meetings law (Code chapter 21) are required to be
  2 13 preceded by public notice and shall be held in open session.
  2 14 A governmental body may hold a closed session under certain
  2 15 circumstances and the minutes and audio recording of a closed
  2 16 session are not accessible to the public unless the person
  2 17 seeking access to the records files an action in court.
  2 18    This bill provides that the Iowa public information board
  2 19 is not required to obtain a court order to examine the minutes
  2 20 and audio recording of a closed session for the purpose
  2 21 of resolving complaints alleging violations of Iowa's open
  2 22 meetings law. Similarly, the office of ombudsman is not
  2 23 required to obtain a court order to examine the minutes and
  2 24 audio recording of a closed session when such examination is
  2 25 relevant to an investigation under Code chapter 2C (ombudsman's
  2 26 office) and the information is not available through other
  2 27 means.
       LSB 1970YH (2) 86
       rh/rj