Open records board recommended (Iowa)

January 11, 2008

 
 

Open records board recommended

 
 

By JASON CLAYWORTH

REGISTER STAFF WRITER

Iowa lawmakers said Thursday they will recommend creating a new state board that would investigate complaints and fine government agencies or elected officials who violate open meetings laws.

 
 

A committee of lawmakers is preparing the proposal as part of a comprehensive reworking of the state's open records laws. The issue gained statewide attention about two years ago after a pay scandal at the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium, better known as CIETC. Federal investigators said $1.8 million of taxpayer money was misspent on bonuses to top executives at the job training agency.

State legislators Thursday said the CIETC scandal could have been more easily detected if laws had mandated greater transparency.

 
 

Under the plan, agencies like CIETC that are contracted by other government bodies would be required to disclose financial and decision-making records.

 
 

Lawmakers say there also has been a breakdown in enforcement of current open-government laws. Citizens are often left with few options but to file lawsuits if they feel public officials are violating open meetings or records laws. The idea of a board to handle such complaints would help to resolve that problem, they said.

Citizens "want a one-stop shop for potential violations of the open records, open meetings laws, and this bill would provide that," said Sen. Michael Connolly, a Dubuque Democrat and co-chairman of the Freedom of Information, Open Meetings and Public Records Study Committee.

 
 

Creation of an open meetings and public records board would cost taxpayers between $250,000 and $1 million a year. Appointments to the five-member board would be made by the governor.

Officials from several groups that attended a committee meeting Thursday generally expressed support for the idea but also noted several areas of concern. The Iowa State Association of Counties said fines could cost $2,500 per violation. Officials suggested that the law distinguish between inadvertent and intentional violations, giving leniency toward officials who make honest mistakes.

 
 

The study committee will continue to make changes to the drafted proposal, which will be submitted to House and Senate leaders soon after the 2008 legislative session begins next week.

The proposal will need to pass through the Legislature's State Government Committee, as well as the House and the Senate before it would make its way to Gov. Chet Culver's desk to be signed into law. Brad Anderson, a spokesman for the governor, said Culver looks forward to reviewing the recommendations.

 
 

"I think it need to be refined and we need to keep working on a few issues, but I feel like we're going in the right direction," said Sen. Pat Ward, a West Des Moines Republican and member of the study committee.

Reporter Jason Clayworth can be reached at (515) 699-7058 or jclayworth@dmreg.com

 
 

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