Senate Amendment to House File 2490 H-8389 Amend House File 2490, as passed by the House, as follows: 1 1. Page 1, line 20, by striking < any > and inserting < the 2 primary > 3 2. Page 1, line 22, before < internet > by inserting < primary > 4 3. Page 1, after line 29 by inserting: 5 < Sec. ___. Section 22.3, Code 2026, is amended to read as 6 follows: 7 22.3 Supervision —— fees. 8 1. a. The examination and copying of public records shall 9 be done under the supervision of the lawful custodian of the 10 records or the lawful custodian’s authorized designee. 11 b. The lawful custodian shall not require the physical 12 presence of a person requesting or receiving a copy of a public 13 record and shall fulfill requests for a copy of a public record 14 received in writing, by telephone, or by electronic means. 15 Although fulfillment 16 2. a. Fulfillment of a request for a copy of a public 17 record may be contingent upon receipt of payment of reasonable 18 expenses , the . The lawful custodian shall make every 19 reasonable effort to provide the public record requested at no 20 cost other than copying costs for a record which takes less 21 than thirty minutes to produce. 22 b. In the event expenses are necessary, such expenses shall 23 must be reasonable and shall be communicated to the requester 24 upon receipt of the request. 25 c. A person may contest the reasonableness of the lawful 26 custodian’s expenses as provided for in this chapter. 27 3. The lawful custodian may adopt and enforce reasonable 28 rules regarding the examination and copying of the public 29 records and the protection of the records against damage or 30 disorganization. 31 4. The lawful custodian shall provide a suitable place 32 location for the examination and copying of the public records, 33 but if it is impracticable to do the examination and copying of 34 the records in the office of the lawful custodian, the person 35 -1- HF 2490.4096.S (1) 91 mb 1/ 5 #1. #2. #3.

desiring to examine or copy shall pay any necessary expenses of 1 providing a place for the examination and copying. 2 2. All reasonable expenses of the examination and copying 3 shall be paid by the person desiring to examine or copy. 4 5. a. The lawful custodian may charge a reasonable fee 5 for the services of the lawful custodian or the custodian’s 6 authorized designee in supervising the examination and 7 copying of the public records. All reasonable expenses of the 8 examination and copying shall be paid by the person desiring to 9 examine or copy the public record. 10 b. If copy equipment is available at the office of the 11 lawful custodian of any public records, the lawful custodian 12 shall provide any person a reasonable number of copies of any 13 public record in the custody of the office upon the payment of 14 a fee. The fee for the copying service as determined by the 15 lawful custodian shall not exceed the actual cost of providing 16 the service. Actual costs shall include only those reasonable 17 expenses directly attributable to supervising the examination 18 of and making and providing copies of public records. Actual 19 costs shall not include charges for ordinary expenses or 20 costs such as employment benefits, depreciation, maintenance, 21 electricity, or insurance associated with the administration of 22 the office of the lawful custodian. 23 c. Costs for legal services should only be utilized for 24 the redaction or review of legally protected confidential 25 information. However, a 26 d. A county recorder shall not charge a fee for the 27 examination and copying of public records necessary to complete 28 and file claims for benefits with the Iowa department of 29 veterans affairs or the United States department of veterans 30 affairs. 31 Sec. ___. Section 22.7, subsection 11, paragraph a, Code 32 2026, is amended by adding the following new subparagraphs: 33 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (6) The last date the individual, 34 who resigned from or was discharged by the government body, 35 -2- HF 2490.4096.S (1) 91 mb 2/ 5

performed work or actively carried out essential functions 1 of the position, regardless of whether the information is 2 contained in a written document, contract, agreement, or 3 arrangement. 4 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (7) The amount of moneys and public 5 benefits provided to the individual for any continuation of 6 pay, severance, or other compensation or benefits in excess of 7 the amounts owed for work performed by the individual prior 8 to the individual’s last day as an employee, contractor, or 9 appointee for the government body, regardless of whether the 10 information is contained in a written document, contract, 11 agreement, or arrangement. > 12 Sec. ___. NEW SECTION . 22.8A Injunction to restrain 13 vexatious requester. 14 1. The district court may grant an injunction restraining 15 the right of a person found to be a vexatious requester to 16 examine public records under section 22.2 from a specific 17 government body, or may impose reasonable limitations on the 18 manner, frequency, or scope of such requests. A hearing shall 19 be held on a request for injunction after reasonable notice, as 20 determined by the court, is given to the person alleged to be a 21 vexatious requester. The government body seeking an injunction 22 shall ensure compliance with the notice requirement. Such an 23 injunction may be issued only if the petition supported by 24 affidavit shows, and if the court finds, all of the following: 25 a. The requests, considered in totality, would clearly not 26 be in the public interest. 27 b. The requests, considered in totality, constitute a 28 pattern of vexatious conduct. 29 c. The continuation of such requests would substantially and 30 irreparably injure the government body’s ability to perform the 31 government body’s duties or functions. 32 d. Less restrictive measures under this chapter are 33 inadequate to provide sufficient relief. 34 2. In an action brought under this section, the court shall 35 -3- HF 2490.4096.S (1) 91 mb 3/ 5

take into account the policy of this chapter that free and 1 open examination of public records is generally in the public 2 interest even though such requests may cause inconvenience or 3 embarrassment to public officials or others. A court may issue 4 an injunction under this section only if the government body 5 seeking the injunction demonstrates by clear and convincing 6 evidence that this section authorizes the issuance of the 7 injunction. 8 3. In determining whether conduct constitutes vexatious 9 conduct under this section, the court may consider any of the 10 following: 11 a. The number, frequency, timing, scope, and content of 12 public requests. 13 b. The nature of oral and written communications related to 14 the public requests. 15 c. Any prior administrative or judicial findings regarding 16 the conduct of the requester. 17 d. All other relevant circumstances. 18 4. For purposes of this section: 19 a. “News media” includes any person who regularly gathers, 20 prepares, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, or 21 publishes news for monetary consideration. 22 b. (1) “Vexatious conduct” means a pattern of public 23 records requests that satisfies one or more of the following: 24 (a) The requests are designed primarily to harass the 25 government body, its officers, or its employees. 26 (b) The government body shows by clear and convincing 27 evidence that the requests impose an unreasonable burden on the 28 government body and compliance would substantially interfere 29 with essential governmental operations. 30 (c) The requests are submitted in a manner or accompanied by 31 communication that constitute harassment of public officers or 32 employees as provided in section 718.4. 33 (2) “Vexatious conduct” does not include solely a large 34 volume of requests made by a person or a representative of the 35 -4- HF 2490.4096.S (1) 91 mb 4/ 5

news media. 1 5. Upon finding by a preponderance of the evidence that the 2 requester has not engaged in a pattern of vexatious conduct, 3 a court shall order the payment of all costs and reasonable 4 attorney fees, including appellate attorney fees, to the 5 requester by the government body in the action brought under 6 this section. > 7 4. Title page, by striking lines 1 and 2 and inserting 8 < An Act relating to public meetings and records, including 9 public notice requirements for meetings of a governmental 10 body, supervision and fees associated with examining and 11 copying public records, employment separation information for 12 certain government employees, contractors, or appointees, and 13 injunctions to restrain vexatious requesters. > 14 5. By renumbering as necessary. 15 -5- HF 2490.4096.S (1) 91 mb 5/ 5 #4.