HSB 216 (LSB 2124HC (4) 85)

HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON KOESTER)

A BILL FOR

An Act allowing the office of citizens’ aide and the Iowa public information board access to the minutes and audio recording of a closed session in the performance of their duties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 21.5, subsection 4, Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   4.
  a.  A governmental body shall keep detailed minutes of all discussion, persons present, and action occurring at a closed session, and shall also audio record all of the closed session.
   b.  The detailed minutes and audio 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 audio 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 audio recording by the party seeking enforcement of this chapter. A governmental body shall keep the detailed minutes and audio recording of any closed session for a period of at least one year from the date of that meeting, except as otherwise required by law.

This paragraph does not require the office of citizens’ aide or the Iowa public information board to obtain a court order for the purpose of inspecting the detailed minutes and audio record of a closed session in the performance of their duties or under chapter 2C.
EXPLANATION
   Under current law, meetings of a governmental body under Iowa’s open meetings law (Code chapter 21) shall be preceded by public notice and shall be held in open session. A governmental body may hold a closed session under certain circumstances and the minutes and audio recording of a closed session are not accessible to the public unless the person seeking access to the records files an action in court.
   This bill provides that the office of citizens’ aide and the Iowa public information board are not required to obtain a court order to inspect the minutes and audio recording of a closed session in the performance of their duties under Code chapter 2C.