House Study Bill 635 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON BAUDLER) A BILL FOR An Act relating to certain personal information under the 1 authority of local officials and including effective date 2 provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 6129YC (2) 85 md/sc

H.F. _____ Section 1. NEW SECTION . 331.910 Limit of public access and 1 redaction of certain personal information —— request. 2 1. Notwithstanding chapter 22, an eligible person may file 3 a request in writing with a local official on a form prescribed 4 by the department of public safety, in consultation with the 5 Iowa county recorders association, to prohibit the general 6 public from accessing the eligible person’s name, residential 7 address, and telephone number, as identified by the eligible 8 person, that are contained in instruments, books, records, 9 indexes, and other information under the authority of the 10 local official, including information displayed for access on 11 an internet site, and including but not limited to books and 12 records kept by the county auditor under section 331.508, books 13 and records kept by the county recorder under section 331.607, 14 assessment rolls and records kept by the local assessor, and 15 the portions of the county system under the authority of the 16 local official. An eligible person may also request that 17 the name, residential address, and telephone number of any 18 immediate family member of the eligible person be restricted 19 and redacted in the same manner as the information of the 20 eligible person. 21 2. Within fifteen days of receiving the request, the local 22 official shall redact the eligible person’s name, residential 23 address, and telephone number from all instruments, books, 24 records, indexes, and other information kept by that local 25 official and shall ensure that such information does not 26 appear in search results on an internet site maintained by 27 the local official. The restriction on public access and the 28 requirements for redaction shall apply to instruments, books, 29 records, indexes, and other information in possession of the 30 local official at the time of the request and to instruments, 31 books, records, indexes, and other information received 32 or contained in documents or records prepared by the local 33 official after receiving the request. 34 3. This section shall not be interpreted to prohibit 35 -1- LSB 6129YC (2) 85 md/sc 1/ 3

H.F. _____ access to the instruments, books, records, indexes, and other 1 information in possession of the local official by parties 2 to the instrument, a peace officer performing the officer’s 3 official duties, an attorney or abstractor participating in the 4 title guaranty program under chapter 16, or an escrow agent, or 5 access required pursuant to a court order. 6 4. For purposes of this section: 7 a. “Eligible person” includes an attorney general, county 8 attorney, peace officer, or prosecuting attorney as defined 9 in section 801.4, or a judicial officer as defined in section 10 602.1101. 11 b. “Local official” means a county auditor, county 12 treasurer, county recorder, or local assessor. 13 Sec. 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF ACT. Section 25B.2, subsection 14 3, shall not apply to this Act. 15 Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT. This Act, being deemed of 16 immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment. 17 EXPLANATION 18 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 19 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 20 This bill provides that an eligible person may file a 21 request in writing with one or more local officials to 22 prohibit the general public from accessing the eligible 23 person’s name, residential address, and telephone number that 24 are contained in instruments, books, records, indexes, and 25 other information under the authority of the local official, 26 including information displayed on an internet site. The bill 27 defines “eligible person” to include an attorney general, 28 county attorney, peace officer, or prosecuting attorney as 29 defined in Code section 801.4, or a judicial officer as defined 30 in Code section 602.1101. The bill defines “local official” 31 to mean a county auditor, county treasurer, county recorder, 32 or local assessor. The bill also allows an eligible person 33 to request that the name, residential address, and telephone 34 number of any immediate family member of the eligible person be 35 -2- LSB 6129YC (2) 85 md/sc 2/ 3

H.F. _____ restricted and redacted in the same manner as the information 1 of the eligible person. 2 The bill requires the local official to, within 15 days 3 of receiving a request, redact the eligible person’s name, 4 residential address, and telephone number from all instruments, 5 books, records, indexes, and other information kept by that 6 local official and ensure that such information does not appear 7 in search results on an internet site maintained by the local 8 official. 9 The bill provides that the restriction on public access 10 and the requirement for redaction shall not be interpreted to 11 prohibit access to the instruments, books, records, indexes, 12 and other information in possession of the local official 13 by parties to the instrument, a peace officer performing 14 the officer’s official duties, an attorney or abstractor 15 participating in the title guaranty program, or an escrow 16 agent, or access required pursuant to a court order. 17 The bill may include a state mandate as defined in Code 18 section 25B.3. The bill makes inapplicable Code section 25B.2, 19 subsection 3, which would relieve a political subdivision from 20 complying with a state mandate if funding for the cost of 21 the state mandate is not provided or specified. Therefore, 22 political subdivisions are required to comply with any state 23 mandate included in the bill. 24 The bill takes effect upon enactment. 25 -3- LSB 6129YC (2) 85 md/sc 3/ 3