HSB 76 (LSB 1294DP (3) 91)

SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED IOWA PUBLIC INFORMATION BOARD BILL)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to public records requests.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 22.3, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The examination and copying of public records shall be done under the supervision of the lawful custodian of the records or the custodian’s authorized designee. The lawful custodian shall not require the physical presence of a person requesting or receiving a copy of a public record and shall fulfill requests for a copy of a public record received in writing, by telephone, or by electronic means. Although fulfillment of a request for a copy of a public record may be contingent upon receipt of payment of reasonable expenses, the lawful custodian shall make every reasonable effort to provide the public record requested at no cost other than copying costs for a record which takes less than thirty minutes to produce. In the event expenses are necessary, such expenses shall be reasonable and communicated to the requester upon receipt of the request in accordance with section 22.4, subsection 3.  A person may contest the reasonableness of the custodian’s expenses as provided for in this chapter. The lawful custodian may adopt and enforce reasonable rules regarding the examination and copying of the records and the protection of the records against damage or disorganization. The lawful custodian shall provide a suitable place for the examination and copying of the records, but if it is impracticable to do the examination and copying of the records in the office of the lawful custodian, the person desiring to examine or copy shall pay any necessary expenses of providing a place for the examination and copying.
    Sec. 2.  Section 22.4, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  3.  Upon receipt of a request for a copy of a public record, the lawful custodian or the lawful custodian’s authorized designee shall do all of the fo11owing:
   a.  Promptly acknowledge the request and provide contact information for the lawful custodian’s authorized designee. For purposes of this paragraph, “promptly” means performing the action using reasonable, good-faith efforts to respond, taking into account the circumstances at the time the request was received.
   b.  Provide an approximate date by which an estimate for any reasonable expenses and the release of a copy of the public record or a response to the request will be provided to the requester.
   c.  Inform the requester of any expected delay in the production of the public record.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill provides that upon receipt of a public records request, the lawful custodian shall (1) promptly, as defined in the bill, acknowledge the request and provide the contact information of the lawful custodian’s authorized designee, (2) provide an approximate date for a response and an estimate of any reasonable fees associated with the request, and (3) inform the requester of any expected delay in production of the public record.