Last month, Gov. Kim Reynolds took the extraordinary step of filing a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register, asking for an injunction to stop the newspaper from continuing to request copies of four emails written by her staff. The governor asserted the emails were covered by executive privilege, and therefore not subject to being released […]
Open Records Act
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa atheist group sues Reynolds, Reynolds sues Des Moines Register over her withholding documents
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ use of executive privilege to withhold documents from the public and the media led to two lawsuits being filed in Polk County District Court on Friday. In one, Iowa Atheists and Freethinkers (IAF) is suing the governor’s office over its withholding documents related to the decision to prevent the Iowa Satanic Temple […]
Posted inCommunity/News
State officials weigh an exception to the Iowa Open Records Act that lets them ignore ‘vexatious requesters’
At its meeting on Thursday, the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB) voted to defer a decision on a proposal to ask the legislature to create a new exception to Iowa’s Open Records Act that would allow government agencies to disregard records requests from a “vexatious requester.” Instead, the board will create a committee to gather […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Iowa Supreme Court rejects Gov. Reynolds’ attempt to have open records lawsuit thrown out
On Friday, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected Gov. Kim Reynolds’ attempt to have a lawsuit alleging violations of the state’s Open Record Act dismissed. The justices rejected the governor’s argument that the law’s requirement to respond to requests in a timely manner cannot be enforced when a governor ignores it. The court also found that […]
Posted inEastern Iowa
Gov. Reynolds fails to get Open Records Act lawsuit dismissed; complains about State Auditor doing audits
Gov. Kim Reynolds’ attempt to get a lawsuit over her administration’s failure to comply with Iowa’s Open Records Act dismissed failed on Friday. Polk County District Court Judge Joseph Seidlin rejected the argument by the governor’s attorney that the case is now moot because the state had finally turned over all the records covered by […]
