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Capitol Update - Records are not always as open as the law dictates they should be
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By: Charlotte Eby, Lee Enterprises Des Moines Bureau Chief
| 10/08/2007 |
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Iowa adopted "sunshine" laws to ensure Iowans have access to government records and meetings, but advocates for openness say citizens still are being denied the information they are entitled to have.
Iowa's open records and meetings laws are based on the idea that in a democracy, citizens should have access to information about their government.
In theory, any Iowan should be able to walk in a courthouse, police station or city hall and get their hands on a variety of records that are of the public interest.
But anecdotal evidence shows that isn't always the case.
Just ask citizens of the eastern Iowa town of Riverdale who had to sue to get their hands on public records after they raised questions about city spending and other government matters.
Critics have complained that Iowa's sunshine laws are too confusing.
Many reporters in Iowa, used to digging through these types of records in the newsgathering process, are well-versed in the law.
The average citizen is not. That can make it more difficult for them to convince public officials they have a right to see the document or records they are seeking.
But even citizens who understand the law have problems convincing government employees they should have access to records or should be allowed into a meeting. And when they do have problems, they cannot find anyone to enforce Iowa's open records and meetings laws on their behalf.
A few years ago, several Iowa newspapers set out to test whether government officials in Iowa followed the state's public records laws.
Journalists, acting as ordinary citizens, visited local government offices in all 99 counties to ask to see copies of records that are considered public under Iowa law.
The investigation showed that local public officials, especially those in law enforcement, routinely denied citizens access to public information. ÊÊÊ
The project might have opened some eyes to the problems, but it did little to spur action on the part of government officials.
This time, however, a group of state lawmakers appears ready to make changes.
A special committee of Iowa legislators has been appointed to study the problem.
Sen. Michael Connolly, a Dubuque Democrat, is co-chairing the legislative committee and sees a need for changes to Iowa's laws.
He points to a number of high-profile cases, including the salary scandal at a Des Moines jobs training agency known as CIETC.
Connolly also cites the controversial selection of a new president at the University of Iowa that critics complain was done in private.
The biggest problems with the current laws, Connolly said, are their inconsistencies and the lack of enforcement. The committee hopes to have a bill making changes to Iowa's laws drafted for when state lawmakers convene in January. ÊÊÊ
Advocates for openness say the Iowa Attorney General's Office and local county attorneys rarely enforce the laws, leaving citizens to hire private attorneys to take on their cause.Ê
State lawmakers should be commended for seriously considering changes to open meetings and records laws to make them effective.
Unless they are willing to take a stand in favor of openness, the past has shown that Iowans likely will continue to see the doors slammed shut in favor of secrecy.
(Charlotte Eby is a reporter in the Lee Enterprises Des Moines bureau. Her email is chareby@aol.com.)
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