Iowa FOI Council

Pottawattamie County attorney files petition to remove board chair for alleged intoxication while on the job The Pottawattamie County attorney filed a petition on Friday to remove Scott Belt from his position as chairperson for the county Board of Supervisors.

Pottawattamie County attorney files petition to remove county supervisor for alleged intoxication during meeting

kcci.com/article/pott...

Iowa to pay $600,000 to former public health spokesperson who claimed wrongful firing The state of Iowa will pay $600,000 to settle a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by former Iowa Department of Public Health Communications Director Polly Carver-Kimm, who claimed she was forced to...

Taxpayers will have to pay $600,000 because Gov Kim Reynolds administration flaunted the public records law. That’s on top of a $135,000 settlement in 2023 for ignoring records requests.
www.iowapublicradio.org/state-govern...

Des Moines Public Schools — still dealing with fallout from arrest of its sup’t — has placed another top official on paid leave but refuses to say why. Officials waited TWO WEEKS to make this news public. DMPS will not rebuild public trust with secrecy. www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/e...

—- > The judge said, “Crook spoke as a citizen on a matter of public concern in her Facebook comments” that were posted “on her personal time, at home, from her personal Facebook account. … She did not purport to speak as an employee of the Creston Community School District.”

—-> The judge scheduled a hearing for Oct. 31 on whether to issue an injunction against the Creston school district. Judge Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger declined Crook’s request to lift her suspension now.

A federal judge today issued a temporary order blocking the Creston, IA, school board from holding a hearing tomorrow to act to the superintendent’s recommendation to fire teacher Melisa Crook for her Facebook post about Charlie Kirk’s murder. — >

Iowa school districts should stop playing the search firm game Saga of Des Moines superintendent puts search firms under fresh scrutiny

School districts need to hear from local residents on the finalists when hiring new superintendents and *not* automatically turn to secrecy.
open.substack.com/pub/todddorm...

Des Moines School Board will NOT rebuild public trust, confidence by stonewalling Q’s about its own screening of Ian Roberts or refusing to release documents Roberts provided with his I-9 form. Secrecy will continue to eat away at public respect for DMPS.
www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/e...

ISU presidential search committee uses consensus to pick 8 semi-finalists The search committee tasked with identifying finalists to lead Iowa State University as its next president met in closed session Monday and after several hours of discussion narrowed down a pool of 78...

A search committee winnowing the field of candidates for president of Iowa State University has settled on its semifinalists. Instead of names, the public knows their ID number. ⤵️
www.thegazette.com/higher-educa...

—- > UPDATE:
The Des Moines school
board cancelled its closed-door discussion of the superintendent at the direction of the school attorney because no written request for the closed meeting was received from Ian Roberts.

—- > It appears Roberts has *not* been unable to communicate with school officials since his arrest — making such a request impossible.

—- > employees, taxpayers to conduct today’s special board meeting in public. Secrecy risks further erosion of public trust in the board.

The legal basis cited for closing today’s meeting — evaluating Roberts’ professional competency — only applies if the employee asks for a closed session. —- >

The Iowa FOI Council issued this statement about today’s special Des Moines school board meeting:

Questions have been raised, and rightly so, about Supt Ian Roberts’ legal status. Some question the diligence of the board’s background investigation.

The board owed it to parents, —- >

A tip for journalists or merely the curious in Iowa: When a prominent state or local gov’t employee leaves their job in Iowa, file a public records request for any separation agreement or other documents detailing terms of the departure. There may be nothing, but there may be bug payments.

Iowa Supreme Court spikes an excuse for hiding public comment Government bodies, including school boards, must prioritize the accessibility of their public meetings, the court said

In a victory for transparency, Iowa Supreme Court tells government boards they need not fear defamation lawsuits if they provide live-streaming or on-demand access to video recordings of their meetings.
open.substack.com/pub/revans28...

Covering immigration? RCFP’s new legal guide can help. RCFP’s new guide explains the legal issues journalists may encounter while reporting on immigration enforcement and deportation.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has a helpful new guide for journalists trying to cover the immigration issue:
www.rcfp.org/rcfp-new-imm...

Capitol security video *should* be publicly available. No one in the building’s public spaces has an expectation of privacy. The video would provide an independent means to show how protesters behave, how displays get vandalized, and how Capitol Police respond. ⤵️

FBI arrests Milwaukee County judge • Wisconsin Examiner Federal officials arrested Milwaukee County judge Hannah Dugan on Friday, accusing her of obstructing an immigration action.

BREAKING: FBI agents arrested Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan on Friday, accusing her of obstructing an immigration enforcement action last week. via @henry-redman.bsky.social wisconsinexaminer.com/briefs/fbi-a...

Iowa bill limiting lawsuits against free speech, press rights heads to Gov. Kim Reynolds After years of trying, Iowa lawmakers have finally sent a bill limiting lawsuits against free speech and press rights to Gov. Kim Reynolds.

To assert the legislation on access to State Capitol security video or Capitol door card-access logs endangers lawmakers’ or gov’t officials’ safety is simply wrong. This would *not* be live access. This would be provided lster. www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/p...

FBI director says a judge accused of helping someone evade immigration agents has been arrested FBI Director Kash Patel says a Wisconsin county judge accused of helping a man avoid immigration enforcement has been arrested.

"The FBI on Friday arrested a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, escalating a clash between the Trump administration and the judiciary over the Republican president’s sweeping immigration crackdown."

Amid Deportations, Immigrant Journalists Face Heightened Risks for Their Reporting Journalists in the U.S. with temporary visas, green cards or DACA are fearful their reporting may compromise their status amid ongoing deportations.

Immigrant journalists face increasing legal risks amid Trump's immigration crackdown — with many expressing concerns that their reporting could jeopardize their standing in the US.

@rcfp.org's Flavie Fuentes discussed in @amcommmedia.bsky.social:

Two Northeast Iowa school boards hold closed meeting after joint superintendent’s social media comments create uproar On Wednesday, the Central Community School Board and Eastern Allamakee School Board had an unusual, closed-session meeting.

Two school boards meet in a joint closed meeting over their shared superintendent’s social media posts about Big Pharma.
www.kcrg.com/2025/04/10/t...

Public Interest Law Firm Calls on Decatur County to Retract Threat to Sue Iowa Woman Over Her Criticism of County Leaders  - Institute for Justice ARLINGTON, Va.—Today, the Institute for Justice (IJ) sent a letter to county officials in Decatur County, Iowa, calling on them to abandon their attempt to […]

A national law firm has gone to bat on behalf of a Decatur County woman who was threatened with legal action by the county attorney over her criticism of a county supervisor’s absence from in-person board meetings. Here’s the Institute for Justice’s press release: ij.org/press-releas...

Using FOIA for emails Requesting emails can be extremely insightful, but also a bit of an exemptions minefield.

Requesting emails can be extremely insightful, but also a bit of an exemptions minefield. MuckRock has created a new guide for you on getting emails in public records requests:

State public records laws give citizens, and journalists, access to documents that enable people to better understand what government is doing — or not doing. Here’s a fine example ⤵️

RCFP tipsheet helps journalists access immigration, deportation records RCFP soon plans to publish a more extensive legal guide focused on helping journalists cover immigration and deportation.

The @rcfp.org has published a new tipsheet to help journalists access public records while reporting on immigration and deportation.

Available in both English and Spanish:

Des Moines must turn over officers' 2020 reports on use of force, Iowa Supreme Court rules Activist Harvey Harrison had requested reports officers must fill out after using force. The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday they are public records.

The ability of citizens to
monitor their police officers’ actions took an important step forward with today’s unanimous Iowa Supreme Court decision that officers’ use-of-force reports must be made public. www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/c...

Former Johnston school employee sued for alleged sexual abuse of student The parents allege a Johnston Community School District employee repeatedly touched their child inappropriately in restrooms at Wallace Elementary.

Johnston School District refuses to say what the now-former employee’s job was, when he left that job & whether it was a resignation, firing or resignation in lieu of termination, but those details ARE public & the school is ignoring its legal duty. www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/c...

We said in our request to the Supreme Court that the trial in Fairfield was of high public interest — because it focused on the competency, character and trustworthiness of Sheriff Bart Richmond, Jefferson County’s top law enforcement officer.

We based our appeal on the media’s and public’s fundamental First Amendment rights to have open courts and access judicial proceedings.