Iowa Supreme Court allows lawsuit against Kim Reynolds for not following open records laws to continue

DES MOINES – The Iowa Supreme Court has sided with a group suing Governor Kim Reynolds for not releasing public records in a timely manner.

Three reporters, two media organizations, and the Iowa Freedom of Information Council (collectively, “the Reporters”) brought suit against Governor Kim Reynolds, her office, and three members of her staff (collectively, “the governor’s office”), regarding requests for records made between April 27, 2020 and November 3, 2021, to the governor’s office. The Reporters sought declaratory and injunctive relief pursuant to Iowa Code section 22.10 regarding 45 counts of ongoing violations, or alternatively an order for mandamus. The governor’s office asserts it fulfilled the requests for records except to the extent particular documents were confidential, and asked the district court to dismiss the action. The court denied the motion. The governor’s office filed an application for interlocutory appeal, which this court granted. The governor’s office argues: (1) chapter 22 does not include a timeliness requirement for fulfillment of an open-records request, especially with respect to requests for electronic records, and even if one does apply to other government bodies it does not apply to the governor’s office because of concerns rooted in the separation of powers and executive privilege; and (2) the fulfillment of the Reporters’ requests renders the lawsuit moot.

“We conclude that the Act may permit the plaintiffs to pursue claims based on untimeliness,” the Court wrote in its opinion. “The district court was right to deny the defendants’ motion to dismiss. We remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”

Gov. Kim Reynolds released the following statement in response to the Iowa Supreme Court opinion in case 22-0789:

“The initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic consumed every aspect of our daily lives, and accordingly my office shifted its entire focus to help Iowans navigate that difficult period. During that time, there was an unprecedented number of open records requests and many of those went unfulfilled for a period. While we disagree that this lawsuit should continue, my office has eliminated the backlog of open records requests and is committed to upholding our responsibility to respond to any new requests in a timely manner.”