Date:
11/17/2014
Subject:
Aaron Staker / Ankeny School Board - Chapter 22
Opinion:
Formal Complaint 14FC:0085, filed by Aaron Staker, concerning a potential public records violation by the Ankeny School Board. Complaint dismissed as legally insufficient.
November 17, 2014
Aaron Staker
2602 NW 14th St BY EMAIL ONLY
Ankeny, IA 50023
Dear Mr. Staker:
On October 24, 2014, you filed a complaint with the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB). The complaint alleges that the Ankeny School Board (ASB) violated Chapter 22 of the Iowa Code when you were not provided with information you requested.
You alleged that on October 22, 2014, you requested “information from the district regarding criminal background checks…to verify and validate that the district has performed background checks on all board members, staff, teachers and administrators.” When ASB agreed to provide documentation of the personnel who had completed the background checks, but not copies of the actual documents, you requested a copy of every background check on an ASB board member, teacher, and faculty member. You also requested a comprehensive list of dates that ASB employees received background checks and a report detailing all potential problems found in the background checks.
ASB responded that the background checks are confidential as personnel records under Iowa Code subsection 22.7(11)(a):
The following public records shall be kept confidential, unless otherwise ordered by a court, by the lawful custodian of the records, or by another person duly authorized to release such information:
11. a. Personal information in confidential personnel records of government bodies relating to identified or identifiable individuals who are officials, officers, or employees of the government bodies.
According to information posted on the website for the Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), the school district is technically not the custodian of the records you seek. According to the DCI website, the DCI is the central repository for criminal history record information for the State of Iowa.
The website outlines the process for requesting a background check, and the rules and regulations about what can be done with the background check in the FAQ section:
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Question: |
Can I disseminate the results of the Iowa criminal history record check? |
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Answer: |
No. Pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 692.2 only the Department of Public Safety may disseminate criminal history data maintained by the department to persons who are not criminal or juvenile justice agencies. |
Iowa Code Chapter 692 codifies the state law concerning release of background checks. Subsection 692.2(1) outlines who may request a background check. Any person can request criminal history data, or a background check, upon “written application on a form approved by the commissioner of public safety and provided by the department to law enforcement agencies….” The form and additional information is available on the DCI website.
Iowa Code section 692.3 provides specific guidance of when and how a background check can be redisseminated:
A criminal or juvenile justice agency may redisseminate arrest data, and the name, photograph, physical description, and other identifying information concerning a person who is wanted or being sought if a warrant for the arrest of that person has been issued. Information relating to any threat the person may pose to the public may also be redisseminated. The information may be redisseminated through any written, audio, or visual means utilized by a criminal or juvenile justice agency. Any redissemination of information pursuant to this section shall also include the statement provided in section 692.2, subsection 1, paragraph “b”, subparagraph (5).
Only a criminal or juvenile justice agency may redisseminate the report.
Failure to comply with the rules of sections 692.2 and 693.3 can result in civil and criminal liability:
692.6 Any person may institute a civil action for damages under chapter 669 or 670 or to restrain the dissemination of the person's criminal history data or intelligence data in violation of this chapter. Notwithstanding any provisions of chapter 669 or 670 to the contrary, any person, agency, or governmental body proven to have disseminated or to have requested and received criminal history data or intelligence data in violation of this chapter shall be liable for actual damages and exemplary damages for each violation and shall be liable for court costs, expenses, and reasonable attorney fees incurred by the party bringing the action. In no case shall the award for damages be less than one hundred dollars.
692.7 1. A person who willfully requests, obtains, or seeks to obtain criminal history data under false pretenses, or who willfully communicates or seeks to communicate criminal history data to any agency or person except in accordance with this chapter, or a person connected with a research program authorized pursuant to this chapter who willfully falsifies criminal history data or any records relating thereto, shall, upon conviction, for each such offense be guilty of an aggravated misdemeanor.
The Iowa Code is clear that ASB is prohibited from releasing copies of any background checks.
Based upon the information provided by you and by ASB, you have received the information you requested which may be lawfully provided to you by the ASB. Additionally, ASB created lists of information specifically for you that were not previously memorialized in a record.
Pursuant to Iowa Administrative Code Rule 497-2.1(3), the IPIB has delegated acceptance or dismissal of a complaint to the Executive Director. The decision of the Executive Director is subject to review by the Board.
Iowa Code section 23.8 provides two options for action by the IPIB upon receipt of a complaint, the second of which states:
Determine that, on its face, the complaint is outside its jurisdiction, is legally insufficient, is frivolous, is without merit, involves harmless error, or relates to a specific incident that has previously been finally disposed of on its merits by the board or a court. In such a case the board shall decline to accept the complaint. If the board refuses to accept a complaint, the board shall provide the complainant with a written order explaining its reasons for the action.
For the reasons set forth above, it is therefore ordered that the complaint is dismissed on the grounds that the alleged violation of chapter 22 is legally insufficient.
A copy of this Order is being forwarded to the Iowa Public Information Board for review at its next scheduled meeting on November 20, 2014.
Keith Luchtel
Executive Director
CC: IPIB
Ankeny School Board, attn. Jenifer Owenson