19FC:0024 Don Burgmaier/Iowa Department of Human Services - Dismissal Order

Date:
03/21/2019

Subject:
Don Burgmaier/Iowa Department of Human Services - Dismissal Order

Opinion:

The Iowa Public Information Board

COMES NOW Margaret E. Johnson, Executive Director for the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB), and enters this Dismissal Order.

Don Burgmaier filed formal complaint 19FC:0024 on February 26, 2019.  He alleged that the Iowa Department of Human Service (DHS) violated Iowa Code chapter 22 by failing to provide copies of public records.

Mr. Burgmaier filed a request for documents, policies, rules, regulations, and the Iowa Code sections that would answer specific questions on February 22, 2019.  On February 25, 2019, he received a response from DHS listing the specific sections of Iowa Code that addressed his request.

Mr. Burgmaier previously filed a request for answers to three questions to DHS on November 30, 2018. This record request was the basis of formal complaint 19FC:0002.  That complaint was dismissed by the IPIB on January 28, 2019, because he was asking for answers to questions and not for public records and because there were no records responsive to his request.

Subsequently, he redrafted his record request to ask for any documents that would answer the questions.

As noted in the earlier complaint, there are no records responsive to his request.  According to DHS, the only public records responsive to the current request are Iowa Code chapter 232 and Iowa Administrative Code chapters 172, 175, and 200.  DHS provided this information to Mr. Burgmaier in its response on February 25, 2019.

Iowa Code sections and Administrative Code sections are available on the legislative website:  www.legis.iowa.gov.

Iowa Code section 23.8 requires that a complaint be within the IPIB’s jurisdiction, appear legally sufficient, and could have merit before the IPIB accepts a complaint.  This complaint does not meet those requirements.

IT IS SO ORDERED:  Formal complaint 19FC:0024 is dismissed as legally insufficient pursuant to Iowa Code section 23.8(2) and Iowa Administrative Rule 497-2.1(2)(b).

Pursuant to Iowa Administrative Rule 497-2.1(3), the IPIB may “delegate acceptance or dismissal of a complaint to the executive director, subject to review by the board.”  The IPIB will review this Order on March 21, 2019. Pursuant to IPIB rule 497-2.1(4), the parties will be notified in writing of its decision.

By the IPIB Executive Director

_________________________________

Margaret E. Johnson, J.D.

CERTIFICATE OF MAILING

This document was sent by electronic mail on the ___ day of March 2019, to:

Don Burgmaier

Matt Highland, DHS