Date:
12/16/2021
Subject:
Kylee Haueter/Iowa State University - Dismissal Order
Opinion:
The Iowa Public Information Board
|
In re the Matter of: Kylee Haueter, Complainant And Concerning: Iowa State University, Respondent |
Case Number: 21FC:0105 Dismissal Order
|
COMES NOW, Margaret E. Johnson, Executive Director for the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB), and enters this Dismissal Order:
On November 11, 2021, Kylee Haueter filed formal complaint 21FC:0105, alleging that Iowa State University (ISU) violated Iowa Code chapter 22 on November 11, 2021.
Ms. Haueter alleged that she filed a request for public records on September 2, 2021:
On Sept. 2, the Iowa State Daily filed a public records request with Iowa State University which was denied for being too broad. We sent an adjusted one that same day, which we were notified on Sept. 17 about it still being too broad. Sept. 21, I submitted a very specific request which was then acknowledged on Sept. 22. We received an invoice and paid for the records. On Nov. 1, I reached out to the public records office to ask about a status for our request being that it has been much longer than the 20 days/reasonable amount of time that Iowa law states and was told on Nov. 2 that the public records officer was hoping to get us our records within a week. It has now been nine days and we have heard nothing.
The record request was for copies of emails sent from various addresses within ISU for the time period July 1, 2021, and September 21, 2021, containing any of ten keywords1 The last correspondence from ISU on November 2, 2021, stated that reviewing the records was taking longer than anticipated and that they were “hoping to get them to you within a week.'' Ms. Haueter asked that the IPIB assist in obtaining the release of the records.
In response to the complaint, legal counsel for ISU stated:
The requested documents were produced on 10/18/2021. The request was a complicated e-mail request that required the review of a large amount of information because of privacy/confidentiality concerns. We were unable to complete the review as quickly as we would have liked to, particularly given other pressing matters in the office. We are committed to appropriately responding to all public information requests. Please let me know if you need further information. Thank you.
Although the response from legal counsel stated the records were released on October 18, 2021, the actual date of release was November 18, 2021, according to both parties.
On November 19, 2021, Ms. Haueter acknowledged that she had received the records. She was concerned that ISU legal counsel had given the wrong date of release. She indicated she would withdraw her complaint if there was nothing the IPIB could do about his mistake, but has not confirmed a withdrawal.
Iowa Code chapter 22 does not provide a time-certain for release of records. As noted on the IPIB website:
The time to locate a record can vary considerably depending on the specificity of the request, the number of potentially responsive documents, the age of the documents, the location of the documents, and whether documents are stored electronically. The large number of variable factors affecting response time makes it very difficult, and probably unwise, to establish any hard and fast objective standards.2
The Iowa Supreme Court has determined that Iowa Code section 22.8(4)(d) does not impose an absolute ten business/twenty calendar deadline for the release of public records.3
While ISU might have been able to retrieve, review, and release the emails more expeditiously, the delay does not appear to rise to the level of an unreasonable delay.
Iowa Code section 23.8 requires that a complaint be within the IPIB’s jurisdiction, appear legally sufficient, and have merit before the IPIB accepts a complaint. This complaint does not meet those requirements.
IT IS SO ORDERED: Formal complaint 21FC:0105 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 December 16, 2021. 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.
1. The record request was for “Emails sent from provost@iastate.edu AND wickert@iastate.edu to wwinters@iastate.edu AND president@iastate.edu AND vanderza@iastate.edu as well as emails received by provost@iastate.edu AND wickert@iastate.edu from wwinters@iastate.edu AND president@iastate.edu AND vanderza@iastate.edu between the dates of July 1, 2021 and September 21, 2021, and in which any the following keywords appear: Covid, Covid-19, coronavirus, faculty, classroom, contact tracing, notify, notifications, positive, case.”
2. See the FAQ concerning the time requirements for the release of public records on the IPIB website: “How much time does the public agency have to produce a requested record?”
3. “Based on our review of section 22.8(4)(d), we believe it is not intended to impose an absolute twenty-day deadline on a government entity to find and produce requested public records, no matter how voluminous the request. Rather, it imposes an outside deadline for the government entity to determine ‘whether a confidential record should be available for inspection and copying to the person requesting the right to do so.’ We do not think we should extrapolate section 22.8(4)(d)’s twenty-day deadline to other contexts, when the legislature chose not even to include that deadline in other portions of section 22.8(4).” Horsfield Materials, Inc. v. City of Dyersville, 834 N.W.2d 444, 461 (Iowa 2013).
CERTIFICATE OF MAILING
This document was sent on the ___ day of December, 2021, to:
Kylee Haueter
Michael Norton, legal counsel for ISU