24AO:0002 - Chapter 22 requirements for MFPRSI records

Advisory Opinion 24AO:0002

DATE: April 18, 2024

SUBJECT: Chapter 22 requirements for MFPRSI records 

This opinion concerns a public records request for MFPRSI member records. MFPRSI Advisory opinions may be adopted by the board pursuant to Iowa Code section 23.6(3) and Rule 497–1.2(2): “[t]he board may on its own motion issue opinions without receiving a formal request.”  We note at the outset that IPIB’s jurisdiction is limited to the application of Iowa Code chapters 21, 22, and 23, and rules in Iowa Administrative Code chapter 497.  Advice in a Board opinion, if followed, constitutes a defense to a subsequent complaint based on the same facts and circumstances.

QUESTION POSED:

A request for information was submitted to the Municipal Fire and Police Retirement System of Iowa, organized under Iowa Code Chapter 411. The request was denied, citing 411.5(6)(b) and stating, “Member and beneficiary records containing personal information are not public records for the purposes of chapter 22.” The request was amended to request the name and city affiliation of all, “members,” as used by MFPRSI. This request cited the MFPRSI's Administrative Rules, dated August 19, 2021 which states, “Personal information means information pertaining to or about an individual in a record which identifies the individual and which is contained in a record system. The name and city affiliation of a member are not ‘personal information’ for the purposes of this chapter.” The request was again denied, “Per the Iowa Code, individual information is not public record.”

Iowa Code Chapter 411 contains no definition of “personal information.” The next closest definition exists in the Administrative Rules of the MFPRSI as referenced above. Other uses of “personal information” in the Iowa Code, (for example Chapter 715C) require the name in addition to unique data element(s) that are not being requested here.

By the MFPRSI's 2023 Annual Report, the system has 9066 members. All of which have attained their membership through employment that is/was publicly available information by being municipal employees. It seems obtuse and counter to the ideals of transparency, that this publicly funded board is not producing a reasonably simple list of its members; that are only participating in the board through publicly funded service.

This request was submitted under Iowa Code chapters that are the jurisdiction of this Board. It was denied citing alternate chapters, but that chapter specifically references Iowa Code Chapter 22. I believe that this request is a specific construal and application of the jurisdiction of this Board. I respectfully request a Board Advisory Opinion on the appropriateness of this records request denial.

OPINION:

Are the names and city affiliation of members of MFPRSI subject to Iowa Code chapter 22?

No. the names and city affiliation of members of MFPRSI are not subject to disclosure under Iowa Code chapter 22. In May 2022, under H.F. 2154, the legislature amended Iowa Code § 411.5. The legislation struck out the following language upon which the administrative rules definition relied: “Member and beneficiary records containing personal information are not public records for the purposes of chapter 22.” In its stead, the legislature added the following language specifically eliminating the requirement that the record include “personal information” and making names and addresses of members and beneficiaries outside the scope of Iowa Code chapter 22 public records. The legislature also limited demographic information to include only summary and aggregate information. Iowa Code § 411.5(2) was amended to state: 

The following records maintained under this chapter are not public records for the purposes of chapter 22: 

(a) Records containing social security numbers. 

(b) Records specifying amounts accumulated in members’ accounts and supplemental accounts. 

(c) Records containing names or addresses of members or their beneficiaries. 

(d) Records containing amounts of payments to members or their beneficiaries. 

(e) Records containing financial or commercial information that relates to the investment of retirement system funds if the disclosure of such information could result in a loss to the retirement system or to the provider of the information.

(emphasis added).

Iowa Code § 411.5(3), provides, however, that “[s]ummary information concerning the demographics of the members and general statistical information concerning the system is subject to chapter 22, as well as aggregate information by category.” MFPRSI would be able to provide a summary of the number of members per city affiliation as allowed under the statute.

The records request in this opinion sought the names of members of the MFPRSI and their city affiliation. This request was based on language in an administrative rule that stated this information was not confidential. The legislature, however, in 2022, changed the statutory language to explicitly make the names and addresses of members confidential and not subject to Iowa’s public records laws. Even though the 2021 administrative rule has not been revised to address the change in statutory language, the plain language of the statute makes clear the records sought from MFPRSI about the individual members are explicitly outside the scope of Iowa Code chapter 22 and were properly withheld. While city affiliation and address may not be the same designation if no residency requirement exists, providing a summary of the number of members per a specific city affiliation would provide as much as possible of the requested information in a format allowed by statute.

BY DIRECTION AND VOTE OF THE BOARD: 
Daniel Breitbarth 
Joan Corbin 
E.J. Giovannetti 
Barry Lindahl 
Joel McCrea 
Monica McHugh 
Julie Pottorff 
Jackie Schmillen 

SUBMITTED BY: 
Erika Eckley, J.D.
Executive Director 
Iowa Public Information Board 

ISSUED ON: 

April 18, 2024

Pursuant to Iowa Administrative Rule 497-1.3(3), a person who has received a board opinion may, within 30 days after the issuance of the opinion, request modification or reconsideration of the opinion. A request for modification or reconsideration shall be deemed denied unless the board acts upon the request within 60 days of receipt of the request. The IPIB may take up modification or reconsideration of an advisory opinion on its own motion within 30 days after the issuance of an opinion. 

Pursuant to Iowa Administrative Rule 497-1.3(5), a person who has received a board opinion or advice may petition for a declaratory order pursuant to Iowa Code section 17A.9. The IPIB may refuse to issue a declaratory order to a person who has previously received a board opinion on the same question, unless the requestor demonstrates a significant change in circumstances from those in the board opinion.