25FC:0065 John Rasmussen v. Pottawattamie County - Informal Resolution and Final Report

The Iowa Public Information Board

COMES NOW, Charlotte Miller, Executive Director for the Iowa Public Information Board (“IPIB”), on June 3, 2025, John Rasmussen filed formal complaint 25FC:0065, alleging that Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors violated Iowa Code Chapter 21. IPIB accepted this Complaint on June 27, 2025. This Informal Resolution is adopted in response to the IPIB acceptance of the complaint.

Facts

Pottawattamie County is located in Southwest Iowa. John Rasmussen (“Complainant”) is a resident of the County. Complainant contends that the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors (“Board”) failed to comply with the requirements set forth in Iowa Code Chapter 21. Specifically, the allegation concerns the Board failure to provide adequate information of items for discussion during the meeting, thereby impeding adequate public notice and meaningful engagement.

The underlying dispute pertains to whether the Board provided proper notice that the county would be vote on employment contracts of all department heads on May 27, 2025, which includes the Board’s contract with the Complainant. The agenda item read as follows:

“A. Matt Wilber and Kristen Bracker/Attorney – Discussion and/or decision to approve and authorize Chairperson to sign Employment Agreements with Chief Information Officer David Bayer, Human Resources Director Jana Lemrick, Buildings and Grounds Director Jason Slack, Chief Financial Officer Mitch Kay, Planning and Development Director Matt Wyant, Administrator Veterans Services Office Peggy Becker, GIS Coordinator Jamie Petersen, Director Chief Medical Examiner Investigator Cody Pane, and Engineer John Rasmussen.”

The Complaint’s employment contract was brought forth during the discussion of the action item above. A motion for termination of the Complaint’s employment contract was made by a supervisor of the Board, seconded by another supervisor, and subsequently passed by a 3-2 vote.

Complainant filed a grievance with the Board in June 2025.

No violation was alleged with respect to the required twenty-four-hour notice or the posting location for either the May 21 or June 4 meeting agendas.

Complainant IPIB formal complaint 25FC:0065 was accepted June 27, 2025.

After opening the cases to both parties, the Board expressed its willingness to change the way it drafts meeting agendas to better satisfy the notice requirements of Chapter 21.

Applicable Law

“Except as provided in [Iowa Code § 21.4(3)], a governmental body shall give notice of the time, date, and place of each meeting including a reconvened meeting of the governmental body, and the tentative agenda of the meeting, in a manner reasonably calculated to apprise the public of that information.” Iowa Code § 21.4(1)(a).

Analysis

Iowa Code § 21.4(1)(a) states that a tentative agenda must be provided “in a manner reasonably calculated to apprise the public” of matters to be discussed at a meeting. The Iowa Supreme Court has interpreted this language to require advance notice to be provided on an agenda for any item to be discussed as a meeting, with an exception for “discussion and action on emergency items that are first ascertained at a meeting for which proper notice was given” which cannot “be reasonably deferred to a later meeting.” KCOB/KLVN, Inc. v. Jasper Cnty. Bd. of Sup’rs, 473 N.W.2d 171, 174 (1991).

The applicable standard is “whether the notice sufficiently apprised the public and gave full opportunity for public knowledge and participation,” when considering “the public’s knowledge of an issue and actual participation in events in light of the history and background of that issue.” Id. at 173 (affirming a trial court’s finding that “Industries Council—Mr. Jack Lipovac” was sufficient to notify the public that a body would discuss the firing of the named employee, as the termination had appeared on a previous agenda and evidence showed that it was well known and publicized in the community that the Industries Council had been hired to set up termination hearings, including for the particular employee under consideration). Subsequent case law has clarified, however, that the KCOB/KLVN decision “does not provide a basis for excusing an agenda item omission on the ground that the public and press were already familiar with the subject” and that “the adequacy of the notice must be determined on the basis of what the words in the agenda would mean to a typical citizen or member of the press who reads it.” Barrett v. Lode, 603 N.W.2d 766, 769 (Iowa 1999).

IPIB’s case law applying KCOB/KLVN and Barrett has identified certain categories of agenda items which may fail to provide sufficient notice, including single-word descriptors and “catch-all” umbrella phrases which fail to adequately describe actual matters deliberated. See 20FC:0128, Mark Kuhn/Floyd County Board of Supervisors (finding that “Review/Action coronavirus (COVID-19) issues as applicable” was insufficient when reused over a period of several months to cover all possible county actions related to COVID-19 protection); 18FC:0061, Lindsey Larrington/Lucas City Council (finding that agenda topics such as “Parks” or “Streets” were not descriptive enough on their own to apprise the public).

Informal Resolution

Pursuant to Iowa Code § 23.9, IPIB presents the following terms for an informal resolution of this matter:

1. This Informal Resolution will be formally approved at a meeting of the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors. The Board will include a copy of this Informal Resolution in its meeting minutes and will provide IPIB staff with a copy of the minutes demonstrating approval.

2. In adopting this Informal Resolution, the Board agrees that items requiring deliberation or action by the Board, including consent agenda items, will be listed on the tentative agenda under a heading or subheading which sufficiently apprises the public that action may be taken, including but not limited to “Old Business” or “New Business.”

3. With regards to routine contract renewal decisions, the Board specifically agrees to include notice on its agenda which reasonably distinguishes employment decisions from other personnel matters which may be considered ambiguous based on only a one-word agenda item.

The terms of the Informal Resolution will be completed within 60 days of the date of approval of this Informal Resolution by all parties. Upon showing of proof of compliance, the IPIB will dismiss this complaint as successfully resolved.

Pottawattamie County approved the Informal Resolution on January 27, 2026.

John Rasmussen approved the Informal Resolution on February 24, 2026.

The IPIB staff recommend the IPIB approve the Informal Resolution Report.

By the IPIB Executive Director,

_________________________

Charlotte J.M. Miller, J.D.

CERTIFICATE OF MAILING

This document was sent on March 13, 2026, to:

John Rasmussen, Complainant

Pottawattamie County, IA, Respondent

The Iowa Public Information Board

COMES NOW, Charlotte Miller, Executive Director for the Iowa Public Information Board (“IPIB”), on June 3, 2025, John Rasmussen filed formal complaint 25FC:0065, alleging that Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors violated Iowa Code Chapter 21.

IPIB accepted this Complaint on June 27, 2025. This Informal Resolution is adopted in response to the IPIB acceptance of the complaint.

Facts

Pottawattamie County is located in Southwest Iowa. John Rasmussen (“Complainant”) is a resident of the County. Complainant contends that the Pottawattamie County Board of Supervisors (“Respondent”) failed to comply with the requirements set forth in Iowa Code Chapter 21. Specifically, the allegation concerns the Board failure to provide adequate information of items for discussion during the meeting, thereby impeding adequate public notice and meaningful engagement.

The underlying dispute pertains to whether the Board provided proper notice that the county would be vote on employment contracts of all department heads on May 27, 2025, which includes the Board’s contract with the Complainant. The agenda item read as follows:

“A. Matt Wilber and Kristen Bracker/Attorney – Discussion and/or decision to approve and authorize Chairperson to sign Employment Agreements with Chief Information Officer David Bayer, Human Resources Director Jana Lemrick, Buildings and Grounds Director Jason Slack, Chief Financial Officer Mitch Kay, Planning and Development Director Matt Wyant, Administrator Veterans Services Office Peggy Becker, GIS Coordinator Jamie Petersen, Director Chief Medical Examiner Investigator Cody Pane, and Engineer John Rasmussen.”

The Complaint’s employment contract was brought forth during the discussion of the action item above. A motion for termination of the Complaint’s employment contract was made by a supervisor of Respondent, seconded by another supervisor, and subsequently passed by a 3-2 vote.

Complainant filed a grievance with Respondent in June 2025.

No violation was alleged with respect to the required twenty-four-hour notice or the posting location for either the May 21 or June 4 meeting agendas.

Complainant’s IPIB formal complaint 25FC:0065 was accepted June 27, 2025.

After opening the cases to both parties, Respondent expressed its willingness to change the way it drafts meeting agendas to better satisfy the notice requirements of Chapter 21.

Applicable Law

“Except as provided in [Iowa Code § 21.4(3)], a governmental body shall give notice of the time, date, and place of each meeting including a reconvened meeting of the governmental body, and the tentative agenda of the meeting, in a manner reasonably calculated to apprise the public of that information.” Iowa Code § 21.4(1)(a).

Procedure

IPIB accepted this formal complaint, 25FC:0065, on accepted June 27, 2025. Upon acceptance, the parties worked toward an informal resolution.

Respondent approved the informal resolution terms on January 27, 2026.

Complainant approved the Informal Resolution on February 24, 2026.

All terms of the Informal Resolution have been met. The IPIB staff recommend this Final Report be adopted and the complaint be dismissed as resolved.

By the IPIB Executive Director,

_________________________

Charlotte J.M. Miller, J.D.

CERTIFICATE OF MAILING

This document was sent on March 13, 2026, to:

John Rasmussen, Complainant

Pottawattamie County, IA, Respondent