Chapter 21 Frequently Asked Questions

Chapter 21 is Iowa’s open meetings law, which requires state and local governmental bodies to hold open, public meetings for most official business. The first sentence of Chapter 21 states that the goal of the law is to ensure “that the basis and rationale of government decisions, as well as those decisions themselves, are easily accessible to the people.”

Chapter 21 applies to "governmental bodies" as the term is defined in Section 21.2(1), including the governing boards and commissions of state agencies, city councils, county boards of supervisors, township trustees, school boards, library boards, and other boards, councils, commissions, and other governing bodies of various political subdivisions and tax-supported districts. The term also includes boards created pursuant to 28E agreements for the joint exercise of government powers, as well as certain policy-making groups created by other state and local governmental bodies.

With a few rare exceptions related to pari-mutuel wagering and gambling, Chapter 21 usually does not apply to private businesses, non-profits, and other bodies outside of government.

Chapter 21 defines a “meeting” as having four key elements. For any meeting, there must be 1) a majority of members 2) of a governmental body subject to Chapter 21, in which 3) members engage in action or deliberation 4) on any matter within the scope of their policy-making duties, as opposed to purely ministerial or social purposes.

Deliberation happens when members share “thoughts, concerns, opinions, or potential action” on official policy-related business. This requires more than simply receiving information or asking clarifying questions, but a meeting may arise when members take the additional step of offering their own opinions or the reasoning behind those opinions.

While receiving information does not necessarily create a meeting, best practice is still to reserve information-gathering for open session, to avoid the risk of members accidentally creating a meeting by sharing opinions.

Meetings only exist where members of a governmental body deliberate or act on matters within their policy-making duties. Social purposes include gatherings outside of official government business, such as holidays and birthday parties or attendance at community events, like a local fair. Purely ministerial purposes, meanwhile, include routine administrative matters which are unrelated to policy-making, like scheduling meetings or coordinating payroll. Whether a discussion becomes a meeting depends on what actually takes place, not the purpose of the gathering or the intent of individual members.

Yes. Meetings may occur formally or informally, including where discussing is help over text or email. So long as all four elements of a meeting are met, Chapter 21 will apply. For this reason, governmental bodies must exercise caution when communicating on email threads with a majority of members present. As a best practice, IPIB recommends using the "BCC" (or "blind carbon copy") feature when emailing information to members, as this prevents accidental meetings from being created if members attempt to "reply all."

No. While closed session discussion may be allowed in certain circumstances, all actions and discussions at meetings of governmental bodies must otherwise occur in open session, in full view of the public. Secret ballots of members are prohibited for this reason, even if they are not final, as they would still qualify as an action or deliberation. Meeting minutes must include sufficient detail to indicate how each member present voted on each action taken.

Iowa Code § 21.4 requires governmental bodies to provide reasonable notice of the “time, date, and place of each meeting,” along with a tentative agenda of topics to be discussed. Reasonable notice includes physically posting an agenda on a bulletin board or other prominent place at the principle office of the governmental body. If no office exists, the agenda may be posted at the building where the meeting will be held. In either case, the posting must be in a location which is easily accessible to the public and, except in rare situations where it is necessary to hold an emergency meeting, notice must be provided at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting’s start time. Reasonable notice also includes advising all news media who have requested notice.

Some types of governmental bodies have additional rules under the Iowa Code. In those cases, the requirements for notice may be different, as in the case of newspaper publication requirements for city councils.

The 24-hour notice requirement may only be waived where it would be impossible or impractical to provide public notice at least 24 hours before an emergency session. This is a high standard, though it could be met, for example, where a city council meets to approve emergency relief in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, or where a school board approves emergency maintenance to a building heating system in order to keep a building open for students.

Where it is necessary to hold a meeting on less than 24 hours’ notice, Chapter 21 still requires as much notice as reasonably possible. In cases where limited notice is provided, or where the location or time of the meeting is not reasonable accessible to the public, the minutes must also state the nature of the good cause justifying the departure from the normal requirements.

No. While all members of the public must be provided access to meetings held in open session, nothing in Chapter 21 requires an opportunity for public comment, and governmental bodies are allowed to make and enforce reasonable rules to ensure that meetings are orderly and free from interference or interruption by spectators. If a governmental body does provide time for public comment, they may not treat speakers differently according to their viewpoints. Adopting reasonable rules, such as uniform time limits or advance deadlines for requesting an opportunity to speak during a meeting, may help in avoiding these concerns.

Yes, but only for members. According to Iowa Code § 21.8(1), a governmental body “shall provide for hybrid meetings, teleconference participation, virtual meetings, remote participation, and other hybrid options for the members of the governmental body to participate in official meetings.” IPIB interprets this section to require one or more types of virtual or hybrid meetings to be made available as options for members of the governmental body to attend remotely, though Chapter 21 does not require any particular option over the others.

This requirement does not extend to the public, meaning that governmental bodies are not compelled to make livestreams or virtual attendance options available for non-members – although these options are encouraged for the purposes of greater public access.

When a governmental body conducts a hybrid or virtual meeting, it must provide public access to the conversation of the meeting to the extent reasonably possible. This means that, if a meeting is entirely virtual, there must be an option for the public to access the meeting for themselves, either by using the same virtual meeting room used by members, or by providing a simultaneous livestream of the conversation.

Governmental bodies must keep minutes of all meetings, including “the date, time and place, the members present, and the action taken at each meeting,” including the results of each vote and sufficient information to show how each member voted. If all members vote the same way, the minutes may report a unanimous vote. However, if a vote is split, this would require some indication of who voted on each side, including abstentions.

By default, all meetings of a governmental body must be held in open session, meaning they must be accessible to the public. Iowa Code § 21.5(1) lists twelve specific exceptions that a government body may use to move into closed session. Common justifications for closed session include meetings with legal counsel to discuss matters in present or imminent litigation, hearings to suspend or expel a student, and hearings to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance, or discharge is under review, if the individual in question requests a closed session and closure is necessary to avoid “needless and irreparable” reputational harm. Closed session may also be permitted where the governmental body seeks to review records which are required or authorized to be kept confidential by state or federal law.

Nothing in Chapter 21 requires a governmental body to hold a meeting in closed session.

Minutes must include the date, time and place, the members present, and the action taken at each meeting. For each action taken, the minutes must also reflect the results of each vote taken and information sufficient to indicate the vote of each member present, including any abstentions. If a vote is unanimous, it may simply be recorded as such, but any split vote must be accompanied with information about how each member voted.

Although additional information beyond these requirements may be included, Chapter 21 does not require it, except in the case of closed sessions for which detailed minutes must be taken. In other words, open meeting law does not require minutes to reflect any discussion surrounding a vote, nor does it require a summary of public comment.

A tentative agenda must be provided “in a manner reasonably calculated to apprise the public of” matters to be discussed. This standard considers whether the notice sufficiently apprised the public and gave full opportunity for public knowledge and participation, judged in the context of surrounding events, including the public’s knowledge of a given issue and actual participation in light of the history and background of that issue.

This is not considered a high bar, though IPIB has previously found agendas insufficient in cases where topics are summarized with single-word descriptions like “Parks” or “Streets,” as well as in cases where a “catch-all” description was used across multiple meetings as an umbrella for any possible discussion within a broad range of policy issues.

Yes. Iowa Code § 21.6 authorizes the courts (or IPIB) to assess damages against individual members who participate in violations of Chapter 21. However, a member may not be required to pay damages if they 1) voted against an unlawful closed session, 2) had good reason to believe and in good faith did believe in facts which would have made their actions compliant with Chapter 21 if true, or 3) reasonably relied on a court decision or a formal, written opinion of IPIB, the attorney general, or legal counsel.

An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory committee, task force, or other similar body may be subject to Chapter 21 open meetings requirements if it is created by state statute or executive order, or if it is created by an executive order of any political subdivision of the state, to develop and make recommendations on public policy issues. If it is ambiguous whether an advisory body qualifies as a governmental body, best practice is still to follow Chapter 21 requirements to ensure transparency.

Any person may seek judicial enforcement of Chapter 21 against a governmental body in the district court for the county in which the governmental body has its principal place of business. Alternatively, IPIB is authorized as an independent agency to receive formal complaints of violations, using the “File a Complaint” form on our website.