Public Records
The Board Secretary shall act as custodian of public records of the District and shall, along with the Communications Director, be responsible for implementing the requirements of the Iowa public records law.
Records shall be open for public examination; records required or authorized to be kept confidential by law shall not be made available for public examination. District officials may seek an opinion of counsel as to whether a record is a public or confidential record prior to releasing the document.
By law, individuals have a right to access, public records that cannot be provided electronically or in hard copy during the hours of 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday by appointment, except for holidays and recesses in the administration office of the building where the records are maintained. Such examination shall be done under the supervision of District officials or designees as outlined in Procedure 1008a. No person shall destroy, disorganize, alter, or damage any record or remove the record from the building.
Any person may obtain a copy of a public record. Persons may request copies of public records in writing, including electronically (https://cedarrapids.staging2.juiceboxint.com/departments/communications-and-media-relations/public-records-request). A schedule of fees for the costs of retrieving public records, supervising the examination, consulting legal counsel regarding confidentiality, reviewing and redacting, and for copying records shall be established. The District may require pre-payment of the costs prior to copying, emailing, mailing, or physical pickup of hard copy. If the District assesses a cost to the requester, the requester must pay the estimated cost in full in advance of the District fulfilling the request.
The District is not required by the Iowa public records law or this policy to create any records or to extract, assimilate, or interpret information or data in public records. The District shall notify the person making a request when information must be extracted from public records in order to create a record. The District may agree to perform this service pursuant to a schedule of established fees.
While many public records are available at no cost and in a short amount of time (including immediately for items posted on our website), state law does allow public entities to charge for the actual costs associated with compiling records.
Iowa Code allows that the response to public records request should not exceed 10 business days and shall not exceed 20 calendar days. Iowa Code also provides for a reasonable and good faith delay if there are certain legal questions pertaining to the records being requested.
Legal Reference: Iowa Code §§ 21.4, Chapter 22; 291.6
- Approved: 09-10-01
- Revised: 09-13-04, 08-08-05, 05-09-11, 10-12-15, 04-10-18, 07-11-2022
- Documents: 1008
Back to Series 1000