State public information board slams settlement as too low

DES MOINES - The Iowa Public Information Board rejected a settlement with Washington County Attorney Larry Brock, saying a negotiated fine of $100 was too low for knowingly violating Iowa's public records law.

Brock is charged with refusing to provide public records to a former Washington County employee, even when board staff advised him to do so or risk charges.

The Brock charges are the first filed by the year-old board created to enforce access to state government. Several board members said Thursday they don't want a paltry penalty sending a message that it's OK to withhold public information.

'I don't want other people seeing this and thinking it's only a hundred bucks if I blow off the public information board,” said Gary Mohr, board member and executive director of external affairs of the Eastern Iowa Community College District.

The charges stem from the Jan. 27 dismissal of Robert Bellmer from the Washington County Conservation Board, according to the May 30 petition filed by the public information board.

Using Iowa's Open Records Law, Iowa Code Section 22.2, Bellmer asked Brock twice for copies of all correspondence between Conservation Board members and Brock from Nov. 1, 2013, through March 1, 2014. Brock did not respond within the amount of time outlined in the law, the board wrote.

Public information board Deputy Director Margaret Johnson notified Brock in April of the complaint against him, but Brock didn't provide the records until June 13. Because Brock did not respond by May 27, the charges were set for a hearing.

Iowa law allows the board to assess a violator with a civil fine of up to $500 and reasonable attorney's fees. If a person knowingly violates the law, fines can range from $1,000 to $2,500.

Johnson and Brock negotiated a settlement that required Brock to pay a $100 fine and complete at least three hours of remedial training, which would include helping Johnson coordinate an open government training session in Washington County.

The board voted unanimously Thursday to reject the settlement and proceed to a hearing Aug. 21 in Des Moines.

'It's laid out fairly succinctly that if you knowingly break the law, it's a certain fine,” said Jo Martin, board member and semiretired vice president of Times-Citizen Communications in Iowa Falls. 'We should be following the letter of the law.”

Brock lost his primary election in June and will leave office at the end of the year.

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