Building collapse police report still not public, as Iowa Public Information Board declines to rule

The Iowa Public Information Board declined to rule last week whether the criminal investigative report into the downtown Davenport building collapse is a public record.

In essence, board members said the request came in the wrong format, but left the door open for records-requesters to file a complaint for the board to take up, or take the issue to court.

In April, the Scott County Attorney's Office submitted a request asking for declaratory judgment to the Iowa Public Information Board, which helps resolve public records disputes, on whether a report by the Division of Criminal Investigation on the collapse should be made public.

Three men died, one woman's leg was amputated and dozens of people lost their homes when the six-story historic apartment building at 324 Main St. collapsed May 28, 2023.

  Buy Photo

The collapse and its response became national news, with residents in Davenport and beyond questioning how and why it happened and who was responsible.

At the request of Davenport police and fire departments, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation began a criminal investigation.

Media outlets and private citizens have requested the DCI report, which informed Scott County Attorney Kelly Cunningham's decision not to bring criminal charges in the case.

Cunningham has declined to release the report, saying that it is exempt from public records requests because provisions in state code call for investigative reports to be kept confidential and that the report's release could taint civil litigation and endanger city officials or the building owner or manager, who said they faced threats to their safety after the collapse.

Attorneys for the Iowa Department of Public Safety, which is the umbrella agency over the Division of Criminal Investigation, argued before the board that their agency was the rightful custodian of the record, not the Scott County Attorney's Office. The agency asked the board to decline to issue a ruling.

A seven-page summary of the report was made public in early April by DCI, but it provided no new information about what led to the collapse.

Records advocates, such as Iowa Freedom of Information Council Executive Director Randy Evans, have argued nothing in the public records law prevents the county attorney from releasing the full report while redacting birth dates and other private personal information. The report, records advocates argue, is key to scrutinizing government decision-making.

Davenport residents Ezra Sidran and Jonathan Uhl both made public comments to the board urging it to declare the report a public document. Uhl motioned to intervene in the case, which the board members granted because he had requested the record.

  Buy Photo

However, the Iowa Public Information Board in essence agreed with the Department of Public Safety and declined to issue an order.

Board members decided not to preemptively answer Scott County's request without a formal complaint from an individual record-requester before the board.

Board members also expressed agreement with the Department of Public Safety argument that it was the custodian of the public record, not Scott County. And board members seemed uncomfortable with issuing an order to Scott County if it determined Department of Public Safety was the proper record-holder.

Board member Luke Martz, a public representative, said the board's decision still left the door open for a complaint to come before the board or for individuals to pursue litigation.

“If you don't get the full record as you expected or you believe you're entitled to from your open records request, you're welcome to file a complaint to IPIB and this will be back here in no time, depending on staff review and everything else,” Martz said. “That makes it a little easier for us to manage, certainly for me, as a non-lawyer.“

Martz earlier in the meeting expressed an openness to considering the report a public record.

“I'm not convinced that this isn't a public record, the full report,” Martz said. “I want to withhold on whether I think it is, but I think it seems to me that DPS is the right custodian based on the motions and the paperwork I've reviewed.”