Panel to study proposal to reject ‘vexatious’ records requests

DES MOINES — Ensuring that Iowa’s open government records system “as a whole” properly functions is why the state board charged with ensuring compliance with the law has been discussing a proposal to allow government bodies to avoid responding to requests in certain situations, the board’s executive director said Thursday.

At a meeting of the Iowa Public Information Board, members discussed a proposal to consider asking for a state law that would allow governments to label certain individuals “vexatious” requesters. The government agency, under the proposal, then would be able to disregard open records requests from the individual for up to a year.

The board was established in state law “to secure compliance with and enforcement of the requirements of” the state’s open records and open meetings laws, which require government transparency. That board now is entertaining a proposal to allow government agencies to avoid compliance with open records laws for some requesters.

“If you want the system to work, you have to ensure that people are able to make those records requests and that the system should work appropriately,” board executive director Erika Eckley said after Thursday’s meeting. “If there are situations in which the system is being misused and is preventing the people from providing records requests in an appropriate way, then that’s something that needs to be considered. It’s looking at the system as a whole.”

After discussing the potential proposal, the board opted to shift the discussion to its three-person legislative committee to learn more about the issue before deciding on what action, if any, to take.

During the discussion, Eckley and board member Barry Lindahl described instances in which individuals have filed what they described as excessive and harassing or abusive records requests. They described cases in which individuals request hundreds of documents daily, or include derogatory comments.

Altoona police Chief Greg Stallman called into the meeting to testify he’s dealing with one individual who makes what he described as excessive and derogatory requests.

Stallman said the requests from that individual have become so significant and harassing that he now handles them himself so none of his office staff has to. Stallman said conflicts with the individual have gone to court.

“We are spending tens of thousands of dollars and man hours of taxpayer money and there’s no end in sight,” he said. “It is simply done as harassment. … I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Government transparency advocates warn that such a state law could erode the state’s open records law. Iowa Freedom of Information Council Executive Director Randy Evans said as much in a letter he wrote to the Iowa Public Information Board. He also, in a column, wrote that the possible proposal flies in the face of the board’s mission.

“Last week,” Evans wrote in the column, “I reminded the Iowa Public Information Board the intent of lawmakers was clear when they wrote the state open records law many years ago — that ‘free and open examination of public records is generally in the public interest even though such examination may cause inconvenience or embarrassment to public officials or others.’ And even if the examination is by someone who is vexatious.”

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