Iowa Senate adds restriction on Capitol security video to open records bill

Yahoo

17-04-2025

The Iowa Capitol in Des Moines on April 1, 2025. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The Iowa Senate amended an open meetings and records bill Thursday to list security camera footage from the Iowa Capitol building as 'confidential records.'
House File 706 is this year's attempt to implement higher penalties and training requirements for Iowa's open meetings and records laws. Fines for violating open meetings laws would increase to between $500 and $2,500 from the current range of between $100 and $500.
Knowing violations of these laws would rise to between $5,000 and $12,500; the current fine is between $1,000 and $2,500. The bill also would require that a member of a government body be removed from office if they engaged in a prior violation of open meetings laws. Additionally, newly elected and appointed public officials would have to complete a training on open records laws when they take office.
The bill passed the House unanimously in March. The measure is largely a response to alleged violations of open records laws by the city of Davenport following a six-story apartment building collapse in 2023 and alleged open meetings law violations regarding the city of Davenport reaching settlement agreements with three city employees without the city council's approval in a public meeting.
Lawmakers also approved similar legislation in 2024, but the bill was vetoed by Gov. Kim Reynolds over language added as a Senate amendment introduced by Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, that changed the definition of a 'meeting' of a government body.
Though this language is not present in the 2025 bill, Webster introduced an amendment Thursday that would add two types of information to the list of approved confidential records in Iowa Code — information obtained from security cameras operated by the legislative branch on property owned or leased by the state, and information 'obtained from state employee identification card access systems' for buildings and rooms owned or leased by the state — specifically referring to the Iowa State Capitol.
Webster said this language, approved as an amendment in a 32-15 vote, would prevent people from using open records requests to find 'blind spots' in Capitol security and prevent stalking or harassment of elected officials and government employees.
'If people wanted to cause this harm to the Capital building — to the people's building — wanted to find out and go through all the camera footage to figure out where the blind spots might be in this Capitol, they could do it through an open records (request),' Webster said. 'We're eliminating that availability right now, which makes everybody in this building safer.'
Legislative staff said they are not aware of security camera footage being used to stalk or harass any lawmakers at the Statehouse.
Webster said an agreement was reached with groups like the Freedom of Information Council, the Iowa Newspaper Association and House lawmakers removing restrictions on the Iowa Department of Public Safety footage in an earlier version of the amendment, to ensure access to body camera footage would not be impacted.
But Democrats said the measure would prevent Iowans from accessing public information. Sen. Janet Petersen, D-Des Moines, said that Iowans, as taxpayers, are paying for lawmakers' and public workers' time at the Iowa State Capitol, and should be able to access footage as requested.
'They're paying the bill to run the camera,' Petersen said. 'They're paying the bill for this beautiful building. Why would we take public access away from them — in an open meetings bill no less? You want to take away public access and say it's because of security — no it's not.'
Webster said security camera footage could still be accessed through subpoenas — court orders to provide information or records — in cases where a person commits a crime in the Capitol building.
Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said the potential use of subpoenas to access these records was an 'excuse' to obscure the limit being put on public access to what happens at the Capitol.
'The average citizen doesn't have access to getting a subpoena, and shouldn't need that access in that manner,' Quirmbach said. 'The bill, as it has been amended, restricts the public access. It is not something that this Legislature should endorse.'
The measure returns to the House for approval of the amendment.