By RANDY MILLER
rmiller@thehawkeye.com
Several reporters who fanned out across Iowa in mid-February seeking public documents acquired stories to tell their buddies at the beer hall instead.
For instance, when Fort Dodge Messenger reporter John Mol-seed asked for incident reports at the Algona Police Department, he was asked to produce identification, which isn't required, and wound up getting frisked by officer Keith Briggs, who proceeded to empty Molseed's pockets of his cell phone, cigarette lighter and gum wrappers.
An Ames Tribune reporter who visited Iowa Falls had an even more jaw-dropping experience at both the City Hall and the police department. When reporter Matt Neznanski declined to identify his employer or his motive for seeking the records, neither of which is required by law, he was told by Mayor Rocky Lavalle, "We don't just let people walk in and look at our records."
When Neznanski referred to the open-records law and said he believed he had the right to see the expense reports for the city manager, the mayor said, "I don't care what it says. You don't just come in here and look at this stuff."
Neznanski got a similar response at the Iowa Falls Police Department when he asked to see the police incident reports. A dispatcher told him: "We don't let just citizens look at the incident reports." Several officers told Neznanski that reports are only released to the news media, not the public, because news folks know what information should be treated confidential.
When Neznanski left, two police officers followed him to his truck and appeared to radio in his license plate number.
Thankfully, such incidents were the exception rather than the rule. Most of the reporters from 15 Iowa newspapers and Drake University journalism students who sought documents from city halls and courthouses on Feb. 10 and 11 were treated cordially and given the records without incident.
But in these post-9/11 days of terrorist threats and heightened security, police and public officials often are suspicious of anyone who comes snooping around seeking information, even if it legally is public information and should be made available on demand to anyone asking for it, and especially if that person appears evasive or suspicious when questioned.
"Open records and open meetings laws are not written for the media," said Dale Alison, managing editor of The Hawk Eye and current president of the Iowa Associated Press Managing Editors. "They're intended for the benefit of everybody."
The Hawk Eye participated in the Iowa freedom-of-information audits in 2000 and this year, and in most cases found both better cooperation and friendlier employees in making their rounds. But that doesn't mean all of the documents sought were received.
Four newspaper employees, Shawna Richter, Alex Johnson, Aimee Tabor and John Inama, visited city halls, sheriff's offices, police departments, courthouses and school administration buildings in Henry, Des Moines, Lee and Louisa counties on Feb. 10 and 11. All were instructed to offer little personal information except their names and to avoid, if possible, saying they worked for a newspaper because the audit was attempting to determine how much trouble ordinary citizens would have obtaining public documents.
Richter visited Henry County and had no trouble obtaining the documents she sought, but she was asked why she wanted them.
Cathy Sears in the Mount Pleasant School District administration office asked why Richter was seeking the superintendent's travel and expense claims. When Richter said she didn't think she was required to tell her that, Sears agreed, but added, "I would like to know, and I'm sure the superintendent would like to know."
"I said I was sure he would, but I would rather not say at this time," Richter said. "She gave me a negative look, but printed out the record I wanted."
That was a typical encounter for Hawk Eye auditors. Questions, yes, but most documents were produced.
Officials in Des Moines and Louisa counties can take a collective bow. Inama covered the bases in Des Moines County and received cordial treatment and ready access to records everywhere he went.
"I was surprised how little trouble I had obtaining the records," he said. "Everywhere I went, the people were very helpful and had no problem with me viewing or getting copies of the records."
Inama did encounter one problem that was common statewide. Many police departments do not separate confidential information from public information on their daily log, or incident, reports. Consequently, numerous requests for such records were not honored, but usually with apologies.
Tabor visited Louisa County and received everything she sought, with few questions. "It surprised me how cooperative Louisa County officials were," she said. "At my first few stops, nobody questioned me or why I wanted (the records). They just gave me what I needed and was on my way."
Under state law, public officials can charge a reasonable fee for copying documents, but cannot charge more than the actual cost of producing the record.
Most of the officials who copied records in the four counties of southeast Iowa covered by The Hawk Eye did not charge anything. But a few did. For instance, Tabor was charged 50 cents per page for copies of the list of names of everyone in Louisa County who has a permit to carry a concealed handgun. She was charged 25 cents per page at Wapello City Hall for copies of building permits and expense claims by the public works director.
Johnson encountered a different problem when he visited Fort Madison's City Hall. When he asked two women at the front counter to view December's building permits, he was told only City Clerk Judy Clark could get that information and "show it to people." And Clark wasn't there.
When he asked to see the city manager's expense claim, he got the same answer. Only the city clerk could give out that information.
Apparently, Johnson had an evasive attitude when he visited the Fort Madison Police Department, because he wound up in Police Chief Randy Van Wye's office getting grilled about who he was and why he wanted a copy of the police incident report.
"After he asked the third or fourth time why I wanted the documents, I confessed that I was working for a newspaper. After I did that, he immediately made the copies I requested and sent me on my way," Johnson said.
Van Wye said last week that he "fully supports the open records law," but that Johnson was evasive "and seemed a little unsure of himself" when Van Wye initially questioned him. He noted that police logs sometimes contain information on potential drug house locations under scrutiny and the addresses of snow birds and others who often notify the police when they plan to be out of town.
"I have a duty to protect confidential information, too," Van Wye said. "And I don't want some guy coming in here to check on who his girlfriend may have been out with, and then he goes out of here and punches somebody in the nose."
In fact, Johnson had the most trouble of the four Hawk Eye employees acquiring documents on his rounds of Lee County. At the treasurer's office, an employee said she could not access information on Sheriff Buck Jones' property tax assessment without an address. Johnson asked if she couldn't do a simple search by name, and she said no.
At the sheriff's office, Jones himself politely told Johnson he would have to check with the county attorney before making a copy of a page of the concealed weapons permit list. He took his name and address and Johnson received the document in the mail three days later.
"Sheriff Jones never once asked why I was wanting these copies and was very helpful," Johnson said. "He ... called me the Monday after I was there, and told me the copies had been mailed, free of charge."
In the Iowa Falls case, Neznanski did get an apology from City Manager Brent Bury, and Mayor Lavalle later sheepishly admitted his ignorance of the open-records law despite having 17 years of public service experience.
"I'm ashamed to admit it ... " Lavalle said, "but there was one facet of that law that I didn't know anything about."
If someone with his experience make such mistakes, he said, it points to the importance of providing public-records training for all new government employees and officials.
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