(C) Iowa Capital Dispatch
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Open meetings, records bill heads to governor with Capitol security video exception • Iowa Capital Dispatch [1]
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Date: 2025-04
The Iowa House agreed Wednesday to restrict public access to security-related information from the Iowa Capitol building, a Senate-approved measure added to a bill raising penalties and training requirements for Iowa’s open meetings and records laws.
House File 706 passed 83-10 and goes next to Gov. Kim Reynolds. The House had passed the bill unanimously in March.
Most of the legislation deals with Iowa’s open meetings laws. It sets fines for open meetings law violations between $500 and $2,500. Under current law, fines are between $100 and $500. The fine for knowing violation of these laws would be $5,000 to $12,500, up from range in current law of $1,000-$2,500.
A court would also remove a member of a government body from office for violating open meetings laws if they had engaged in a prior violation of the laws, removing a current provision stating removal will only happen if damages from the previous violation were assessed against the person during their term.
The bill also requires newly elected and appointed public officials complete training on open records laws.
These components, which received bipartisan approval in the House, were not changed by the amendment. The Senate amendment, led by Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, adds two types of information to the list in current law of confidential records related to security information on state-owned or leased property. Security camera footage operated by the legislative branch and information from state employee identification card access systems would be confidential under the bill.
Webster said these restrictions are needed to improve security at the Statehouse, saying Capitol security footage can currently be used to identify “blind spots” in security or to stalk and harass government employees and elected officials. Legislative staff said there have been no reports of people using security camera footage to stalk or harass any individuals at the Iowa Capitol.
Rep. Ross Wilburn, D-Ames, said he was opposed to the amendment as badge swipes of lawmakers are already not subject to release by open records requests, and he believed there were valid reasons why the public should have access to Capitol security camera footage. While concerns about stalking and threats were valid, Wilburn said, there may be situations where members of the public or the media should have access to this video footage during events like protests.
Rep. Ken Croken, D-Davenport, called for the Legislature to be “as open as we request others to be at all times.”
“I think it’s objectionable and not a good look for this body to operate on a ‘rules for thee but not for me’ M.O.,” Croken said.
Rep. Jennifer Smith, R-Dubuque, said “what is important with this is the original bill” — the higher penalties and training requirements for open meetings laws. The bill was prompted by alleged open meetings and open records laws violations by the City of Davenport in 2023, related to both an apartment building collapse and settlement agreements with city employees.
The measure moves to Reynolds for final approval.
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