History of Open Government Cases

The ACLU of Iowa works with community members and others to assure open government with the greatest transparency possible.

We filed and favorably settled a lawsuit on behalf of six journalists and media organizations with Gov. Kim Reynolds' office. Our clients had submitted repeated requests regarding COVID-19 but received either no response or an acknowledgment of the request but no records. After we filed the lawsuit, the Governor's office turned over the public records our clients had sought. The Governor’s office then agreed to settle the case, undergo one year of judicial oversight to ensure compliance with Iowa’s Open Records Act, and pay $135,000 in legal fees.

The ACLU is working with local law enforcement and advocacy groups, such as the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, and others to make sure that body camera footage is available to the public in cases that warrant it. We also want to see good policies and laws in place to protect the privacy of individuals. Find out more.

When Des Moines Public Schools Superintentent Nancy Sebring resigned after sending sexually explicit emails, the ACLU of Iowa successfully represented a school district member who wanted to see the minutes of a closed session of Des Moines school officials. It was determined that parts of that meeting were improperly closed, and those were released to the public. Find out more.

We successfully represented Citizens for Open Government, a Clinton, Iowa, citizen's group that sued in order to look at records from city meetings regarding the city's improper ambulance billings that resulted in $4.5 million in fines and damages. Find out more.

We worked for passage of a bill in the Iowa Legislature to create an Iowa Public Information Board, which we hoped would hold government officials more accountable for providing open records. Find out more.

The ACLU of Atlantic, Iowa successfully filed suit find out what reprimand, if any, was used against teachers who conducted a strip-search of high school students looking for $100 allegedly stolen from another student. Read more.