I am a working press trustee on the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. From the opposite direction, however, there's now talk of opening records at least from the Iowa Department of Human Services in the wake of Shelby Duis' death. There are dangers it poses. The logic has always been that it is not in the interests of the child to open the records. That interest clearly disappears once the child dies.
Lawmakers apparently think so.
A bill offered by Sen. Steve King, R-Kiron, would have opened records to the governor or his representative and lawmakers. That passed the Senate but has never passed the House. Now, Rep. Dan Boddicker, R-Tipton, wants to open the records to the governor or his representative and a limited number of lawmakers. For those of us on the FOI council, that's a bit troubling. I'm not 100 percent certain that the answer would always be no.