Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 701 - Revenue Department › Title I - Administration › Chapter 5 - Public Records and Fair Information Practices › Rule 701-5.5 - Requests for Treatment of a Record as a Confidential Record and Its Withholding From Examination

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
The department may treat a record as a confidential record
				  and withhold it from examination only to the extent that it is authorized by
				  Iowa Code sections
				  22.7,
				  422.20,
				  and
				  422.72;
				  other applicable provisions of law; or an order. Persons may request that the
				  department treat a document as a confidential record and withhold the document
				  from public inspection. The procedures for making a request are described
				  below.
(1)
Requests related to
				records submitted as part of an appeal or contested case.
Any person
				who seeks to request confidential treatment for any document submitted as part
				of an appeal or contested case filed under 701-Chapter 7 must file a motion for
				redaction as described in rule
				701-7.8 (17A).
(2)
Requests for confidential
				treatment of any other record.
Any person who seeks to request
				confidential treatment of any record that has not been submitted as part of an
				appeal or contested case filed under 701-Chapter 7 must follow the following
				procedure:
a.
Persons who may
				request.
Any person who would be aggrieved or adversely affected by
				disclosure of a record and who asserts that Iowa Code section
				22.7, another
				applicable provision of law, or a court order authorizes the custodian to treat
				the record as a confidential record may request the custodian to treat that
				record as a confidential record and to withhold it from public
				inspection.
b.
Request.
A request that a record be treated as a confidential
				record and be withheld from public inspection shall:
(1) Be in writing; and
(2) Be filed with the department using the
				one of the methods in subrule 5.3(2), excluding submission by telephone listed
				in paragraph 5.3(2)
"d"
; and
(3) Set forth the legal and factual basis
				justifying such confidential record treatment for that record; and
(4) Include the name, address, and telephone
				number of the person authorized to respond to any inquiry or action of the
				custodian concerning the request. A person requesting treatment of a record as
				a confidential record may also be required to sign a certified statement or
				affidavit enumerating the specific reasons justifying the treatment of that
				record as a confidential record and to provide any proof necessary to establish
				relevant facts. A person may request that a record be treated as confidential
				for a limited period of time. Requests for limited confidential record
				treatment shall also specify the precise period of time for which that
				treatment is requested.
(5) The
				requester shall, if possible, include a copy of the record for which
				confidential record treatment is being sought with the request.
c.
Failure to
				request.
Failure of a person to request confidential record treatment
				for a record does not preclude the custodian from treating it as a confidential
				record, unless otherwise provided by law. However, if a person who has
				submitted information to the department that could be considered a confidential
				record under Iowa Code section
				22.7(3)
				 or
				22.7(6)
				 does not request that it be withheld from
				public inspection under Iowa Code sections
				22.7(3)
				 and
				22.7(6),
				the custodian of records containing that information may proceed as if that
				person has no objection to its disclosure to members of the public.
d.
Timing of decision.
A
				decision by the custodian about whether to disclose a record or a portion of a
				record to members of the public may be made when a request for confidential
				record treatment is filed, or when the custodian receives a request for access
				to the record by a member of the public.
e.
Request granted or
				deferred.
If a request for confidential record treatment is granted,
				or if action on a request is deferred, a copy of the record from which the
				matter in question has been deleted and a copy of the decision to grant the
				request or to defer action upon the request will be made available for public
				inspection in lieu of the original record. If the custodian subsequently
				receives a request for access to the original record, the custodian will make
				reasonable and timely efforts to notify any person who has filed a request for
				its treatment as a confidential record that is not available for public
				inspection during the pendency of that subsequent request.
f.
Request denied and opportunity to
				seek an injunction.
If a request for confidential record treatment is
				denied, the custodian shall notify the requester in writing of that
				determination and the reasons therefor. On application by the requester, the
				custodian may engage in a good-faith, reasonable delay in allowing examination
				of the record so that the requester may seek injunctive relief under the
				provisions of Iowa Code section
				22.8,
				or other applicable provision of law. However, such a record shall not be
				withheld from public inspection for any period of time if the custodian
				determines that the requester had no reasonable grounds to justify the
				treatment of that record as a confidential record. The custodian shall notify
				the requester in writing of the time period allowed to seek injunctive relief
				or the reasons for the determination that no reasonable grounds exist to
				justify the treatment of that record as a confidential record. The custodian
				may extend the period of good-faith, reasonable delay in allowing examination
				of the record so that the requester may seek injunctive relief only if no
				request for examination of that record has been received, if a court directs
				the custodian to treat it as a confidential record, or to the extent permitted
				by another applicable provision of law, or with the consent of the person
				requesting access.
This rule is intended to implement Iowa Code chapters 17A,
				  22, 421, and 422.