Opinion ID: 1709729
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Does Iowa Code section 22.3 allow a retrieval fee?

Text: On appeal, Rathmann asserts that the district court erred in concluding that Iowa's open records law allows a school district to charge a member of the public a fee to cover the costs of retrieving school district records that qualify as public records under Iowa Code chapter 22. Rathmann contends that Iowa Code section 22.3 does not allow a government body to charge a retrieval fee for gathering such records and that policy 306.5 is thus invalid. Additionally, Rathmann asks us to clarify our holding in Gabrilson to hold in this case that a school district cannot charge a school board member a fee to cover the costs of retrieving school district records which the board member has a right to see. Iowa Code chapter 22 is Iowa's freedom of information statute. Northeast Council, 513 N.W.2d at 759. This statute gives members of the public the right to examine and copy public records. Iowa Code § 22.2(1). The definition of public records includes records retained by a school district. See id. at § 22.1(3). The purpose of the statute is to open the doors of government to public scrutinyto prevent government from secreting its decision-making activities from the public, on whose behalf it is its duty to act. Iowa Civil Rights Comm'n v. City of Des Moines, 313 N.W.2d 491, 495 (Iowa 1981). There is a presumption of disclosure of records under the statute and exceptions to this rule are to be narrowly construed. Northeast Council, 513 N.W.2d at 759. The right of persons to view public records is to be interpreted liberally to provide broad public access to public records. Howard v. Des Moines Register & Tribune Co., 283 N.W.2d 289, 299 (Iowa 1979). With respect to examination of public records, Iowa Code section 22.3 states: The lawful custodian shall provide a suitable place for such work, but if it is impracticable to do such work in the office of the lawful custodian, the person desiring to examine or copy shall pay any necessary expenses of providing a place for such work. All expenses of such work shall be paid by the person desiring to examine or copy. The lawful custodian may charge a reasonable fee for the services of the lawful custodian or the custodian's authorized deputy in supervising the records during such work. If copy equipment is available at the office of the lawful custodian of any public records, the lawful custodian shall provide any person a reasonable number of copies of any public record in the custody of the office upon the payment of a fee. The fee for the copying service as determined by the lawful custodian shall not exceed the cost of providing the service. (Emphasis added.) Board policy 306.5 provides as follows: The district welcomes public interest in the schools and their operation. To that end, all public records of the school district as defined by Iowa Code Chapter 22 may be examined by the public during the regular business hours of the administration offices of the school district.... Persons wishing to examine the school district's public records shall contact the superintendent or his designee and make arrangements for the examination. The superintendent will make arrangements for the examination of public records as soon as practicable. Persons wanting copies will be assessed an actual fee for the copy. Persons wanting retrieval of data will be assessed an actual fee for the time of the specific employee or employees to retrieve the requested data, if the retrieval process exceeds 30 minutes of staff time. People desiring to examine records shall pay any necessary expenses for providing a place for examining or copying records. Persons examining public records may be charged an actual fee for the custodian's supervision of the examination. (Emphasis added.) In its August 25, 1995, ruling concerning Rathmann's summary judgment motion, the district court concluded that Iowa Code section 22.3 allows a school district to charge members of the public, as well as school board members, a fee to cover the cost of retrieving public records, stating: Section 22.3 of the Code provides all expenses of such work shall be paid by the person desiring to examine or copy. I deem this provision to be broad enough to cover retrieval expenses, supervisory expense and copy fees. These charges must be reasonable and in the case of copy fees must not exceed the cost of providing the service. If Petitioner asks for records under Chapter 22, she is subject to these provisions. If she invokes Rule 306.5 in her request, she is subject to the rule the same as any member of the public. If she requests copies and other services not ordinarily provided to school board members as a whole in her capacity as a board member, it is well within the authority of the board to require her to pay the cost in a manner similar to that provided for in Chapter 22. The first question we must answer is whether the legislature intended to allow entities covered under chapter 22 to charge members of the public a fee to cover the cost of retrieving public records. [5] The answer to this question, of course, depends upon our interpretation of the statute. Our goal in interpreting statutory language is to give effect to the intent of the legislature. Lockhart v. Cedar Rapids Community School Dist., 577 N.W.2d 845, 847 (Iowa 1998). In doing so, we `consider the objects sought to be accomplished and the evils and mischiefs sought to be remedied, seeking a result that will advance, rather than defeat, the statute's purpose.' Harris v. Olson, 558 N.W.2d 408, 410 (Iowa 1997) (quoting Doe v. Ray, 251 N.W.2d 496, 500 (Iowa 1977)). We find that the language of Iowa Code section 22.3 concerning retrieval fees is ambiguous and thus we may look beyond the statute for its meaning. State v. Ahitow, 544 N.W.2d 270, 272 (Iowa 1996) (court may use rules of statutory interpretation to determine legislative intent when language of statute is ambiguous). In doing so, we look at what the legislature said, rather than what it should or might have said. Iowa R.App. P. 14(f)(13). Absent legislative definition or a particular and appropriate meaning in law, we give words their plain and ordinary meaning. Ahitow, 544 N.W.2d at 272. We also consider the context in which the words are used. Iowa Code § 4.1(38). Keeping these rules in mind, we turn to the language of the statute. Section 22.3 does not expressly establish a procedure for retrieving public records requested pursuant to chapter 22, but does expressly authorize the charging of reasonable fees for necessary expenses incurred during examination and copying of public records. Specifically, a reasonable fee may be charged to cover expenses associated with (1) providing a place for examining and/or copying records; (2) supervising the records during examination and/or copying; (3) and photocopying public records. Section 22.3 also states that [a]ll expenses of such work shall be paid by the person desiring to examine or copy. The phrase such work appears several times in section 22.3 and apparently refers back to the first sentence in the section which uses the terms examination and copying in reference to the rights established in section 22.2. Reading the statute as a whole, we conclude that the provisions of section 22.3 generally contemplate reimbursement to a lawful custodian of public records for costs incurred in retrieving public records. We find the phrase all expenses of such work to be especially significant and indicative of the legislature's intent that a lawful custodian has the authority to charge a fee to cover the costs of retrieving public records. Thus, access to public records does not necessarily mean free access. We recognize that permitting entities covered under chapter 22 to charge members of the public a fee to cover the cost of retrieving public records does, to some extent, limit public access to public records. While the legislature did not intend for chapter 22 to be a revenue measure, at the same time it did not intend for a lawful custodian to bear the burden of paying for all expenses associated with a public records request. We thus reject Rathmann's interpretation that the words expenses, fees and payment in the section were only intended to cover the costs of supervising or photocopying the documents. We also believe that the fee charged by the school district concerning a member of the public is reasonable in light of Rathmann's broad request for all working papers, correspondence and documentation regarding the Administrative Structure Review Team. Policy 306.5 establishes a threshold point (thirty minutes of staff time) at which the school district begins to charge a fee for retrieving requested records. Thus, no retrieval fee is charged where retrieval of requested records is estimated to take one half hour or less. Additionally, at the time of this request, the Review Team had not yet filed a report. Thus, the documents pertaining to Rathmann's request consisted of notes and papers from numerous school district employees. Gathering these documents thus involved more than just searching for papers in a file cabinet. [6] We conclude that allowing entities covered under chapter 22 to charge members of the public a fee to cover the cost of retrieving public records is consistent with the purpose and meaning of Iowa Code section 22.3. [7] The district court properly concluded that policy 306.5 is valid under Iowa's freedom of information statute as applied to a member of the public.