WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA CAPITAL DISPATCH) – The Iowa Public Information Board has been handed a defeat in the Iowa Court of Appeals, which has upheld a lower court action reversing the board’s dismissal of a public-records complaint.
The board had appealed a district court ruling that reversed the board’s order dismissing an Iowa Open Records Law complaint against the City of West Des Moines, filed by Hendrik Van Pelt of Clayton County.
The board argued that it had correctly dismissed Van Pelt’s complaint because the specific documents Van Pelt sought from the city belonged to a third-party contractor who was not performing a fundamental governmental duty or function…