News : Premature Dissemination

At Tuesday's Benton County Supervisor Meeting, the usual business was conducted according to the agenda. On the agenda was to simply "Review and approve IPIB Agreement." (IPIB=Iowa Public Information Board)

There were a total of 10 complaints placed against the Board of Supervisors, and as a result, the draft of the agreement was presented to the board for approval.  The complaints included illegal meetings between September 26 and November 8, 2023. "In addition, the allegations within the ten complaints are intermingled and overlapping," the official complaint reads.

These complaints encompass the Board of Health complaints as well as a closed session held by the Supervisors while conducting a job review. During the job review, the board discussed other business which is not allowed under Iowa law. The Supervisors had asked the Benton County Auditor to leave the room, which is unusual behavior as she is their record keeper.

The agreement says: 

"On February 15, 2024, the IPIB accepted formal complaints 23FC:0107, 23FC:0109, 23FC:0112, 23FC:0113 and 23FC:0121.1

Pursuant to Iowa Code § 23.9, the parties have agreed upon the following terms for an informal resolution of this matter:

1. The Board acknowledges sufficient evidence exists regarding the closed sessions and failure to follow specific procedures for closed sessions presented in these complaints that a violation of chapter 21 could potentially be found in a contested case proceeding.

2. The Board will provide a transparent timeline of events and actions that occurred during or as a result of the closed sessions at issue. This timeline will include full transparency of any non-confidential facts or matters and will be provided to all parties and retain status as a public document.

3. The Board will work with counsel to develop a checklist for all procedural requirements in holding a closed session and the limitations of deliberation within a closed session to avoid any deficiencies in the future.

4. The Board acknowledges that under Iowa Code § 21.6(3) continued violations of Iowa's Open Meetings Law can result in fines assessed to individual members of the Board, in addition to removal from office.

5. The Board and other county officials and staff will participate in training on Iowa Code chapters 21 and 22 in an open meeting. The IPIB will conduct the training and all elected officials from Benton County will attend. The heads of boards and commissions within the county will be invited.

6. The Council will approve this resolution during an open meeting and include the full text in the minutes of the meeting. A copy of the minutes will be provided to the IPIB."

During Tuesday's meeting, Brent Hinders, representing the Benton County Supervisors, read #4 as the latest addition to this agreement and handed the agreement out to the public.

The IPIB has not yet approved this agreement, it is still pending. It would appear that releasing the information to the public is premature, and the complainants were told not to discuss the agreement outside of the meeting with IPIB. 

The complainants felt that a heartfelt apology should be given, by the supervisors for their misconduct, yet understand that the apologies must go through legal channels. As a compromise, the complainants' statement was to be read into the minutes. Instead, it appears that it was simply handed out to the public.

The complainants are still awaiting a copy of the minutes from the illegal meeting that was held which excluding the Auditor. They expect to receive these upon approval of the complaints.   

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IPIB is designed to deal with complaints specifically concerning elected officials, in this case the Board of Supervisors. According to Iowa law, if there is a quorum, in the case of the supervisors, two or more, they must announce a meeting any time they gather to discuss business.

They can only go into a closed session if it meets one of several requirements of Iowa law, and it must be announced. 

If you ever need to file a complaint with them, here is the link.