Michael J. Merritt
Pro Se
PO BOX 187
Newton, IA 50208
cipher.hunter@cipherphoenix.com

IOWA PUBLIC INFORMATION BOARD

Argument

Iowa Code Chapter 22.1(3.)(a.) – ““Public records” includes all records, documents, tape, or other information, stored or preserved in any medium, of or belonging to this state or any county, city, township, school corporation, political subdivision, nonprofit corporation other than a fair conducting a fair event as provided in chapter 174, whose facilities or indebtedness are supported in whole or in part with property tax revenue and which is licensed to conduct pari-mutuel wagering pursuant to chapter 99D, or tax-supported district in this state, or any branch, department, board, bureau, commission, council, or committee of any of the foregoing.” Iowa Code Chapter 22.2(1.) – “Every person shall have the right to examine and copy a public record and to publish or otherwise disseminate a public record or the information contained in a public record. Unless otherwise provided for by law, the right to examine a public record shall include the right to examine a public record without charge while the public record is in the physical possession of the custodian of the public record. The right to copy a public record shall include the right to make photographs or photographic copies while the public record is in the possession of the custodian of the public record. All rights under this section are in addition to the right to obtain a certified copy of a public record under section 622.46.”

Iowa Code Chapter 22.7(5.) – “Peace officers’ investigative reports, privileged records or information specified in section 80G.2, and specific portions of electronic mail and telephone billing records of law enforcement agencies if that information is part of an ongoing investigation, except where disclosure is authorized elsewhere in this Code. However, the date, time, specific location, and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding a crime or incident shall not be kept confidential under this section, except in those unusual circumstances where disclosure would plainly and seriously jeopardize an investigation or pose a clear and present danger to the safety of an individual. Specific portions of electronic mail and telephone billing records may only be kept confidential under this subsection if the length of time prescribed for commencement of prosecution or the finding of an indictment or information under the statute of limitations applicable to the crime that is under investigation has not expired.”

The interpretation of Iowa Code Chapter 22 in the Iowa Public Information Board Dismissal Order provides municipal, county, and state agencies the ability to merely insert data protected by Iowa Code Chapter 22.7 into their records, providing an ability to conceal the entire record. At the same time, allowing these agencies to provide citizens testimony on a memorandum for the record instead of the original record where the historical data is “stored or preserved.” This execution of releasing information that is “stored or preserved” on an original record via third-party testimony on a memorandum for the record denies Iowa citizens their right to “examine and copy a public record and to publish or otherwise disseminate a public record or the information contained in a public record.” as protected by Iowa Code Chapter 22.2(1.). This memorandum for the record (the City of Ames, IA provided on 31 MAR 2022 dated 31 MAR 2022 months after failing to respond to my request for records that have been “stored or preserved” in accordance with Iowa Code Chapter 22) reflecting an incident I reported to law enforcement involving children concealed in Ames, IA by conspirators utilizing allegations of sexual abuse San Diego, CA East County Superior Court determined on 16 SEP 2021 there was no evidence to support. Children concealed in Iowa by conspirators reported to the Ames, IA Police Department prevented these witnesses from appearing at court-ordered FCS Child Interviews in the State of California to provide their testimony regarding allegations the Mother and these conspirators in Ames, IA utilized to profit off of child support. Conspirators that violated these children’s rights in accordance with Iowa Code Chapter 598.1 providing them “the opportunity for maximum continuous physical and emotional contact possible with both parents, unless direct physical or significant emotional harm to the child may result from this contact. Refusal by one parent to provide this opportunity without just cause shall be considered harmful to the best interest of the child.” An incident the Ames, IA Police Department provided a memorandum for the record dated 31 MAR 2022 showing the Ames, IA Police Department did nothing about this incident. The interpretation of Iowa Code Chapter 22 in the Iowa Public Information Board Dismissal Order allows municipal, county, and state agencies a device enabling deceit while allowing them to conceal an entire record if it includes any information protected by Iowa Code Chapter 22.7. If this form of interpretation of Iowa Code Chapter 22 were to manifest to full capability everything the Iowa Supreme Court and this state’s legislature have communicated, is the purpose of Iowa Code Chapter 22 will have been dismantled.

If Section 1 of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution states, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” and Section 23, Article 1 of the Constitution of the State of Iowa states, “Slavery — penal servitude. There shall be no slavery in this state; nor shall there be involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime.” where are we as a society if the agencies that arrest and detain this potential slave labor for the Iowa Prison Industries are allowed to conceal its historical records. Records including information that Iowa Code Chapter 22.7(5.) states “shall not be kept confidential under this section, except in those unusual circumstances where disclosure would plainly and seriously jeopardize an investigation or pose a clear and present danger to the safety of an individual.”

Conclusion

If the Iowa Public Information Board does not have the “teeth” necessary to protect the rights of Iowa citizens as Iowa Code Chapter 23 intended. Evidence of the professional execution of those that maintain it may provide the teeth necessary to reform this organization that was intended to protect the rights of Iowa citizens. The Iowa Public Information Board Dismissal Order interpretation of Iowa Code Chapter 22 abridges the State of Iowa Constitution Article 1 Section 2, “Political power. All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people, and they have the right, at all times, to alter or reform the same, whenever the public good may require it.” When municipal, county, and state agencies are allowed to conceal or enable the concealment of records documenting their historical actions, this political power provided to citizens of the State of Iowa by its Constitution is compromised while showing true political power is secured with government by those elected or appointed to serve within it.