Section 17.19.13. Availability of records.

       19.13(1) Open records. Agency records are open for public inspection and copying unless otherwise provided by rule or law.

       19.13(2) Confidential records. The following records may be withheld from public inspection. Records are listed by category, according to the legal basis for withholding them from public inspection.

        a.           Sealed bids received prior to the time set for public opening of bids, Iowa Code section 72.3.

        b.           Tax records made available to the agency under Iowa Code sections 422.20 and 422.72.

        c.           Any other record made confidential by law.

        d.           Records which are part of the long-term care resident’s advocate/ombudsman complaint system under Iowa Code section 231.43.

        e.           Any records which are client information for the Senior Community Service Employment Program. Pursuant to authority provided in Iowa Code section 231.51, the department administers the SCSEP program, a federally funded employment program. Federal law requires that personal information about participants be kept confidential under 20 CFR 674.203b-3(1985). The department has determined that the U.S. Department of Labor would not provide funding for the SCSEP program unless the confidentiality of participants is maintained. In order, therefore, to prevent the denial of these funds, the information will be kept confidential and any requirements to the contrary in Iowa Code chapter 22 must be waived as provided in Iowa Code section 22.9.

        f.            Records which are exempt from disclosure under Iowa Code section 22.7.

        g.           Minutes of closed meetings of a government body, Iowa Code section 21.5(4).

        h.           Identifying details of final orders, decisions and opinions to the extent required to prevent a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or trade secrets under Iowa Code section 17A.3(1)“d.”

        i.            Those portions of agency staff manuals, instructions or other statements issued which set forth criteria or guidelines to be used by agency staff in auditing, in making inspections, in settling commercial disputes or in the selection or handling of cases, such as operational tactics or allowable tolerances or criteria for the defense, prosecution or settlement of cases, when disclosure of these statements would:

       (1)             Enable law violators to avoid detection;

       (2)             Facilitate disregard of requirements imposed by law;

       (3)             Give a clearly improper advantage to persons who are in an adverse position to the agency, as indicated in Iowa Code sections 17A.2 and 17A.3.

  j.     Records which constitute attorney work product, attorney-client communications, or which are otherwise privileged. Attorney work product is confidential under Iowa Code sections 22.7(4), 622.10 and 622.11, Iowa R.C.P. 122(c), Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(3), and case law. Attorney-client communications are confidential under Iowa Code sections 622.10 and 622.11, the rules of evidence, the Code of Professional Responsibility, and case law.

       19.13(3) Authority to release confidential records. The agency may have discretion to disclose some confidential records which are exempt from disclosure under Iowa Code section 22.7 or other law. Any person may request permission to inspect records withheld from inspection under a statute which authorizes limited or discretionary disclosure as provided in rule 17—19.4(17A,22). If the agency initially determines that it will release such records, the agency may, where appropriate, notify interested parties and withhold the records from inspection as provided in subrule 19.4(3).

[ARC 8489B, IAB 1/27/10, effective 1/7/10]