As used in this chapter:
1. “Governmental body” means:
a. A board, council, commission, or other governing body expressly created by the
statutes of this state or by executive order.
b. A board, council, commission, or other governing body of a political subdivision or
tax-supported district in this state.
c. A multimembered body formally and directly created by one or more boards, councils,
commissions, or other governing bodies subject to paragraphs “a” and “b” of this subsection.
d. Those multimembered bodies to which the state board of regents or a president
of a university has delegated the responsibility for the management and control of the
intercollegiate athletic programs at the state universities.
e. An advisory board, advisory commission, or task force created by the governor or the
general assembly to develop and make recommendations on public policy issues.
f. A 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 a
nonprofit corporation which is a successor to the nonprofit corporation which built the facility.
g. A nonprofit corporation licensed to conduct gambling games pursuant to chapter 99F.
h. An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory committee, task force, or other body
created by statute or executive order of this state or created by an executive order of a political
subdivision of this state to develop and make recommendations on public policy issues.
i. The governing body of a drainage or levee district as provided in chapter 468, including
a board as defined in section 468.3, regardless of how the district is organized.
j. An advisory board, advisory commission, advisory committee, task force, or other body
created by an entity organized under chapter 28E, or by the administrator or joint board
specified in a chapter 28E agreement, to develop and make recommendations on public policy
issues.
2. “Meeting” means a gathering in person or by electronic means, formal or informal, of a
majority of the members of a governmental body where there is deliberation or action upon
any matter within the scope of the governmental body’s policy-making duties. Meetings shall
not include a gathering of members of a governmental body for purely ministerial or social\n\nTue Dec 09 22:32:24 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 21 (29, 2)
§21.2, OFFICIAL MEETINGS OPEN TO PUBLIC (OPEN MEETINGS) 2\n\npurposes when there is no discussion of policy or no intent to avoid the purposes of this
chapter.
3. “Open session” means a meeting to which all members of the public have access.
[C71, 73, 75, 77, §28A.1; C79, 81, §28A.2]
C85, §21.2
89 Acts, ch 73, §1; 90 Acts, ch 1175, §1; 90 Acts, ch 1271, §701; 91 Acts, ch 258, §26; 93 Acts,
ch 25, §1; 2004 Acts, ch 1019, §1; 2009 Acts, ch 132, §1; 2009 Acts, ch 179, §31
Referred to in §9E.3, 21.11, 23.2, 331.909, 441.31
\n
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
24
cases (
5 in the last 5 years), 1967–2025 · leading case:
Peg Hutchison, Dan Johnson, Russ Nichols, Shawn Ripperger, Leigh Ann Swain, & Shelly Vander Tuig v. Douglas Shull, Steve Wilson, Dean Yordi, the Bd. of Supervisors for Warren Cnty., Iowa, & Warren Cnty., Iowa, 878 N.W.2d 221 (Iowa 2016).
Peg Hutchison, Dan Johnson, Russ Nichols, Shawn Ripperger, Leigh Ann Swain, & Shelly Vander Tuig v. Douglas Shull, Steve Wilson, Dean Yordi, the Bd. of Supervisors for Warren Cnty., Iowa, & Warren Cnty., Iowa, 878 N.W.2d 221 (Iowa 2016).
· cites it 128× “See Iowa Code §§ 21.2 (2), .3. We review questions of statutory construction for correction of errors at law.”
Mason v. Vision Iowa Bd., 700 N.W.2d 349 (Iowa 2005).
· cites it 11× “” Iowa Code § 21.2 (2) (emphasis added); accord Tel.”
Des Moines Register & Tribune Co. v. Dwyer, 542 N.W.2d 491 (Iowa 1996).
· cites it 4× “This is in sharp contrast with its choice in the open meetings law, where in Iowa Code section 21.2(1) a "governmental body" was not defined to include "this state," but was confined to boards, councils, commissions or other governmental bodies created by statute or executive…”
Hettinga v. Dallas Cnty. Bd. of Adjustment, 375 N.W.2d 293 (Iowa Ct. App. 1985).
· cites it 10× “The Open Meetings Act only applies to meetings of governmental bodies as defined in *295 Iowa Code section 21.2. It is, therefore, necessary to determine whether a “governmental body” had a “meeting” within the meaning of section 21.”
State of Iowa v. Andrew James Lopez, 872 N.W.2d 159 (Iowa 2015).
“‘‘[I]t has been held that the prosecutor is frée to speak for the purpose of correcting misstatements by the defense," notwithstanding a plea agreement that otherwise precludes introduction of evidence at sentencing detrimental to the defendant.”
City of Postville, Iowa & Jason Meyer v. Upper Explorerland Reg'l Plan. Comm'n, Martin Brennan, Kathy Campbell, Ray Whalen, Leon Griebenow, Andrew Wenthe, Karla Organist, Warren Steffen, Michael Kenedy, Janet McGovern, Dean Darling, Les Askelson, & Randy Uhl, 834 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa 2013).
· cites it 2× “; Iowa Code § 21.2 (1). However, Iowa Code section 28H.”
Gavin v. City of Cascade, 500 N.W.2d 729 (Iowa Ct. App. 1993).
· cites it 10× “The court concluded no meeting was held as defined by section 21.2(2) on either August 14, 1989, or September 1989.”
Wood v. Battle Ground Sch. Dist., 107 Wash. App. 550 (Wash. Ct. App. 2001).
“is prohibited”); Iowa Code Ann. § 21.2 (2) (West 1993) (“ ‘Meeting’ means a gathering in person or by electronic means, formal or informal, of a majority of the members of a governmental body where there is deliberation or action upon any matter within the scope of the…”
Henneman v. McCalla, 148 N.W.2d 447 (Iowa 1967).
· cites it 2× “More nearly in point however is this statement by Harper and James, The Law of Torts, section 21.2: “* * * the-rescuer * # * on ^ highway, * * =;;= does not assume the most open and obvious risks (though he may be negligent in encountering them under the circumstances of any…”
— Iowa Code § 21.2(1) — 3 cases
Des Moines Register & Tribune Co. v. Dwyer, 542 N.W.2d 491 (Iowa 1996).
“This is in sharp contrast with its choice in the open meetings law, where in Iowa Code section 21.2(1) a "governmental body" was not defined to include "this state," but was confined to boards, councils, commissions or other governmental bodies created by statute or executive…”
— Iowa Code § 21.2(1)(a) — 1 case
— Iowa Code § 21.2(2) — 6 cases
Peg Hutchison, Dan Johnson, Russ Nichols, Shawn Ripperger, Leigh Ann Swain, & Shelly Vander Tuig v. Douglas Shull, Steve Wilson, Dean Yordi, the Bd. of Supervisors for Warren Cnty., Iowa, & Warren Cnty., Iowa, 878 N.W.2d 221 (Iowa 2016).
“See Iowa Code §§ 21.2 (2), .3. We review questions of statutory construction for correction of errors at law.”
Gavin v. City of Cascade, 500 N.W.2d 729 (Iowa Ct. App. 1993).
“The court concluded no meeting was held as defined by section 21.2(2) on either August 14, 1989, or September 1989.”
Hettinga v. Dallas Cnty. Bd. of Adjustment, 375 N.W.2d 293 (Iowa Ct. App. 1985).
“The Open Meetings Act only applies to meetings of governmental bodies as defined in *295 Iowa Code section 21.2. It is, therefore, necessary to determine whether a “governmental body” had a “meeting” within the meaning of section 21.”
Amended June 28, 2016 Peg Hutchison, Dan Johnson, Russ Nichols, Shawn Ripperger, Leigh Ann Swain, & Shelly Vander Tuig v. Douglas Shull, Steve Wilson, Dean Yordi, the Bd. of Supervisors for Warren Cnty., Iowa, & Warren Cnty., Iowa (Iowa 2016).
— Iowa Code § 21.2(3) — 4 cases
— Iowa Code § 21.2(d) — 2 cases
State of Iowa v. Andrew James Lopez, 872 N.W.2d 159 (Iowa 2015).
“‘‘[I]t has been held that the prosecutor is frée to speak for the purpose of correcting misstatements by the defense," notwithstanding a plea agreement that otherwise precludes introduction of evidence at sentencing detrimental to the defendant.”
— Iowa Code § 21.2(l) — 1 case
Hettinga v. Dallas Cnty. Bd. of Adjustment, 375 N.W.2d 293 (Iowa Ct. App. 1985).
“The Open Meetings Act only applies to meetings of governmental bodies as defined in *295 Iowa Code section 21.2. It is, therefore, necessary to determine whether a “governmental body” had a “meeting” within the meaning of section 21.”
— Iowa Code § 21.2(l)(b) — 1 case
Hettinga v. Dallas Cnty. Bd. of Adjustment, 375 N.W.2d 293 (Iowa Ct. App. 1985).
“The Open Meetings Act only applies to meetings of governmental bodies as defined in *295 Iowa Code section 21.2. It is, therefore, necessary to determine whether a “governmental body” had a “meeting” within the meaning of section 21.”
— Iowa Code § 21.2(l)(c) — 1 case
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.