Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 22.3 (2026)

Supervision — fees

✓ current as of July 2026

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1. The examination and copying of public records shall be done under the supervision of the lawful custodian of the records or the custodian’s authorized designee. The lawful custodian shall not require the physical presence of a person requesting or receiving a copy of a public record and shall fulfill requests for a copy of a public record received in writing, by telephone, or by electronic means. Although fulfillment of a request for a copy of a public record may be contingent upon receipt of payment of reasonable expenses, the lawful custodian shall make every reasonable effort to provide the public record requested at no cost other than copying costs for a record which takes less than thirty minutes to produce. In the event expenses are necessary, such expenses shall be reasonable and communicated to the requester upon receipt of the request. A person may contest the reasonableness of the custodian’s expenses as provided for in this chapter. The lawful custodian may adopt and enforce reasonable rules regarding the examination and copying of the records and\n\nTue Dec 09 22:32:25 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 22 (47, 1) 3 EXAMINATION OF PUBLIC RECORDS (OPEN RECORDS), §22.3A\n\nthe protection of the records against damage or disorganization. The lawful custodian shall provide a suitable place for the examination and copying of the records, but if it is impracticable to do the examination and copying of the records in the office of the lawful custodian, the person desiring to examine or copy shall pay any necessary expenses of providing a place for the examination and copying.

2. All reasonable expenses of the examination and copying shall be paid by the person desiring to examine or copy. The lawful custodian may charge a reasonable fee for the services of the lawful custodian or the custodian’s authorized designee in supervising the examination and copying of the records. If copy equipment is available at the office of the lawful custodian of any public records, the lawful custodian shall provide any person a reasonable number of copies of any public record in the custody of the office upon the payment of a fee. The fee for the copying service as determined by the lawful custodian shall not exceed the actual cost of providing the service. Actual costs shall include only those reasonable expenses directly attributable to supervising the examination of and making and providing copies of public records. Actual costs shall not include charges for ordinary expenses or costs such as employment benefits, depreciation, maintenance, electricity, or insurance associated with the administration of the office of the lawful custodian. Costs for legal services should only be utilized for the redaction or review of legally protected confidential information. However, a county recorder shall not charge a fee for the examination and copying of public records necessary to complete and file claims for benefits with the Iowa department of veterans affairs or the United States department of veterans affairs. [C71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §68A.3] C85, §22.3 2001 Acts, ch 44, §2; 2005 Acts, ch 103, §1; 2006 Acts, ch 1010, §14; 2020 Acts, ch 1052, §1; 2022 Acts, ch 1039, §1 Referred to in §2.42, 8A.341, 321.11, 483A.22A \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 12 cases (9 in the last 5 years), 1988–2026 · leading case: Rathmann v. Bd. of Directors of the Davenport Cmty. Sch. Dist., 580 N.W.2d 773 (Iowa 1998).

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Rathmann v. Bd. of Directors of the Davenport Cmty. Sch. Dist., 580 N.W.2d 773 (Iowa 1998). · cites it 30× “4 The court found that Iowa Code section 22.3 was “broad enough to cover retrieval expenses, supervisory expenses and copy fees,” and thus concluded that policy 306.”

AFSCME/Iowa Council 61 v. Iowa Dep't of Pub. Saf., 434 N.W.2d 401 (Iowa 1988). · cites it 4× “Section 22.3 provides: Such examination and copying shall be done under the supervision of the lawful custodian of the records or the custodian’s authorized deputy.”

Robert Teig v. Vanessa Chavez, Alissa Van Sloten, Patricia G. Kropf, Elizabeth Jacobi, Brad Hart, & Teresa Feldmann (Iowa 2024). · cites it 18× “at 777 (emphasis omitted) (quoting Iowa Code § 22.3 (1995)). We found the phrase “all expenses of such work” to be “especially significant and indicative of the legislature’s intent” to authorize retrieval fees.”

Jacob Hackman v. Suellen Kolbet, as Custodian for the New Hampton Mun. Light Plant (Iowa Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 16× “” Iowa Code § 22.3 (2). Additionally, “The lawful 2 Hackman also argues summary judgment was inappropriate because “credibility was in question on whether attorney’s fees were billed for the same retrieval of the open records request.”

Jeremy Chedester & Chedester Props., LLC v. City of Newton, Iowa (Iowa Ct. App. 2026). · cites it 5× “§ 22.3(1) (“The lawful custodian shall not require the physical presence of a person requesting or receiving a copy of a public record and shall fulfill requests for a copy of a public record received in writing, by telephone, or by electronic means.”

Polly Carver-Kimm v. Kim Reynolds, Pat Garrett, & State of Iowa & Gerd Clabaugh, Sarah Reisetter, & Susan Dixon (Iowa 2023). · cites it 4× “See Iowa Code § 22.3 (1); Belin, 989 N.W.2d at 174–75.”

Polly Carver-Kimm v. Kim Reynolds, Pat Garrett, & State of Iowa & Gerd Clabaugh, Sarah Reisetter, & Susan Dixon (Iowa 2023). · cites it 3× “See Iowa Code 22.3(1); Belin, 989 N.W.2d at 174–75.”

Kelly Brodie, Dr. John Heffron, Katherine King, Dr. Michael Langenfeld, Katherine Rall & Jamie Shaw v. Jerry R. Foxhoven, Richard Shults, Jerry Rea, Mohammad Rehman, Glenwood Resource Ctr. & Iowa Dep't of Human Servs. (Iowa 2025). · cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 22.3 (1); Belin [v. Reynolds], 989 N.”

State of Iowa v. Matthew Paul Ford (Iowa Ct. App. 2023). “, Criminal Procedure § 22.3(d) (4th ed. Nov. 2022 update). 10 Before reaching our conclusion, we must tease out one additional nuance.”

Laura Belin, Bleeding Heartland LLC, Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch, Randy Evans, & Iowa Freedom of Info. Council v. Governor Kim Reynolds, Michael Boal, Pat Garrett, Alex Murphy, & Off. of The Governor of the State of Iowa (Iowa 2023). “§ 22.3(1). A request can be made in person, “in writing, by telephone, or by electronic means.”

— Iowa Code § 22.3(1) — 8 cases

Jeremy Chedester & Chedester Props., LLC v. City of Newton, Iowa (Iowa Ct. App. 2026). “§ 22.3(1) (“The lawful custodian shall not require the physical presence of a person requesting or receiving a copy of a public record and shall fulfill requests for a copy of a public record received in writing, by telephone, or by electronic means.”

Polly Carver-Kimm v. Kim Reynolds, Pat Garrett, & State of Iowa & Gerd Clabaugh, Sarah Reisetter, & Susan Dixon (Iowa 2023). “See Iowa Code 22.3(1); Belin, 989 N.W.2d at 174–75.”

Robert Teig v. Vanessa Chavez, Alissa Van Sloten, Patricia G. Kropf, Elizabeth Jacobi, Brad Hart, & Teresa Feldmann (Iowa 2024). “at 777 (emphasis omitted) (quoting Iowa Code § 22.3 (1995)). We found the phrase “all expenses of such work” to be “especially significant and indicative of the legislature’s intent” to authorize retrieval fees.”

Polly Carver-Kimm v. Kim Reynolds, Pat Garrett, & State of Iowa & Gerd Clabaugh, Sarah Reisetter, & Susan Dixon (Iowa 2023). “See Iowa Code § 22.3 (1); Belin, 989 N.W.2d at 174–75.”

— Iowa Code § 22.3(2) — 1 case

Jacob Hackman v. Suellen Kolbet, as Custodian for the New Hampton Mun. Light Plant (Iowa Ct. App. 2017). “” Iowa Code § 22.3 (2). Additionally, “The lawful 2 Hackman also argues summary judgment was inappropriate because “credibility was in question on whether attorney’s fees were billed for the same retrieval of the open records request.”

— Iowa Code § 22.3(d) — 1 case

State of Iowa v. Matthew Paul Ford (Iowa Ct. App. 2023). “, Criminal Procedure § 22.3(d) (4th ed. Nov. 2022 update). 10 Before reaching our conclusion, we must tease out one additional nuance.”

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