Iowa Code § 321.11 (2026)

1. All records of the department, other than those made confidential or not permitted to be open in accordance with 18 U.S.C. §2721 et seq., adopted as of a specific date by rule of the department, shall be open to public inspection during office hours.

2. Notwithstanding subsection 1, personal information shall not be disclosed to a requester, except as provided in 18 U.S.C. §2721, unless the person whose personal information is requested has provided express written consent allowing disclosure of the person’s personal information. As used in this section, “personal information” means information that identifies a person, including a person’s photograph, social security number, driver’s license number, name, address, telephone number, and medical or disability information, but does not include information on vehicular accidents, driving violations, and driver’s status or a person’s zip code.

3. Notwithstanding other provisions of this section to the contrary, the department shall not release personal information to a person, other than to an officer or employee of a law enforcement agency, an employee of a federal or state agency or political subdivision in the performance of the employee’s official duties, a contract employee of the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing in the conduct of an investigation, or a licensed private investigation agency or a licensed security service or a licensed employee of either, if the information is requested by the presentation of a registration plate number. In addition, an officer or employee of a law enforcement agency may release the name, address, and telephone number of a motor vehicle registrant to a person requesting the information by the presentation of a registration plate number if the officer or employee of the law enforcement agency believes that the release of the information is necessary in the performance of the officer’s or employee’s duties.

4. The department shall not release personal information that is in the form of a person’s photograph or digital image or a digital reproduction of a person’s photograph to a person other than an officer or employee of a law enforcement agency, an employee of a federal or state agency or political subdivision in the performance of the employee’s official duties, a contract employee of the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing in the conduct of an investigation, or a licensed private investigation agency or a licensed security service or a licensed employee of either, regardless of whether a person has provided express written consent to disclosure of the information. The department may collect reasonable fees for copies of records or other services provided pursuant to this section or section 22.3, 321.10, or 622.46. [C39, §5000.11; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §321.11] 96 Acts, ch 1102, §1, 3; 97 Acts, ch 108, §3; 98 Acts, ch 1035, §1; 99 Acts, ch 198, §4; 2000 Acts, ch 1133, §2, 18; 2001 Acts, ch 90, §1; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §1964 Referred to in §321.11A, 321.183, 321A.3, 692.3 \n