Public record complaint filed against Henry County

MT. PLEASANT — A lawyer for a family expected to sue Henry County claims officials unreasonably delayed their response to a public record request, and failed to provide all the required records when they did eventually respond.

Curtis, Lori and Owen Wagler were arrested by Henry County Deputy Carlos Lopez in April of 2023, charged with criminal theft, an allegation Henry County Attorney Darin Stater declined to prosecute, citing errors in the paperwork. The chain of events ultimately led to Lopez’s placement on the county’s Brady-Giglio list, a roster of law enforcement professionals county attorneys deem potentially unreliable, making their testimony less persuasive in court.

The Waglers’ attorney, Danny Cornell, said last summer that the family was likely to file a lawsuit related to the incident. Cornell’s firm sent a public record request to the sheriff’s office in May, in a move some officials considered a precursor to litigation.

In a complaint sent to the Iowa Public Information Board Oct. 7, Cornell claimed Sheriff Rich McNamee obstructed, delayed and failed to provide the requested documents over the following 95 days.

A timeline provided by Cornell in the complaint showed the attorney’s growing frustration, as the sheriff took longer than expected to reply to the request, then ceased to collaborate with the county attorney on it, before claiming to have the records mailed by Aug. 5, although Cornell said he still hadn’t received the package by Oct. 7.

The records were later provided digitally in a nine-page email attachment Cornell said didn’t fulfill his clients’ request, which asked for virtually every government document associated with Lopez’s placement on the Brady-Giglio list.

“This step-by-step procedural history highlights repeated violations of Iowa’s open records laws,” the complaint said. “Despite numerous extensions, follow-ups, and offers of alternative methods of delivery, the Sheriff’s Office has failed to provide the requested records promptly, in violation of Iowa Code Chapter 22. The delays have caused undue hardship for the Waglers and have obstructed their legal rights to access public records.”

A similar public record request made by The Southeast Iowa Union on June 7 was eventually met with a 109-page PDF, sent as an email attachment, on Aug. 7. A mailed physical copy arrived at the paper’s Washington office later that week. Those records, alongside hundreds of others obtained by the paper, guided reporting on the Brady-Giglio issue.

In his complaint, Cornell noted the difference between Henry County’s response to the paper’s request and his clients’. The attorney asked the Iowa Public Information Board — which is tasked with resolving disputes, offering legal guidance and sometimes ordering compliance with the state’s public record and public meeting laws — to mandate the release of roughly 1,000 pages of internal documents, and impose penalties and corrective measures against the county “for the unreasonable and unjustified delay.”

“We trust the Iowa Public Information Board will act to uphold the principles of transparency, accountability, and public access to information as guaranteed under Iowa Code Chapter 22,” the complaint said.

The issue may not be that simple, however.

The IPIB issued an advisory opinion last month, in response to questions from The Union, saying McNamee’s actions likely didn’t violate state requirements for “reasonable” and “good-faith” delays in public record request responses. The sheriff attributed the long wait for records to his claims of a “conflict of interest” at the county attorney’s office, necessitating a search for third-party legal guidance.

“We do not have any ability to determine if there is actually any conflict there, that’s beyond our scope,” IPIB Executive Director Erika Eckley said. “But it is clear that, if there is concern with that, it would not be unreasonable for a government custodian to reach out and find a third-party counsel … and there could be a delay in finding somebody without a conflict.”

It’s somewhat rare for the board to make orders like the ones Cornell requested. Of the 50 formal complaints sent to the IPIB in 2023, all but 10 were dismissed or informally resolved outside of board meetings.

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com