City of Postville v. Upper Explorerland Reg’l Planning Comm’n

A city and resident filed a petition against the Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission, a local governmental body, alleging various violations of the Iowa Open Meetings Act (IOMA). The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Commission and its members (Defendants), finding (1) a volunteer of a governmental body has immunity pursuant to Iowa Code 28H.4 for damages due to alleged IOMA violations; (2) the Commission's meeting notices for its closed sessions satisfied the requirements of Iowa Code 21.4(1); and (3) the newspaper Defendants used for publication of the names and salaries of Commission members was a newspaper of general circulation under Iowa Code 28E.6(3)(a). The Supreme Court (1) affirmed as to issue of whether individual members of the Commission were immune from damages, as section 28H.4 exempts volunteers serving on councils of governments from personal liability; (2) reversed as to the reasonableness of the notice posted in the hallway of the Commission's offices, as genuine issues of material fact existed regarding whether the notice was easily accessible to the public; and (3) affirmed as to the issue of whether the publication was a newspaper of general circulation. Remanded. View "City of Postville v. Upper Explorerland Reg'l Planning Comm'n" on Justia Law