Iowa Department of Education

Open Records Lawsuit Settlements

No school district is immune from lawsuits.  They are a fact of this life.  Settling a lawsuit short of trial is generally a good thing.  But, unlike private parties, a school district or community college cannot keep the terms of a settlement secret unless expunging certain information is necessary to prevent an "unwarranted invasion of personal privacy or trade secrets."

These means that a written summary of terms of all settlements must be available to the public.  The summary must include amounts of payments made and to whom the payments are made.  This includes claims paid by insurance.  See Iowa Code section 22.13:  "A written summary of the terms of settlement, including amounts of payments made to or through a claimant, or other disposition of any claim for damages made against a governmental body or against an employee, officer, or agent of a governmental body, by an insurer pursuant to a contract of liability insurance issued to the governmental body, shall be filed with the governmental body and shall be a public record."