Cityscape • March 2026 • In Depth

Recent open meetings and open records training has allowed League staff to hear from members and answer questions. Here are the most frequent questions from your peers with answers from League staff!

The meeting notice must be posted at a “prominent place,” which has been interpreted to be the physical location/facility where the meeting will be held. Any additional notices, such as on a city website or social media, are a best practice, but do not by themselves satisfy the state code.

Cities must give public notice for each meeting held, which includes regularly scheduled meetings as well as special meetings, work sessions, and other gatherings. The notice must include the time, date, and place of each meeting and the tentative agenda. Reasonable notice is defined to include advising the news organizations that have filed a request for notice and posting the notice on a bulletin board or other prominent place easily accessible to the public and clearly designated for that purpose at the city’s principal office.

If an agenda is prepared several days before the meeting, it should be considered “tentative” in case changes occur before the 24-hour deadline. In this way, the item can be added to the agenda already posted and submitted to the media (as long as any change occurs at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting). Once the 24-hour mark is reached, the agenda is final and cannot be changed. The agenda should list the items the council intends to discuss and act upon. There is no clear definition of what is enough information; therefore, if in doubt, give more rather than less information.

Items cannot be added to the agenda. Any new proposed action on a matter not included on the posted agenda cannot have discussion or action taken. It would be appropriate in such an instance to make a motion to add the item to a future agenda for discussion. Items listed on the agenda can be reordered or tabled for future discussion if necessary.

Quorum is defined as a majority of council members being present. For most cities in Iowa under the Mayor- Council form of government with five council members, a quorum would constitute three members of the council. Absent members and vacancies are included in the total number of seats. For example, a city with a five-member council must have three members present to have a quorum, even if there is one or two vacancies.

Yes, any board, commission, or entity meeting the definition of a “governmental body” in Section 21.2 must comply with public notice requirements.

Each community can determine who will take minutes at each meeting. While the city clerk is not required by the Code to prepare the minutes, the clerk is responsible for ensuring the minutes are published or posted as required (for city council minutes only). Boards and commissions should designate a “secretary” responsible for producing the minutes.

Yes — you can publish a summary of minutes that contains just the legal requirements and have a longer set of minutes as well. The published minutes must match the official minutes that are retained permanently by the city. As a reminder, to satisfy the legal requirements, minutes must include a listing of the claims paid and a summary of receipts. Additionally, minutes are required by Section 21.3 to include “the date, time, and place, the members present, and the action taken at each meeting. The minutes shall show the results of each vote taken and information sufficient to indicate the vote of each member present.”

Beyond these requirements, the amount of additional detail must be determined by each city council. While the minimum requirements may have too little historical value, a full transcript of the meeting may be too long and would significantly increase publication costs. The best approach is to strive for something in the middle, with the minutes providing the legally required content and enough additional information to be of historical and functional value without being too lengthy.

Occasionally, situations may arise, such as a natural disaster or a water main break, that may require the city council to take action without being able to meet the 24-hour notice requirement. Section 21.4(2) of the Iowa Code provides for such emergency meetings.

Consult with your city attorney as quickly as possible if a true emergency occurs and you are considering holding an emergency meeting or adding an item to the agenda without providing the 24- hour notice to be sure you comply with all statutory requirements.

Does posting minutes to the city website or social media account fulfill the publishing requirement?

Unfortunately, no. City council meeting minutes are required to be published in a newspaper (for cities over 200 in population; cities under 200 can post in three public places in town), and the city must send the minutes to the newspaper within 15 days of any council meeting.

Cities are required to publish their minutes in a newspaper of general circulation that meets the qualifications of a newspaper for official publication as defined in Section 618.3 of the Iowa Code.

**Note that this requirement to publish/post minutes only pertains to council meeting minutes. The minutes from city board/ commission meetings must be taken and preserved, but they are not statutorily required to be published in a newspaper (although it’s a best practice to post them to a city website, if possible).

The state code provides an exception for cities with fewer than 200. In such cities, the state code Section 372.13 says the minutes shall be posted in three public places as designated by the city code. Cities with a population of less than 200 in which no newspaper is published may meet the publication requirement by posting the minutes in three public places that have been permanently designated by ordinance. All cities over 200 are required to publish their minutes in a newspaper. A best practice is to post the minutes on the city website, if applicable, but it does not count towards the three locations where minutes must be posted.

Are minutes required for a closed meeting? Who should take minutes in a closed session?

Yes — minutes are required for a closed meeting. In this instance, the council should determine who will be responsible for the minutes from the session if the clerk or secretary is not in attendance. Pursuant to Section 21.5 of the Code, cities are required to also maintain an audio recording of closed session meetings and the detailed minutes for at least one year. Once completed, the minutes and audio recording should be sealed.

The members of the governmental body are the ones legally entitled to participate in a closed session. At the council’s discretion, others such as city staff or the city attorney may be included. If a member of the council has a conflict of interest in the matter to be discussed, the council can exclude that individual from attending the closed session.

The League has an extensive resource collection on open meetings on the League website under Resources > Administration > Open Meetings. This includes the Open Meetings Desk Reference and Open Meetings Guide.

The Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB) is an independent state agency authorized to secure compliance with and enforcement of the requirements of Chapters 21 and 22, Iowa’s open meetings and public records laws. IPIB can be reached at ipib@iowa.gov or (515) 393-8339.