Vilsack says don’t punish officials who hide public records

Governor Tom Vilsack says government officials around the state are predictably reluctant to release records which are supposed to be readily available to the public. The state’s major newspapers conducted an investigation which found many officials are unwilling to release documents which are, by law, public records.Vilsack says there’s no need for a state government crackdown of local officials who scoffed at public records laws. He says the publicity surrounding the issue should be enough to make officials aware of the problem.Vilsack, who was Mt. Pleasant’s Mayor, says local government workers aren’t often confronted with public records issues, and it’s not surprising many failed to release records when asked to do so.