Record Requests

Requesting Public Information Records

Any person wishing to request access to public records or seeking assistance in making a request should contact the City's Public Records Officer. The City Administrator/City Clerk has been designated as the City's Public Records Officer pursuant to the Iowa Code Chapter 22 Examination of Public Records (Open Records). Any person wishing to request access to public records should complete a Public Records Request Form (PDF) and submit it to the City Administrator/City Clerk or contact Muscatine City Hall at (563) 264-1550.

While the public records officer may offer help and guidance relating to any public records request, requests for police records incident reports, fire/emergency medical services incident records, and public works records incident reports should be directed to the designated records officer within those departments at the contact information below:

Requests for Police records: Requests to inspect or copy records for police incidents, maintained by the City's Police Department, should be made to the department at: Police Administration, City of Muscatine Police Department, 312 E. 5th Street, Muscatine, IA 52761, or call (563) 263-9922.

Requests for Fire and Emergency Medical Services records: Requests to inspect or copy records for fire and emergency medical services incidents, maintained by the City's Fire Department, should be made to the department at: Fire Administration, 312 E. 5th Street, Muscatine, IA 52761, or call (563) 263-9233.

Requests for Public Works records: Requests to inspect or copy records for public works incidents, maintained by the City's Public Works Department, should be made to the department at: Public Works Administration, 1459 Washington Street, Muscatine, IA 52761, or call (563) 263-8933.

The public records officer will oversee compliance with Iowa Code but another City staff member may process a request. The public records officer or designee and the City will:

  • provide the fullest assistance to requestors
  • ensure that public records are protected from damage or disorganization
  • prevent fulfilling public records requests from causing excessive interference with essential functions of the City.

Online Records

Requestors are also encouraged to view documents available online before submitting a public records request.

Prohibitions & Exemptions

Iowa Code Chapter 22 provides that a number of document types and information are prohibited from being disclosed or are exempt from public inspection and copying. A current list of these prohibitions and exemptions will be provided upon request.

CITY OF MUSCATINE OPEN RECORDS POLICY (PDF)