Des Moines County supervisors agree to remove general correspondence from regular agenda after legal review

Des Moines County supervisors agreed during a Nov. 4 work session with the county attorney to stop listing general correspondence on their regular meeting agenda, citing legal risks tied to creating a public forum.

County Attorney TR led the discussion on how reading letters or emails aloud could convert an agenda item into a public forum and create the obligation to accept all viewpoints. TR said publishing all incoming correspondence would require staff to review and scrub submissions for confidential or personally identifiable information, and described the administrative burden of fulfilling such a publication policy.

TR recommended the board limit agenda correspondence to intergovernmental items (for example, communications from the city of Burlington, state agencies or other governments) and to place those that truly require public notice as separate agenda items. He noted members could still bring constituent correspondence forward, but recommended staff make the record available through public information requests rather than reading every piece of mail at meetings.

Board members agreed on the practical approach. One supervisor said removing correspondence from the regular agenda is the "cleanest way" to avoid perception of content-based selection and the legal pitfalls associated with a public forum. The board said it would continue to allow public comment during meetings and retain the option to add specific correspondence as a separate agenda item when warranted.

The work session result is a procedural change, not a formal ordinance; the board’s plan is to begin omitting general correspondence from future agendas and to handle intergovernmental or agenda-critical letters under "other business" or as separate items.