Open Records Request Tracker

Public records requests submitted to Johnson County and related agencies regarding the proposed jail bond. Iowa Code Chapter 22 governs public records access. Each request is listed with its custodian, subject, current status, and — when produced — what the documents revealed.

Three separate financial instruments are in play; only one requires voter approval.

Open-meetings transparency

Iowa Code Chapter 21 requires governmental bodies to keep minutes of their meetings (§21.3) and to give advance public notice (§21.4). The CJCC Survey Subcommittee — which held four meetings in 2025 to develop the taxpayer-funded survey used in the bond campaign — kept no minutes. In a June 5, 2026 open-records response, Erin Shane, Executive Director of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors Office, wrote: "I did create agendas for the 4 meetings with this working subcommittee but did not keep minutes."

Keeping no minutes for four meetings of a body developing a taxpayer-funded survey used in a bond campaign is, on its face, evidence of a Chapter 21 violation — if the subcommittee qualifies as a "governmental body" under §21.2. That coverage question is the County's available defense and has not been adjudicated. The Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB) is the body that would decide it.

The internal committee Supervisor Green described on July 2 (clip 3693 ~59:45: "has met this week, as we have been doing") now has a name. At the July 9, 2026 CJCC meeting, Shive-Hattery's Michael Lewis said "Monday there was a committee meeting," and Erin Shane, Executive Director of the Board of Supervisors Office, said "we met on Monday internally when we're trying to get everything ready for bond referendum." On July 16, Supervisor Green-Douglass named the body on the record: "Johnson County Sheriff's Office Planning Committee met and communications will be forthcoming. And we will have a website soon that can be accessed." County staff have since used two more names. Finance Director Aschenbrenner, July 29 (clip 3736): "as a member of the Jail Bond Committee … for the committee back in early June, I prepared a tax impact calculation." The August 12, 2026 work-session agenda: "The Jail Planning Committee recommended proceeding with CMAR at that time" (February 2026). The committee produced the bond's tax-impact figure and recommended its construction-delivery procurement. No public notice, agenda, or minutes exists for any of its meetings under any of its names. A body preparing a bond referendum is operating on the same no-minutes model as the CJCC Survey Subcommittee.

Bond counsel: unnamed through the drafting of the ballot itself

Bond counsel appears throughout the record and is identified in none of it. The July 22, 2026 work session (clip 3728): the municipal-advisor solicitation went "to known firms as directed by our bond counsel." The July 29 work session (clip 3736, 12:23), Finance Director Aschenbrenner: "Bond counsel says that that amount [$100,000 in actual value] is actually equivalent to the taxable property value of $100,000" (video excerpt) — the advice behind the notice's tax-basis substitution. The August 6 formal meeting, Chair Green, opposing the interest-disclosure amendment: "I can tell you as the supervisor who's been working with bond counsel most closely to perfect this language, they feel very strongly that the language we have before us this morning is the best language." Iowa Code §441.21(3)(a) defines actual and taxable value as distinct and applies those definitions to §331.442. Who is advising the county to the contrary, under what engagement, and at what fee is the subject of RR-008, submitted August 11, 2026 (see the tracker below). The engagement letter, invoices, and the written advice on the tax-basis question are the target documents.

The campaign committee predates the ballot question

Yes JoCo, the ballot-issue committee supporting the bond, filed its Statement of Organization with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board on June 22, 2026 — six weeks before the Board placed the measure on the ballot — with the purpose "to support a possible county Board of Supervisors ballot question for a new jail and sheriff's office" (committee code BALLOT51666; download the filing (PDF)). Its chairperson is Leslie Carpenter, a sitting CJCC member. Its treasurer is Charles Funk — the "Charlie Funk" whose private email on the repayment term Supervisor Green-Douglass cited from the dais on August 5, without noting his campaign role. The filing's parent-entity field — the field Iowa Code §68A.201(2)(f) reserves for "any parent entity or other affiliates or sponsors" — names Board Chair Jon Green. Nothing bars a supervisor from supporting a ballot committee with private funds; none of these roles was disclosed in any county proceeding where these individuals' input was discussed. Watch items: the committee's disclosure reports (due this fall; ballot-issue committees may accept corporate contributions), any amendment to the organization statement, and any registration of an opposing committee — none exists to date.

Pre-vote commitments continue: CMAR selection begins before the election

The August 12–13, 2026 agendas initiate the construction-manager-at-risk selection process: a 14-day public disclosure of intent to enter a guaranteed maximum price contract under Iowa Code Chapter 26A, followed by a request for qualifications, so that the County can "select a CMAR and move into full design quickly after the November 2026 vote." The July 9, 2026 CJCC was told CMAR discussions were preliminary and "would not begin until after a successful bond referendum." The selection is a four-month process running through the election itself.

The draft minutes of the July 16 meeting, published for approval on July 23, omit the Supervisor Reports segment in which Green-Douglass spoke. The official record of the meeting does not contain her statement; it exists only on the meeting video and transcript.

A second body appears to operate on the same model: a Community Outreach Subcommittee (Supervisor Remington, clip 3693 ~57:01, discussing branding, survey distribution, and community partners; exact name to be verified). No minutes are publicly available for it either. RR-007 below is the pending request for both bodies' records.

Public awareness campaign

On March 3, 2026, the County registered the domain johnsoncountyjailbond.com and a Squarespace subscription (build URL: rust-grapefruit-rwsz.squarespace.com). The County described the site as being "to educate residents about the existing and proposed new jail facility," to be "released when we are confident the project is moving forward to the November 2026 ballot." The Shive-Hattery "Referendum Services" contract (Amendment 3, $549,000) includes a $30,000 "Public Awareness Campaign" line; the County confirmed "a small amount" has already gone to the website (RR-005).

The contractor administers the campaign calendar. At the July 9, 2026 CJCC meeting, Shive-Hattery's Michael Lewis said: "we do have some planned presentations on the calendar that we've been working through from a public awareness campaign standpoint." On July 16, Supervisor Green-Douglass said "we will have a website soon that can be accessed."

Iowa Code §68A.405A permits factual and educational public communications but prohibits using public funds to expressly advocate for a ballot measure. The site's content is not yet public: as of July 21, 2026, johnsoncountyjailbond.com is password-protected, four and a half months after the March 3 domain purchase.

Emergency-management fallback

The July 2026 schematic for the new building included a room labeled as an EOC (emergency operations center). After a supervisor questioned redundancy with the Joint Emergency Communications Center (JECC) nearby, the room was renamed "situation room." At the July 9, 2026 CJCC meeting, Sheriff Kunkel asked for a backup dispatch console and fallback space for when the JECC is offline, saying: "I'd like to see, and I haven't even talked to the JEC about it."

Neither function belongs to the Sheriff's Office. Emergency management answers to the county Emergency Management Commission under Iowa Code §29C.9: one supervisor, the sheriff, and the mayor of every city in the county; the sheriff holds one seat. 911 dispatch belongs to the JECC's joint 28E board, co-funded by the cities. Johnson County Emergency Management Agency offices are in the JECC building at 4529 Melrose Avenue.

County-wide fallback infrastructure is proposed as part of a bond-funded Sheriff's Office building; funding that space is not discussed.

With the proposed backup location approximately a mile from the primary location, any external event (e.g., a severe storm) that would cause issues at one location is likely to have a similar impact on the other.

Backup dispatch capability is standard practice, and the JECC has had outages; Kunkel said the center went offline and was "completely down" about two years ago. Whether the JECC already has a designated backup answering point is an open item.

ID Submitted Custodian Subject Status Response What it revealed
RR-001 2026-05-13 Johnson County Board of Supervisors CSSI Project Proposal and Work Agreement; CSSI focus-group fact sheet; Shive-Hattery Amendment 3 Scope of Work Produced 2026-05-13 Produced: (1) "Jail Quick Facts" fact sheet — 2-page focus-group stimulus containing '2024 ADP was 86' and '$80 Million' cost figure, with placeholder '[Further information to be provided by Erin Shane]'; (2) full CSSI SoW — client signature line blank on executed copy; (3) Shive-Hattery Amendment 3 — deliverables due October 14, 2026 (first day of early voting); client signature line blank.
RR-002 2026-05-13 University of Iowa CSSI IRB determination — HSRD Form for CJCC Evaluation project Produced 2026-05-29 Produced: UIowa HSRD (Human Subjects Research Determination) Form, IRB ID 202503233, PI Cassidy Branch. The form records the university's determination that the CSSI survey/focus-group project is not human subjects research but quality improvement (QI) / program evaluation, citing 45 CFR 46.102(d). The form states the project is not seeking to contribute to 'generalizable knowledge' (HSRD I.5–I.6) and frames the work as data collection for 'internal management' of the CJCC client. Funding is listed as 'Departmental' — the $53,406 county contract is not reflected. Despite the QI classification, the 74% headline finding was publicly released, cited in Board presentations, and used in bond advocacy. Download (PDF)
RR-003 2026-05-14 Johnson County Auditor FY22–27 SC349 (Inmate Housing – Out of County) budget justification and line-item history Partial 2026-05-14 No specific documents produced. County redirected to publicly available budget presentations (IQM2 calendar), the Auditor's Claims Register, and the Sheriff's jail-statistics page. In the response email, the Auditor's representative informally stated: 'that budgeted number has historically been set at around $1 Million dollars simply to allow room in the budget for unforeseen circumstances. Any unspent money reverts to the County.' No written methodology, projection, or justification document was produced for any fiscal year. Requestor's follow-up confirmed the public record is consistent with this characterization and considered the request fulfilled on that basis.
RR-004 2026-05-26 Johnson County Board of Supervisors CJCC Survey Subcommittee meeting records (agendas, minutes, notices) — meetings with CSSI to develop survey instrument and plan focus groups Partial 2026-06-05 Four agendas produced by Erin Shane (BoS Executive Director). No minutes kept. (1) April 9, 2025: overview of project scope and timeline with CSSI; development of survey questions. (2) April 16, 2025: introduction; discuss development of survey questions. (3) April 23, 2025: review updates to survey; discuss development of survey questions; confirmation of next steps. (4) August 18, 2025: CSSI-authored focus group planning meeting — notably different in character from the three April sessions. Reveals focus group sample drawn from survey respondents (n=89: 67 mail, 16 web, 6 phone), stratified by vote stability: stable yes 55, stable no 21, changed vote 4 (3 yes-changers, 1 no-changer), unknown 9. $50 per-participant incentive. Agenda item on 'Development of Questioning Route.' The vote-change stratification — explicitly recruiting participants based on attitude shift — is in direct tension with the UIowa IRB QI classification, which asserted no 'environmental influence' on participants and no generalizable-knowledge intent.
RR-005 2026-06-03 Johnson County Auditor Invoices, purchase orders, and expenditure records for johnsoncountyjailbond.com and related domains; any broader communications/PR engagement covering that work Produced 2026-06-15 Produced: (1–2) Two SquareSpace receipts for the johnsoncountyjailbond.com domain and annual site subscription. (3–5) Three Shive-Hattery invoices (April 2, April 30, May 27, 2026) under the county's 'Referendum Services' contract. The county's response confirmed the site is hosted on SquareSpace and that $30,000 — 5% of the Shive-Hattery contract — is allocated to 'Public Awareness Campaign support services,' which includes the jail bond website. The county stated the site 'will be released when we are confident the project is moving forward to the November 2026 ballot.'
RR-007 — Johnson County Board of Supervisors Minutes, agendas, and public notices for the Sheriff's Office / Jail Planning Committee and the Community Outreach Subcommittee referenced at July 2, 2026 formal BOS meeting (clip 3693, ~57:01 and ~59:45) Draft — Two subcommittees referenced by Supervisors at clip 3693: (1) Sheriff's Office / Jail Planning Committee (Green, ~59:45: 'has met this week, as we have been doing'); (2) Community Outreach Subcommittee (Remington, ~57:01, discussing branding, survey distribution, community partners — exact name to be verified against video; auto-transcript garbled it). The first body was named on the record July 16, 2026 by Supervisor Green-Douglass as the 'Johnson County Sheriff's Office Planning Committee' (clip 3705, Supervisor Reports — omitted from the draft minutes); it was also referenced at the July 9, 2026 CJCC (clip 3697): Lewis, 'Monday there was a committee meeting'; Shane, 'we met on Monday internally when we're trying to get everything ready for bond referendum.' No minutes are publicly available for either body. Whether they kept minutes consistent with Iowa Code §21.3 is unconfirmed pending this request. See also RR-004: the CJCC Survey Subcommittee's Executive Director confirmed in writing that no minutes were kept for that body's four meetings.
RR-008 2026-08-11 Johnson County Board of Supervisors Bond counsel: identity, engagement and fee terms, invoices and payment records (Sept. 2023–present), written advice on the §331.442 tax-impact estimate ('actual value' vs. 'taxable value' basis of the published $88.00), the 'maximum'/ceiling characterization, ballot and notice text, and the recommendation directing the municipal-advisor solicitation to 'known firms' Pending — Bond counsel is unnamed in every public record while being cited as authority throughout: the MA solicitation was sent to firms 'as directed by our bond counsel' (July 22, clip 3728); Finance Director Aschenbrenner attributed the tax-estimate basis to counsel — 'Bond counsel says that that amount [$100,000 in actual value] is actually equivalent to the taxable property value of $100,000' (July 29, clip 3736, ~12:23); and Chair Green described working 'with bond counsel most closely to perfect this language' in opposing the interest-disclosure amendment (August 6, clip 3937). The request severs identity/engagement/billing from advice, invokes the custodian's §22.7 discretion to release, and cites Teig v. Chavez, No. 23-0833 (Iowa June 7, 2024) (request for 'the name of the attorney or billing records' unaffected by confidentiality objections). Statutory clock: §22.8(4)(d) allows up to twenty calendar days for confidentiality determinations.
RR-009 2026-08-12 Johnson County Board of Supervisors ADA transition-plan Excel (phase assignments 1–5 per finding, referenced in the WT Group February 3, 2019 audit cover letter) and any remediation records or invoices for the Jail and Sheriff's Office, 511 S Capitol St., since that date Draft — The county's bond site cites the 2018 WT Group audit as evidence the jail 'does not meet accessibility guidelines of the ADA,' but the cover letter states that phase assignments — which findings the county deemed 'should be completed immediately... little or no cost' (Phase 1) versus lower-priority phases — live in a separate Excel transition plan, not in the published 260-page PDF. The report's 166 findings. Without the spreadsheet and any remediation records since February 2019, it is impossible to determine whether the little-or-no-cost items (repainting the parking access aisle to 5 feet, adjusting door-closer pressure, relocating protruding dispensers, remounting thermostats and hooks into reach range) were ever completed, which bears directly on whether the county is citing its own seven-year inaction as grounds for replacement. See the Cost Analysis page's ADA Audit section.
RR-010 — Johnson County / Shive-Hattery Room-by-room area schedule for the proposed jail and sheriff's office (schematic presented July 9, 2026 CJCC meeting, Granicus clip 3697) — specifically the programmed square footage for the exercise area, large-unit dayrooms (22-bed GP unit), safety/special-needs cell, and fixture counts per housing unit Draft — Without a room-by-room area schedule it is impossible to verify compliance with IAC 201—50.8(2)d (dayroom minimums for large units), 50.8(2)e–g (fixture ratios), 50.8(4)b (safety cell ≥40 SF), and 50.8(5)b (exercise area ≥500 SF unencumbered, 18-ft ceiling). The July 9 schematic identifies unit types and total bed count but does not publish individual room dimensions. Shive-Hattery invoices for the schematic are on file (RR-005 production). See the Cost Analysis page's Built-to-the-Minimum section.

Status key: Produced — records received; Partial — some records received, others pending or withheld; Pending — request submitted, awaiting response; Denied — request denied; Draft — request being prepared, not yet submitted.