2 Iowa counties destroy gun permit applications

Jason Clayworth, The Des Moines Register | USATODAY

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Once processed%2C O%27Brien and Woodbury counties return or destroy applications

Critics say destroying public record could make it impossible to revoke a permit

Documents could serve as public record to check on permitting process

DES MOINES -- The public will never know and authorities can never check to see whether applicants in two Iowa counties were honest when they applied for permits to carry weapons.

Why? Because sheriff's offices in O'Brien and Woodbury counties routinely return or destroy the only copies of the applications once they are processed, even though a line near the top of the document says in capital letters: "INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS FORM IS A PUBLIC RECORD."

O'Brien County Sheriff Michael Anderson simply said his office doesn't need that record once a permit has been issued or denied. In Woodbury County, Lt. Brad Carlson said his office doesn't want to be responsible for the public record.

That's legal, but not advisable, according to an open records advocate, the state's ombudsman and an official from the Iowa Department of Public Safety. Among their concerns:

Destroying the public record would make it impossible for a sheriff to potentially revoke a permit if, by chance, it was alleged that somebody lied to obtain it.

If someone were to commit a heinous crime, the application could offer insight as to whether the individual lied, and whether sheriff officials properly approved the permit.

Applicants have 30 days to appeal a sheriff's denial. Destroying the application — as is done in O'Brien and Woodbury counties — could create difficulties for the sheriffs when they try to defend against appeals because the application is a piece of evidence that can be used in legal proceedings. A spokesman from the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals said he wasn't aware of destroyed applications becoming an issue in appeals at this time.

The FBI conducts checks to see whether a highly sensitive background system is being used properly, and the applications are the best evidence that abuses are not occurring.

"The question comes down to is this a reasonable way to be handling public records?" asked Kathleen Richardson, director of Iowa's Freedom of Information Council and a journalism professor at Drake University.

Richardson said the documents could be important to the public, particularly in assessing how or if the permitting process has loopholes that could hurt public safety.

"Just because they don't want to be responsible for it, that doesn't seem to be a very responsible justification" for not maintaining the records, she said.

The Des Moines Register's investigation into Iowa's 2-year-old gun permit law included examining 621 permit applications that were denied by county sheriffs across the state. Based on the sheriffs' findings, at least 75 people answered statements inaccurately — mostly about past criminal convictions. Lying on the application is a felony.

That tally does not count other applicants who provided inaccurate information when they sought permits. For example, public records showing correspondence between the applicants and sheriffs indicate that some citizens didn't fully understand a question about previous domestic violence convictions.

Specifically, some applicants mistakenly believed their convictions on lesser charges such as "simple assault" tied to what were originally domestic violence cases did not have to be reported unless the words "domestic violence" appeared in the charge. But those incidents should be reported, because they are reasons a sheriff can legally reject an application for a permit to carry a weapon, said Ross Loder of the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

Sheriffs generally take the issue of providing false information on the applications seriously, but they also try to be reasonable if it's likely that confusion rather than malice was behind the misinformation, Loder said.

There have been two people convicted of providing false information on a permit to carry application in the last two years, state records show.

Counties that destroyed the permit applications were still able to provide the Register with some information about the applicants, based on other documents or internal records.

Anderson, the O'Brien County sheriff, provided the Register with a letter he sent to the only applicant he denied. Woodbury County maintains a computer-generated spreadsheet with an applicant's full name, date of denial, date of birth and reason for denial.

While a denial letter would probably suffice as proof, having the application at hand would probably be stronger evidence, Loder said. His office recommends sheriffs retain the records for at least three years.

Carlson, of Woodbury County, told the Register that his office has had issues with gun shop owners requesting the public gun permit applications, which they then used to solicit business. "We don't want to be responsible for (maintaining) the public record," Carlson said.

Carlson acknowledged, however, that returning or immediately shredding the documents — as his department does — makes it unlikely Woodbury County officials could later prove that someone had fabricated information and illegally obtained a permit. So far the department hasn't encountered that problem, he said.

"Our documentation wouldn't be there, but we could revoke them if we can perform an investigation and show that something's not right," he said.

In some cases Iowa law specifies how public records should be maintained, but that's not true in the case of the permits to carry weapons. Nonetheless, State Ombudsman Ruth Cooperrider noted that applicants had a 30-day window to appeal a denial. Thus, she said, records should be maintained for at least 30 days.

Cooperrider, who has the authority to make recommendations to improve administrative practices and procedures, noted that South Dakota law requires permit to carry applications be retained for four years.

FBI auditors run checks to verify that a highly confidential background service known as the National Instant Criminal Background Check System is used properly. The next check is in 2015.