1. The system shall establish and maintain records of each member, including but not limited to the amount of wages of each member, the contributions made on behalf of each member with interest, interest dividends credited, beneficiary designations, and applications for benefits of any type. The records may be maintained in paper, magnetic, or electronic form, including optical disk storage, as set forth in chapter 554D. The system may accept, but shall not require, electronic records and electronic signatures to the extent permitted under chapter 554D. These records are the basis for the compilation of the retirement benefits provided under this chapter.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 97B.17

  • Contributions: means the payments to the fund required herein, by the employer and by the members, to provide the benefits of the retirement system. See Iowa Code 97B.1A
  • Employer: means the state of Iowa, the counties, municipalities, agencies, public school districts, all political subdivisions, and all of their departments and instrumentalities, including area agencies on aging, other than those employing persons as specified in subsection 8, paragraph "b" subparagraph (7), and joint planning commissions created under chapter 28E or 28I. See Iowa Code 97B.1A
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Member: means an employee or a former employee who maintains the employee's or former employee's accumulated contributions in the retirement system. See Iowa Code 97B.1A
  • person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Retirement: means that period of time beginning when a member who has filed an approved application for a retirement allowance has survived into at least the first day of the member's first month of entitlement and ending when the member dies. See Iowa Code 97B.1A
  • Retirement system: means the retirement plan as contained in this chapter or as duly amended. See Iowa Code 97B.1A
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • System: means the Iowa public employees' retirement system. See Iowa Code 97B.1
  • wages: includes amounts that can be received in cash in lieu of employer-paid contributions to such plans, if the election is uniformly available and is not limited to highly compensated employees, as defined in section 414(q) of the Internal Revenue Code. See Iowa Code 97B.1A
 2. The following records maintained under this chapter are not public records for the purposes of chapter 22:

 a. Records containing social security numbers.
 b. Records specifying amounts accumulated in members’ accounts and supplemental accounts.
 c. Records containing names or addresses of members or their beneficiaries.
 d. Records containing amounts of payments to members or their beneficiaries.
 e. Records containing financial or commercial information that relates to the investment of retirement system funds if the disclosure of such information could result in a loss to the retirement system or to the provider of the information.
 3. Summary information concerning the demographics of the members and general statistical information concerning the retirement system are subject to chapter 22, as well as aggregate information by category.
 4. a. The system’s records are evidence for the purpose of proceedings before the system or any court of the amounts of wages and the periods in which they were paid, and the absence of an entry as to a member’s wages in the records for any period is evidence that wages were not paid that member in the period.

 b. Notwithstanding any provisions of chapter 22 to the contrary, the system’s records may be released to any political subdivision, instrumentality, or other agency of the state solely for use in a civil or criminal law enforcement activity pursuant to the requirements of this subsection. To obtain the records, the political subdivision, instrumentality, or agency shall, in writing, certify that the activity is authorized by law, provide a written description of the information desired, and describe the law enforcement activity for which the information is sought. The system shall not be civilly or criminally liable for the release or rerelease of records in accordance with this subsection.
 5. Confidential records of the system maintained for the operation of the retirement system may be released to the directors, agents, and employees of the legislative services agency, the department of revenue, the department of management, the department of administrative services, or an employer of employees covered by the retirement system pursuant to rules adopted by the system for the performance of the requestor’s duties. To obtain a record under this subsection, the person requesting the records shall provide a written description of the information requested and the reason for requesting the records to the system. A person receiving a record pursuant to this subsection shall maintain the confidentiality of any information otherwise required to be kept confidential and shall be subject to the same penalties as the custodian of the records for the public dissemination of such information.
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