A consultant’s report on the conditions at a state-run home for the disabled that was the site of several unexpected deaths has become the latest battle in an open-records war between Gov. Chet Culver and the state’s largest newspaper.

The Des Moines Register requested a copy of the consultant’s report under Iowa’s Open Records law. The governor’s legal counsel, Jim Larew, denied the request, saying it is a draft document that would be released after confidential information is redacted, perhaps as soon as mid-September.

From the Register:

Iowa’s Open Records Law does not allow an exemption for “draft” records. In fact, state lawmakers considered adding such an exemption to the law last year, but the proposal was not approved.

Culver and Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller have taken the position that state legislators never intended to require public disclosure of draft documents. Culver and Miller have defined “draft records” as including signed-and-delivered correspondence between public employees.

The war between Culver and the Register over what constitutes public records is nothing new.

In August 2008, Culver’s staff refused to release a draft report that outlined housing recommendations after the summer floods.

In December, the Register was refused access to a list of recommended budget cuts given to the governor from state departments. Culver’s staff called the recommendations “privileged communications” between the governor and executive-branch employees.

In January, the governor refused to turn over e-mails surrounding his office’s response to the unexpected death of a resident at the same state-run home for the disabled that is the subject of the current dispute, saying they were “draft records.”

In March, Culver’s staff told The Register it would be charged $630 for a state lawyer to determine whether e-mails can legally be kept confidential in regards to an investigation of the Atalissa scandal. The Register refused, saying it could end up paying the fee only to be told it would not get access to the e-mails.

During his 2006 campaign for governor, and in the wake of the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium (CIETC) pay scandal, Culver stressed the need for strong open-records laws. His inaugural address in January 2007 hailed open government, saying Iowans “are right to demand ethical, accountable and open government.”