This bill amends existing Iowa law regarding the confidentiality of information filed with the Secretary of State by foreign persons who own agricultural land. It specifies that a nonresident alien, foreign business, or foreign government, or their agents, must register their agricultural land ownership with the Secretary of State. The bill changes the wording from "which" to "that" in the registration requirement and clarifies that the information previously deemed confidential is now subject to public disclosure. Additionally, it introduces a new section, 10B.5A, which mandates the Secretary of State to prepare an annual summary of foreign landholdings, detailing the compiled information from registrations and biennial reports.

The bill also modifies the confidentiality status of reports required under the law. It states that, except as provided in the new section 10B.5A, information in these reports is now considered a confidential record as per section 22.7. However, the Attorney General retains access to this information for enforcement purposes, and the reports will be made available to the Governor and members of the General Assembly to assess the impact of foreign ownership of agricultural land on Iowa's economy. Overall, the bill aims to enhance transparency regarding foreign ownership of agricultural land while maintaining certain protections for sensitive information.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 9I.7, 10B.5, 10B.5A