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Arthur Bonfield, an associate dean of the University of Iowa College of Law, said the Legislature could choose to draft more "Band-Aid" remedies to address some of the most publicized problems, as it has in years past. Or, he said, it could take on a comprehensive study of the two statutes.

Members of the Iowa House's state government committee said they were inclined to do the latter, following the presentation Bonfield made Thursday afternoon at the Statehouse.

The state's sunshine laws have been at the heart of some key public controversies this year. Among them: alleged secrecy surrounding the Board of Regents' search for a new U of I president and several closed-door board meetings at the scandal-plagued Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium in Des Moines.

"Over the last year, there has been what appears to be multiple violations" of the state's sunshine statutes, said Pam Jochum, a Dubuque Democrat on the committee. Yet, she said, "we seem to tinker with everything under the sun here except campaign finance and open meetings-open records."

Jochum and other committee members said they hoped to form a subcommittee that would meet this summer and fall to review conflicts and problems inherent in the laws. Lawmakers also need to address personal privacy, safety and technological issues that could not be anticipated when the last major revisions to the statutes occurred in the 1970s and '80s.

Among the almost 20 issues raised by Bonfield, a specialist in administrative law:

- The current open meetings statute is not explicit enough regarding when public notice is required of a government body's meeting. For example, officials could skirt the current notice requirement by recessing a meeting and agreeing to meet again on another date. "It's one thing to adjourn for lunch, but that's not what we're talking about," Bonfield said.

- The current records law, meanwhile, is unclear as to which records are absolutely confidential and which ones can be released at the discretion of agencies.

Several officials, including the executive secretary of Iowa's Freedom of Information Council, have said recently that Iowa prosecutors are doing little to enforce the statutes.

Bonfield said legislators may also want to consider creating a new position or commission that could act independently to mediate such disputes and enforce the law.