A trial date has been set in the suit between the Iowa State Daily and Partnership Press, the owner of the Ames Daily Tribune.

The trial will begin on Sept. 25 in the Story County Courthouse. Partnership Press claims the Daily has violated Iowa Open Records Laws. The dispute centers around whether the Daily is a governmental body and should be subject to the open records laws. A Story County Judge recently ordered the Daily to submit a detailed list of all of the disputed documents that the Daily has denied releasing to the Tribune along with an explanation of the legal bases for claiming confidentially. The Daily must present the list by April 30.

According to the order, the Daily originally asked the Court to delay the order to create such a list until the Court determined whether the Daily is a governmental body subject to the Iowa Open Records laws.

The Daily’s lawyer for the case, Michael Moon, said the Daily was not “trying to be ornery” by resisting the motion. “We’re simply saying if we were General Motors, and Ford Motors filed an order” for all kinds of information, “we would say it’s none of your business, go away.”

Gary Gerlach, publisher of the Tribune, said the recent order was a “step towards openness for the students at the Iowa State Daily and the students at Iowa State.”