The Iowa State Daily Publications Board has asked that an open records lawsuit filed against it Nov. 27 by the parent company of the Ames Tribune be dismissed.

In a written reply to the lawsuit, the board, through its lawyer, declined to release information it does not consider public record.

The reply, filed Tuesday in Story County District Court by Jeff Stein, the board’s lawyer, was accompanied by a motion to dismiss and a request for an injunction to prevent similar suits in the future.

Stein said Tuesday the board’s principle claim is that Partnership Press, Inc., which owns the Tribune, lacks standing to file suit against the Daily for violation of Iowa open meetings and open records laws because Partnership Press has never itself requested information.

Partnership Press hired Faegre & Benson, a Des Moines law firm, to request Daily tax returns, marketing plans, advertising rates, by-laws, minutes, correspondence, employment records, employee contracts and promotional materials.

But until the lawsuit was filed, Stein said, Partnership Press did not identify itself as it had when making similar requests directly in the past.

“A court looking at this whole situation will see that Partnership Press hasn’t asked this corporation for anything,” he said. “The whole thing was done to keep their identity secret.”

The board claims that advertising and marketing information is not a matter of public record because its release would put the Daily at a competitive disadvantage.

“Just because you’re a public, nonprofit organization doesn’t mean you should have to commit financial suicide,” Stein said.

Partnership Press officials have claimed that by establishing itself as a governmental body, the Daily is obligated to make public the requested information.

A hearing isn’t expected to be held until early January.