1. A county may, except as expressly limited by the Constitution of the State of Iowa, and if not inconsistent with the laws of the general assembly, exercise any power and perform any function it deems appropriate to protect and preserve the rights, privileges, and property of the county or of its residents, and to preserve and improve the peace, safety, health, welfare, comfort, and convenience of its residents. This grant of home rule powers does not include the power to enact private or civil law governing civil relationships, except as incident to an exercise of an independent county power.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 331.301

  • Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
  • Amendment: means a revision or repeal of an existing ordinance or code of ordinances. See Iowa Code 331.101
  • Auditor: means the county auditor or a deputy auditor or employee designated by the county auditor. See Iowa Code 331.101
  • Board: means the board of supervisors of a county. See Iowa Code 331.101
  • Combined county enterprise: means two or more county enterprises combined and operated as a single enterprise. See Iowa Code 331.461
  • Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
  • Cost: means cost as defined in section 384. See Iowa Code 331.485
  • County enterprise: means any of the following:
     a. See Iowa Code 331.461
  • Debt service: means expenditures for servicing the county's debt. See Iowa Code 331.421
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
  • motion: means a statement of policy or an order for action to be taken. See Iowa Code 331.101
  • Net revenues: means gross revenues less operating expenses. See Iowa Code 331.461
  • Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
  • Ordinance: means a county law of a general and permanent nature. See Iowa Code 331.101
  • Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, domestic or foreign corporation, company, association or joint stock association, trust, or other legal entity, and includes a trustee, receiver, assignee, or similar representative thereof, but does not include a governmental body. See Iowa Code 362.2
  • personal property: include money, goods, chattels, evidences of debt, and things in action. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • public improvement: means the same as defined in section 26. See Iowa Code 331.341
  • Rates: means rates, fees, tolls, rentals, and charges for the use of or service provided by a county enterprise or combined county enterprise. See Iowa Code 331.461
  • real property: include lands, tenements, hereditaments, and all rights thereto and interests therein, equitable as well as legal. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
  • Rule: includes "regulation". See Iowa Code 4.1
  • seal: shall include an impression upon the paper alone, or upon wax, a wafer affixed to the paper, or an official stamp of a notarial officer as provided in chapter 9B. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • State law: includes the Constitution of the State of Iowa and state statutes. See Iowa Code 331.101
  • Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. A power of a county is vested in the board, and a duty of a county shall be performed by or under the direction of the board except as otherwise provided by law.
 3. The enumeration of a specific power of a county, the repeal of a grant of power, or the failure to state a specific power does not limit or restrict the general grant of home rule power conferred by the Constitution and this section. A county may exercise its general powers subject only to limitations expressly imposed by a state law.
 4. An exercise of a county power is not inconsistent with a state law unless it is irreconcilable with the state law.
 5. A county shall substantially comply with a procedure established by a state law for exercising a county power unless a state law provides otherwise. If a procedure is not established by state law, a county may determine its own procedure for exercising the power.
 6. a. A county shall not set standards and requirements which are lower or less stringent than those imposed by state law, but may set standards and requirements which are higher or more stringent than those imposed by state law, unless a state law provides otherwise.

 b. A county shall not impose any fee or charge on any individual or business licensed by the plumbing and mechanical systems board for the right to perform plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, refrigeration, sheet metal, or hydronic systems work within the scope of the license. This paragraph does not prohibit a county from charging fees for the issuance of permits for, and inspections of, work performed in its jurisdiction.
 c. (1) A county shall not adopt an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment that sets standards or requirements regarding the sale or marketing of consumer merchandise that are different from, or in addition to, any state law. For purposes of this paragraph:

 (a) “Consumer merchandise” means merchandise offered for sale or lease, or provided with a sale or lease, primarily but not exclusively for personal, family, or household purposes, and includes any container used for consuming, carrying, or transporting such merchandise.
 (b) “Container” means a bag, cup, package, container, bottle, or other packaging that is all of the following:

 (i) Designed to be either reusable or single-use.
 (ii) Made of cloth, paper, plastic, including foamed or expanded plastic, cardboard, corrugated material, aluminum, glass, or postconsumer recycled or similar material or substrates, including coated, laminated, or multilayer substrates.
 (iii) Designed for consuming, transporting, or protecting merchandise, food, or beverages from or at a food service or retail facility.
 (2) An ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment adopted prior to March 30, 2017, that violates this paragraph is void and unenforceable on and after March 30, 2017.
 (3) This paragraph “c” shall not apply to county solid waste or recycling collection or county solid waste or recycling programs.
 d. A county shall not adopt an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment, or use any other means, that restricts an owner of real property from refinancing existing debt on, selling, or otherwise transferring title to the property by requiring the owner to take or show compliance with any action with respect to the property or pay any fee before, during, or after refinancing existing debt on, selling, or otherwise transferring title to the property.
 7. A county shall not levy a tax unless specifically authorized by a state statute.
 8. A county is a body corporate for civil and political purposes and shall have a seal as provided in section 331.552, subsection 4.
 9. Supervisors and other county officers may administer oaths and take affirmations as provided in chapter 63A.
 10. A county may enter into leases or lease-purchase contracts for real or personal property in accordance with the following terms and procedures:

 a. A county shall lease or lease-purchase property only for a term which does not exceed the economic life of the property, as determined by the board.
 b. A lease or lease-purchase contract entered into by a county may contain provisions similar to those sometimes found in leases between private parties, including, but not limited to, the obligation of the lessee to pay any of the costs of operation or ownership of the leased property and the right to purchase the leased property.
 c. A provision of a lease or lease-purchase contract which stipulates that a portion of the rent payments be applied as interest is subject to chapter 74A. Other laws relating to interest rates do not apply. Chapter 75 is not applicable. A county enterprise is a separate entity under this subsection, whether it is governed by the board or another governing body.
 d. The board must follow substantially the same authorization procedure required for the issuance of general obligation bonds issued for the same purpose to authorize a lease or a lease-purchase contract made payable from the debt service fund.
 e. The board may authorize a lease or lease-purchase contract which is payable from the general fund if the contract would not cause the total of lease and lease-purchase payments due from the general fund of the county in any single future fiscal year for all lease or lease-purchase contracts in force on the date of the authorization, excluding payments to exercise purchase options or to pay the expenses of operation or ownership of the property, to exceed ten percent of the last certified general fund budget amount in accordance with the following procedures:

 (1) (a) The board must follow substantially the authorization procedures of section 331.443 to authorize a lease or lease-purchase contract for personal property which is payable from the general fund. The board must follow substantially the authorization procedures of section 331.443 to authorize a lease or lease-purchase contract for real property which is payable from the general fund if the principal amount of the lease-purchase contract does not exceed the following limits:

 (i) Four hundred thousand dollars in a county having a population of twenty-five thousand or less.
 (ii) Five hundred thousand dollars in a county having a population of more than twenty-five thousand but not more than fifty thousand.
 (iii) Six hundred thousand dollars in a county having a population of more than fifty thousand but not more than one hundred thousand.
 (iv) Eight hundred thousand dollars in a county having a population of more than one hundred thousand but not more than two hundred thousand.
 (v) One million dollars in a county having a population of more than two hundred thousand.
 (b) However, if the principal amount of a lease or lease-purchase contract pursuant to this subparagraph (1) is less than twenty-five thousand dollars, the board may authorize the lease or lease-purchase contract without following the authorization procedures of section 331.443.
 (2) The board must follow the following procedures to authorize a lease or lease-purchase contract for real property which is payable from the general fund if the principal amount of the lease or lease-purchase contract exceeds the limits set forth in subparagraph (1):

 (a) The board must institute proceedings for entering into a lease or lease-purchase contract payable from the general fund by causing a notice of the meeting to discuss entering into the lease or lease-purchase contract, including a statement of the principal amount and purpose of the lease or lease-purchase and the right to petition for an election, to be published as provided in section 331.305 at least ten days prior to the discussion meeting. No sooner than thirty days following the discussion meeting shall the board hold a meeting at which it is proposed to take action to enter into the lease or lease-purchase contract.
 (b) (i) If at any time before the end of the thirty-day period after which a meeting may be held to take action to enter into the lease or lease-purchase contract, a petition is filed with the auditor in the manner provided by section 331.306, asking that the question of entering into the lease or lease-purchase contract be submitted to the registered voters of the county, the board shall either by resolution declare the proposal to enter into the lease or lease-purchase contract to have been abandoned or shall direct the county commissioner of elections to call a special election upon the question of entering into the lease or lease-purchase contract. However, for purposes of this subparagraph (2), the petition shall not require signatures in excess of one thousand persons.

 (ii) The question to be placed on the ballot shall be stated affirmatively in substantially the following manner:

 Shall the county of ……………. enter into a lease or lease-purchase contract in an amount of $ ……………. for the purpose of …………….?
 (iii) Notice of the election and its conduct shall be in the manner provided in section 331.442, subsections 2 through 4.
 (c) If a petition is not filed or if a petition is filed and the proposition of entering into a lease or lease-purchase contract is approved at the election, the board may proceed and enter into the lease or lease-purchase contract.
 f. The governing body may authorize a lease or lease-purchase contract payable from the net revenues of a county enterprise or combined county enterprise by following the authorization procedures of section 331.464.
 g. A lease or lease-purchase contract to which a county is a party or in which a county has a participatory interest is an obligation of a political subdivision of this state for the purposes of chapters 502 and 636, and is a lawful investment for banks, trust companies, savings associations, investment companies, insurance companies, insurance associations, executors, guardians, trustees, and any other fiduciaries responsible for the investment of funds.
 h. Property that is lease-purchased by a county is exempt under section 427.1, subsection 2.
 i. A contract for construction by a private party of property to be lease-purchased by a county is a contract for a public improvement and is subject to section 331.341, subsection 1.
 11. A county may enter into insurance agreements obligating the county to make payments beyond its current budget year to procure or provide for a policy of insurance, a self-insurance program, or a local government risk pool to protect the county against tort liability, loss of property, or any other risk associated with the operation of the county. Such a self-insurance program or local government risk pool is not insurance and is not subject to regulation under chapters 505 through 523C. However, those self-insurance plans regulated pursuant to section 509A.14 shall remain subject to the requirements of section 509A.14 and rules adopted pursuant to that section.
 12. The board of supervisors may credit funds to a reserve for the purposes authorized by subsection 11 of this section; section 331.424, subsection 1, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (5); and section 331.441, subsection 2, paragraph “b”. Moneys credited to the reserve, and interest earned on such moneys, shall remain in the reserve until expended for purposes authorized by subsection 11 of this section; section 331.424, subsection 1, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (5); or section 331.441, subsection 2, paragraph “b”.
 13. The board of supervisors may waive a tax penalty, interest, or costs related to the collection of a tax if the board finds that a clerical error resulted in the penalty, interest, or cost. This subsection does not apply to bonded special assessments without the approval of the affected taxing jurisdiction.
 14. The county may establish a department of public works. The department shall be administered by the county engineer or other person appointed by the board of supervisors. In addition to other duties assigned by the board, the department shall provide technical assistance to political subdivisions in the county including special districts relating to their physical infrastructure and may provide managerial and administrative services for special districts and combined special districts.
 15. a. A county may adopt and enforce an ordinance requiring the construction of a storm shelter at a manufactured home community or mobile home park which is constructed after July 1, 1999. In lieu of requiring construction of a storm shelter, a county may require a community or park owner to provide a plan for the evacuation of community or park residents to a safe place of shelter in times of severe weather including tornadoes and high winds if the county determines that a safe place of shelter is available within a reasonable distance of the manufactured home community or mobile home park for use by community or park residents. Each evacuation plan prepared pursuant to this subsection shall be filed with, and approved by, the local emergency management agency. If construction of a storm shelter is required, an ordinance adopted or enforced pursuant to this subsection shall not include any of the following requirements:

 (1) That the size of the storm shelter be larger than the equivalent of seven square feet for each manufactured or mobile home space in the manufactured home community or mobile home park.
 (2) That the storm shelter include a restroom if the shelter is used exclusively as a storm shelter.
 (3) That the storm shelter exceed the construction specifications approved by a licensed professional engineer and presented by the owner of the manufactured home community or mobile home park.
 (4) That the shelter be located any closer than one thousand three hundred twenty feet from any manufactured or mobile home in the manufactured home community or mobile home park.
 b. For the purposes of this subsection:

 (1) “Manufactured home community” means the same as land-leased community defined in sections 335.30A and 414.28A.
 (2) “Manufactured home community or mobile home park” means a manufactured home community or mobile home park as defined in section 562B.7.
 (3) “Storm shelter” means a single structure or multiple structures designed to provide persons with temporary protection from a storm.
 16. The board of supervisors may by ordinance or resolution prohibit or limit the use of consumer fireworks or display fireworks, as described in section 727.2, if the board determines that the use of such devices would constitute a threat to public safety or private property, or if the board determines that the use of such devices would constitute a nuisance to neighboring landowners.
 17. a. For purposes of this subsection, “short-term rental property” means any individually or collectively owned single-family house or dwelling unit; any unit or group of units in a condominium, cooperative, or timeshare; or an owner-occupied residential home that is offered for a fee for thirty days or less. “Short-term rental property” does not include a unit that is used for any retail, restaurant, banquet space, event center, or other similar use.

 b. A county shall not adopt or enforce any regulation, restriction, or other ordinance, including a conditional use permit requirement, relating to short-term rental properties within the county. A short-term rental property shall be classified as a residential land use for zoning purposes.
 c. Notwithstanding paragraph “b”, a county may enact or enforce an ordinance that regulates, prohibits, or otherwise limits short-term rental properties for the following primary purposes if enforcement is performed in the same manner as enforcement applicable to similar properties that are not short-term rental properties:

 (1) Protection of public health and safety related to fire and building safety, sanitation, or traffic control.
 (2) Residential use and zoning purposes related to noise, property maintenance, or nuisance issues.
 (3) Limitation or prohibition of use of property to house sex offenders; to manufacture, exhibit, distribute, or sell illegal drugs, liquor, pornography, or obscenity; or to operate an adult-oriented entertainment establishment as described in section 239B.5, subsection 4, paragraph “a”.
 (4) To provide the county with an emergency contact for a short-term rental property.
 d. A county shall not require a license or permit fee for a short-term rental property in the county.
 18. a. A county shall not adopt, enforce, or otherwise administer an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment, or use any other means, to restrict, impede, regulate, or prohibit, intentionally or effectively, any of the following:

 (1) The provision of natural gas service by a public utility as defined in section 476.1, a competitive natural gas provider as defined in section 476.86, or a retail propane marketer or retail propane dispenser as those terms are defined in section 101C.2 to a person, business, municipality, or other wholesale or retail customer within or outside the county.
 (2) The purchase of natural gas or propane from a competitive natural gas provider as defined in section 476.86 or a retail propane marketer or retail propane dispenser as those terms are defined in section 101C.2, or the receipt of natural gas or propane service from a public utility as defined in section 476.1, by any person, business, municipality, or other wholesale or retail customer within or outside the county.
 b. Paragraph “a” does not apply to an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment that regulates a retail propane marketer or retail propane dispenser, as those terms are defined in section 101C.2, adopted before July 1, 2021.
 19. A county shall not adopt an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment, or use any other means, that requires the owner of real property to implement a policy relating to the use of facial coverings that is more stringent than a policy imposed by the state.
 20. A county shall not adopt or enforce an ordinance, motion, resolution, or amendment imposing any requirement to obtain a permit or license, or to pay a fee, for an eligible business operated on an occasional basis for no more than eighty-nine calendar days in a calendar year by a person or persons under the age of eighteen. For purposes of this subsection, “eligible business” means an on-site transactional business traditionally operated exclusively by a person under the age of eighteen, including a “stand operated by a minor” as defined in section 137F.1, that a person under the age of eighteen is not otherwise prohibited by law from operating.
 21. A county shall not require the payment of a penalty, fine, or fee due to a resident’s noncompliance with rules adopted by the county sanitarian regarding periodic septic tank pumping as part of routine maintenance.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 331 Contents