Senate File 2331 - Enrolled
Senate File 2331
AN ACT
RELATING TO PUBLICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS,
AND INCLUDING EFFECTIVE DATE PROVISIONS.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1 Section 1. Section 372.13, subsection 6, Code 2024, is
2 amended to read as follows:
3 6. Within fifteen days following a regular or special
4 meeting of the council, the clerk shall cause the minutes of
5 the proceedings of the council, including the total expenditure
6 from each city fund, to be published in delivered to a
7 newspaper of general circulation in the city for publication.
8 The publication shall include a list of all claims allowed and
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9 a summary of all receipts and shall show the gross amount of
10 the claims. The list of claims allowed shall show the name
11 of the person or firm making the claim, the reason for the
12 claim, and the amount of the claim. If the reason for the
13 claims is the same, two or more claims made by the same vendor,
14 supplier, or claimant may be consolidated if the number of
15 claims consolidated and the total consolidated claim amount are
16 listed in the statement. However, the city shall provide at
17 its office upon request an unconsolidated list of all claims
18 allowed. Matters discussed in closed session pursuant to
19 section 21.3 shall not be published until entered on the public
20 minutes. However, in cities having more than one hundred fifty
21 thousand population, the council shall each month print in
22 pamphlet form a detailed itemized statement of all receipts and
23 disbursements of the city, and a summary of its proceedings
24 during the preceding month, and furnish copies to the city
25 library, the daily newspapers of the city, and to persons who
26 apply at the office of the city clerk, and the pamphlet shall
27 constitute publication as required. Failure by the clerk to
28 make publication is a simple misdemeanor. The provisions of
29 this subsection are applicable in cities in which a newspaper
30 is published, or in cities of two hundred population or over,
31 but in all other cities, posting the statement in three public
32 places in the city which have been permanently designated by
33 ordinance is sufficient compliance with this subsection.
34 Sec. 2. Section 618.3, Code 2024, is amended to read as
35 follows:
1 618.3 Requirements for newspaper for official publication.
2 1. For the purpose of establishing and giving assured
3 circulation to all notices and reports of proceedings required
4 by statute to be published within the state, if newspapers
5 are required to be used, only a newspaper which meets all of
6 the following requirements shall be designated for official
7 publication purposes:
8 1. a. Is a newspaper of general circulation that has been
9 published at least once a week for at least fifty weeks per
10 year within the area and regularly mailed through the post
11 office of entry for at least two years one year.
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12 2. b. Has a list of subscribers who have paid, or promised
13 to pay, at more than a nominal rate, for copies to be received
14 during a stated period.
15 3. c. Devotes at least twenty-five percent of its total
16 column space in more than one-half of its issues during any
17 twelve-month period to information of a public character other
18 than advertising.
19 4. d. Is paid for by at least fifty percent of the persons
20 or subscribers to whom it is distributed.
21 e. If the newspaper operates an internet site, the newspaper
22 must do one of the following:
23 (1) Provide free access on the homepage of the internet
24 site to all public notices posted on the internet site. The
25 link providing free access to public notices must be displayed
26 conspicuously.
27 (2) Display a link conspicuously on the homepage of the
28 internet site of the newspaper to the statewide public notice
29 internet site established pursuant to section 618.3A if such
30 an internet site exists.
31 f. Publish the address of the statewide public notice
32 internet site established pursuant to section 618.3A, if such
33 an internet site exists, in each edition of the newspaper
34 in the section of the newspaper regularly designated for
35 the publication of public notices, and on the section of
1 the newspaper’s internet site regularly designated for the
2 publication of public notices, if the newspaper operates an
3 internet site.
4 g. Post all notices and reports of proceedings required by
5 statute to be published within the state by the newspaper to
6 the statewide public notice internet site established pursuant
7 to section 618.3A, if such an internet site exists, at no
8 additional cost.
9 2. If no newspaper meeting the requirements of subsection
10 1, paragraphs “a” through “d”, is published in the jurisdiction
11 of a governmental entity, the governmental entity may satisfy
12 public notice requirements through publication in a newspaper
13 meeting the requirements of subsection 1, paragraphs “a”
14 and “c”, and on the statewide public notice internet site
15 established pursuant to section 618.3A, if such an internet
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16 site exists.
17 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 618.3A Statewide public notice
18 internet site.
19 1. A statewide association representing a majority of
20 newspapers in the state shall operate and maintain a statewide
21 public notice internet site containing all notices and reports
22 of proceedings required by statute to be published within the
23 state by newspapers.
24 2. To qualify as a statewide public notice internet site, an
25 internet site must meet all of the following requirements:
26 a. Public notices and reports of proceedings shall be
27 available to the public at no cost.
28 b. The internet site must allow a person to search for a
29 notice by criteria contained in the public notice or report of
30 proceedings.
31 c. The internet site must provide access to all public
32 notices and reports of proceedings for at least one year after
33 initial publication.
34 d. The internet site must allow access through the use of
35 common internet browsers.
1 e. The internet site must provide a method to allow
2 members of the public to subscribe to alerts of public
3 notices and reports of proceedings by means of electronic
4 mail notifications. Notwithstanding paragraph “a”, if the
5 service provider for the statewide public notice internet site
6 charges a fee to provide subscription services, the statewide
7 public notice internet site may charge a fee to an individual
8 subscriber in an amount not to exceed the cost of providing the
9 subscription to the subscriber.
10 Sec. 4. Section 618.8, Code 2024, is amended by striking the
11 section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
12 618.8 Refusal to publish.
13 If a newspaper refuses to publish a statutorily required
14 public notice, a government body, as defined in section 22.1,
15 satisfies public notice requirements with respect to that
16 public notice by posting the public notice on the official
17 internet site of the government body and forwarding the notice
18 to each county in which notice is required to be given to
19 any person and to the statewide public notice internet site
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20 established pursuant to section 618.3A if such an internet site
21 exists. A county receiving a public notice pursuant to this
22 section shall post the public notice on the county’s internet
23 site within seventy-two hours of receipt. The statewide public
24 notice internet site shall post a public notice forwarded
25 pursuant to this section within seventy-two hours of receipt.
26 Sec. 5. Section 618.11, Code 2024, is amended to read as
27 follows:
28 618.11 Fees for publication and proof of publication.
29 1. The compensation, when not otherwise fixed, for the
30 publication in a newspaper of any notice, order, citation, or
31 other publication required or allowed by law shall be at a
32 rate of thirty-four cents for one insertion and twenty-three
33 cents for each subsequent insertion for each line of eight
34 point type two inches in length, or its equivalent. Beginning
35 June 1, 2001, and each June 1 thereafter, the director of
1 the department of administrative services shall calculate a
2 new rate for the following fiscal year as prescribed in this
3 section subsection, and shall publish this rate as a notice in
4 the Iowa administrative bulletin prior to the first day of the
5 following calendar month. The new rate shall be effective on
6 the first day of the calendar month following its publication.
7 The rate shall be calculated by applying the percentage change
8 in the consumer price index for all urban consumers for the
9 last available twelve-month period published in the federal
10 register by the federal department of labor, bureau of labor
11 statistics, to the existing rate as an increase or decrease
12 in the rate rounded to the nearest one-tenth of a cent. The
13 calculation and publication of the rate by the director of the
14 department of administrative services shall be exempt from the
15 provisions of chapters 17A and 25B.
16 2. A newspaper shall not charge a fee to a government body,
17 as defined in section 22.1, for proof of publication of a
18 public notice.
19 Sec. 6. Section 618.18, Code 2024, is amended by striking
20 the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
21 618.18 Timely publication required.
22 1. A newspaper shall publish all public notices and reports
23 of proceedings that are required by law to be published by a
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24 certain date within seventy-two hours of receipt unless one of
25 the following applies:
26 a. The newspaper publishes less than daily, in which case
27 the newspaper shall publish the public notice or report of
28 proceedings within forty-eight hours of the next scheduled
29 publication of the newspaper.
30 b. The government body, as defined in section 22.1, did not
31 submit the public notice or report of proceedings in a typed
32 format.
33 2. A newspaper that receives payment to publish a
34 statutorily required public notice and fails to timely or
35 accurately publish the public notice as required by subsection
1 1 shall refund all moneys received to publish the notice to the
2 government body that paid to publish the notice.
3 3. A government body, as defined in section 22.1, satisfies
4 public notice requirements with respect to a statutorily
5 required public notice that was untimely or inaccurately
6 published by a newspaper if the government body timely and
7 accurately posted the public notice on the official internet
8 site of the government body, on the official internet site
9 of all counties in which notice is required to be given to
10 any person, and on the statewide public notice internet site
11 established pursuant to section 618.3A if such an internet site
12 exists.
13 Sec. 7. NEW SECTION. 618.19 Disputes —— resolution.
14 A dispute arising between a government body, as defined in
15 section 22.1, and a newspaper regarding the publication of a
16 notice or report of proceedings under this chapter shall be
17 heard by the Iowa public information board created pursuant
18 to section 23.3 as a contested case proceeding pursuant to
19 chapter 17A. The Iowa public information board shall award the
20 prevailing party reasonable costs and attorney fees.
21 Sec. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE. The following, being deemed of
22 immediate importance, take effect upon enactment:
23 1. The section of this Act amending section 372.13,
24 subsection 6.
25 2. The section of this Act amending section 618.8.
26 3. The section of this Act amending section 618.11.
27 4. The section of this Act amending section 618.18.
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28 Sec. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. The following take effect July 1,
29 2025:
30 1. The section of this Act amending section 618.3.
31 2. The section of this Act enacting section 618.3A.
______________________________ ______________________________
AMY SINCLAIR PAT GRASSLEY
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the Senate and
is known as Senate File 2331, Ninetieth General Assembly.
______________________________
W. CHARLES SMITHSON
Secretary of the Senate
Approved _______________, 2024 ______________________________
KIM REYNOLDS
Governor


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 372.13, 21.3, 618.3A, 22.1
Reprinted: 372.13, 21.3, 618.3A, 22.1
Enrolled: 372.13, 21.3, 618.3A, 22.1