Iowa Law & Rules

The Iowa Code contains all the general and permanent laws of the State of Iowa. The printed version is published every two years to coincide with the start of a General Assembly. The updated, electronic version of the Iowa Code is published annually on the General Assembly's website and on DVD.

If you know the Iowa Code section you are looking for, type the Iowa Code section into the Iowa Code Quick Search box located in the top left corner under the Bills text box, on the homepage (www.legis.iowa.gov). Then hit the Go button or Enter key to pull up the most current version of the Iowa Code section you typed.

*In order for this tool to work properly, turn off your pop-up blocker when using our website or add our website to the trusted site list in your browser.

On our homepage (www.legis.iowa.gov), click on the Publications tab along the top of the screen and then click Search Legislative Documents on the left side of the screen to launch the search engine. In the Search Within box along the left, click the small white arrow in front of “Iowa Law & Rules” to expand the selection. Then click the small white arrow in front of Code of Iowa. Then click the arrow in front of the year you wish to view. Continue this method to drill down to the information you want.

OR

On our homepage (www.legis.iowa.gov), click on the Publications tab along the top of the screen and then click Search Legislative Documents on the left side of the screen to launch the search engine. Once in the search engine, click the Advanced Search tab along the top of the search engine. On the left, you’ll see an Iowa Code Quick Search box. Type the Iowa Code section into the box and hit Go or the Enter key to pull up the most current version of the Iowa Code section.

On our homepage (www.legis.iowa.gov), click on the Archives tab along the top of the screen. Under the Iowa Law & Rules heading, choose a year from the drop-down next to Iowa Code (Composite of all permanent laws enacted by the Iowa General Assembly, viewable by Iowa Code chapter or section (2005 to Current)) or choose a year from the drop-down next to Iowa Code Archive (Composite of all permanent laws enacted by the Iowa General Assembly, in PDF format (1839 to Current)). The content will update and display for the year you selected.

If you know the Iowa Code chapter or section number, type it into the Quick Search box on the homepage of our website (www.legis.iowa.gov) or on the Iowa Law & Rules page www.legis.iowa.gov/law and hit the Go button or Enter key.

*In order for this tool to work properly, turn off your pop-up blocker when using our website or add our website to the trusted site list in your browser.

To view the Iowa Code in its entirety or to view Iowa Code archives, browse links available here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law/statutory.

If you do not know the Iowa Code chapter or section but you are interested in law pertaining to a particular topic, use the Search Legislative Documents tool https://www.legis.iowa.gov/publications/search. In the Search Within parameters in the left navigation pane, narrow your results to Iowa Law and Rules > Code of Iowa.

Administrative rules are statements of general applicability that implement or interpret law, prescribe policy, or describe the organization, procedure, or practice requirements of an executive branch agency. Administrative rules are published biweekly in the Iowa Administrative Code.

The Iowa Administrative Code is a composite of all adopted administrative rules and is updated biweekly. The Iowa Administrative Bulletin is a biweekly notice of all proposed and adopted changes to administrative rules and includes other information, including public hearings schedule, rulemaking schedule, ARRC meeting agenda, delays, and objections, required and permitted by Iowa Code chapter 2B.

Yes, the electronic version is official pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 2B. To confirm that a rule is current and has not been superseded, contact the Publications Editing Office (Administrative Code) at AdminCode@legis.iowa.gov.

Pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 17A, the IAB and IAC are published biweekly. The annual rulemaking schedule can be found on our website here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/ACOD/767406.pdf.

Quick Search: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law.

OR locate the search box for Search Legislative Documents, located in the right margin of the page: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law.

In the Search Within box along the left, click the small white arrow in front of “Iowa Law & Rules” to expand the selection. Then click the small white arrow in front of Iowa Administrative Code. Then click the arrow in front of the agency you wish to view. Continue this method to drill down to the information you want.

If you know the agency number or Iowa Administrative Code chapter or rule number, type it into the Quick Search box on the Iowa Law & Rules page https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law and hit the Go button or Enter key.

*In order for this tool to work properly, turn off your pop-up blocker when using our website or add our website to the trusted site list in your browser.

To view the full list of agencies in the Iowa Administrative Code, click here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law/administrativeRules/agencies.

To view Iowa Administrative Code archives, click here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law/administrativeRules/agencies, then select from the dropdown for Archive By Year.

If you do not know the agency number or Iowa Administrative Code chapter or rule number but you are interested in rules pertaining to a particular topic, use the Search Legislative Documents tool: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/publications/search. In the Search Within parameters in the left navigation pane, narrow your results to Iowa Law and Rules > Iowa Administrative Code.

Yes, look up the rule you are looking for using the Quick Find box here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law/administrativeRules.
*Printer-friendly options are available by clicking on the PDF links provided.

Choose a chapter of the IAC here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law/administrativeRules/agencies by clicking on the Chapters link next to the appropriate state agency. Then click on the PDF link next to the appropriate chapter for a printer-friendly version of the chapter or click the RTF link for an editable Word-formatted copy of the chapter.

There is a note about citation in the preface of each Bulletin.

For purposes of searches on our website, rule citations appear as follows: “Agency.Chapter.rule.”

In the Iowa Administrative Code, rule citations appear as follows: Agency—Chapter.rule(implementation).

For explanation of rule citations and rule subparts, see the explanation here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/ACOD/767394.pdf.

Track rulemakings using the Rules Tracker: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law/administrativeRules/tracker.

Track rulemaking and related activity using subscription services available at: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/subscribe/subscriptions.

Rulemaking in Brief: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/ACOD/767380.pdf.

Rulemaking Process Flowchart: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/ACOD/767381.pdf.

Elements of Rulemaking Process: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/ACOD/767383.pdf.

Track rulemaking and related activity using subscription services available at: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/subscribe/subscriptions.

Track rulemakings using the Rules Tracker: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law/administrativeRules/tracker.

Contact the Publications Editing Office (Administrative Code) at AdminCode@legis.iowa.gov.

Explanation of emergency procedures (Iowa Code sections 17A.4 and 17A.5): https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/ACOD/767388.pdf.

Emergency Rulemaking Documents Filed Prior to Publication in the Iowa Administrative Bulletin (IAB): https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law/administrativeRules/emergencyDocs.

Yes. For an overview of the rulemaking process, see: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law/administrativeRules/howDoRulesWork.

For an overview of the rulemaking process, see: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/law/administrativeRules/howDoRulesWork.

At the discretion of the Administrative Code Editor, amendments may be omitted from publication in an Adopted and Filed rulemaking. The information contained in the Editor’s Note can be used to locate the published Notice of Intended Action for those amendments.

To see the amendments that were published under Notice or Adopted and Filed Emergency, refer to the IAB publication date noted in the Editor’s Note. Within that publication, locate the ARC number of the Notice or Adopted and Filed Emergency. NOTE: If the amendments were also Adopted and Filed Emergency, the amendments will be printed with the Emergency and incorporated by reference into the Notice.

To see the amendments incorporated in the Iowa Administrative Code, refer to the Supplement referenced in the last bracketed note.

Documentation describing persistent links can be found here: https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/ACOD/767409.pdf.