CHAPTER 172B
LIVESTOCK TRANSPORTATION

Referred to in §166D.2, 331.653, 716.13

  
     
172B.1  Definitions.
  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
  1.  “Driver’s license” means any license or permit issued to a person to operate a motor vehicle on the highways.
  2.  “Law enforcement officer” means a state patrol officer, a sheriff, or other peace officer so designated by this state or by a county or municipality.
  3.  “Livestock” means and includes live cattle, swine, sheep, horses, ostriches, rheas, or emus, and the carcasses of such animals whether in whole or in part.
  4.  “Owner” means a person having legal title to livestock.
  5.  “Transportation certificate” means the document specified in section 172B.3 and includes either the standard form prescribed by the secretary, or a substitute document the use of which has been authorized by the secretary.
  6.  “Transporting livestock” means being in custody of or operating a vehicle in this state, whether or not on a highway, in which are confined one or more head of livestock. Vehicle includes a truck, trailer, and other device used for the purpose of conveying objects, whether or not the device has motive power or is attached to a vehicle with motive power at the time the livestock are confined.
[C77, 79, 81, §172B.1]
86 Acts, ch 1245, §624; 90 Acts, ch 1230, §1; 95 Acts, ch 43, §6; 98 Acts, ch 1073, §9; 98 Acts, ch 1074, §18; 2005 Acts, ch 35, §31
Further definitions; see §159.1 

     
172B.2  Transportation certificate exhibited — public offense.
  A person transporting livestock shall execute in the presence of a law enforcement officer, at the request of the officer, a transportation certificate. A person who fails to comply with this section commits a public offense punishable as provided in section 172B.6. A person who fails to execute a transportation certificate upon the request of the officer fails to comply with this section even though the person possesses a transportation certificate.
[C77, 79, 81, §172B.2]
Referred to in §172B.5, 172B.6

     
172B.3  Form of certificate — substitutes.
  1.  Duties of secretary.  The secretary, pursuant to chapter 17A, shall prescribe a standard form of the transportation certificate required by this chapter. Where the laws of this state or of the United States require the possession of another shipping document by a person transporting livestock, or where the industry practice of carriers requires the possession of a shipping document by a person transporting livestock, and where such a document contains all of the information other than signatures which is prescribed in subsection 2, upon application of a carrier the secretary by rule shall authorize the use of a specific document in lieu of the standard form prescribed by the secretary, but subject to any conditions the secretary may impose.
  a.  A person who is in possession of a shipping document approved by the secretary shall not be required to possess the standard form transportation certificate prescribed by the secretary, but the person may be required by a law enforcement officer to execute the standard form transportation certificate.
  b.  The form prescribed or authorized by the secretary shall be executed in triplicate, and shall be retained as provided in section 172B.4.
  c.  The secretary shall distribute, upon request, copies of the prescribed standard form to veterinarians, marketing agencies, carriers, law enforcement officers, and other persons, and may collect a fee from the recipient totaling not more than the cost of printing and postage. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit a person from causing the reproduction of the standard form, and an accurate reproduction of a standard current form may be used as a transportation certificate for all purposes.
  2.  Contents.  The transportation certificate shall contain the following information:
  a.  The date of execution of the certificate.
  b.  The name, driver’s license number, and address of the owner of the livestock.
  c.  The name and address of the shipper if other than the owner.
  d.  The address of the loading point of the livestock, or the nearest post office and county.
  e.  The date of loading of the livestock.
  f.  The name and address of the purchaser, consignee, or other person receiving shipment.
  g.  The address of the destination of the livestock, or the nearest post office and county.
  h.  The name and address of the carrier or person transporting livestock.
  i.  The driver’s license number of the person transporting livestock.
  j.  The vehicle registration plate number and the state of issuance.
  k.  The vehicle seal number, if any.
  l.  The form number and state of issuance of any certificate of veterinary inspection accompanying the livestock.
  m.  A description of the livestock including number, breed, sex, age, and brands, if any.
  n.  The signature of the owner or shipper, or the signature of the person transporting livestock, or the signatures of either the owner or shipper and the person transporting livestock.
[C77, 79, 81, §172B.3]
89 Acts, ch 202, §1; 90 Acts, ch 1230, §2; 98 Acts, ch 1073, §9; 2004 Acts, ch 1163, §31; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §204
Referred to in §172B.1, 172B.5

     
172B.4  Execution and retention of records.
  1.  Shipper.  A person who causes the transporting of livestock shall cause to be executed and to be delivered to the person transporting livestock, at the request of that person, duplicate copies of a transportation certificate.
  2.  Transporter.  A person transporting livestock who has been given a receipt by a law enforcement officer shall retain that receipt until the person relinquishes custody of the livestock.
  3.  Law enforcement officer.
  a.  A law enforcement officer, upon requesting and receiving a transportation certificate, shall retain a copy of the certificate and shall submit the certificate to the law enforcement agency by which the officer is employed.
  b.  The law enforcement officer shall give to the person transporting livestock, in a form prescribed by the commissioner of public safety or the commissioner’s designee, a receipt for the certificate given to the officer. The commissioner of public safety may authorize the use of any method of giving receipt, including endorsement by the officer on the certificate retained by the person transporting livestock. The receipt shall make the law enforcement officer issuing the receipt identifiable by other law enforcement officers.
  c.  A law enforcement officer shall not retain a copy of the certificate if the person transporting livestock has a receipt issued by another law enforcement officer.
[C77, 79, 81, §172B.4]
2008 Acts, ch 1031, §38
Referred to in §172B.3, 172B.5, 172B.6

  
     
172B.5  Authority of law enforcement officers.
  1.  Investigation.  A law enforcement officer may stop and detain a person, whether on or off a highway, who is transporting livestock for the purpose of obtaining compliance with section 172B.2, and the officer may request the presentation or execution of a transportation certificate. The officer may examine the livestock for identification, the vehicle for the purpose of obtaining the vehicle registration plate number, and the registration of the vehicle and the driver’s license of the driver or person detained. However, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to authorize any law enforcement officer to open or require the opening of the cargo compartment of any vehicle manufactured for use in carrying refrigerated cargo when both the cargo is actually under refrigeration at the time the vehicle is detained by the law enforcement officer, and the person operating the vehicle has in possession when stopped a valid transportation certificate or approved shipping document which was executed by the shipper and which identifies the cargo as processed livestock and otherwise complies with section 172B.3, subsection 2.
  2.  Execution of certificate.  If the person transporting livestock does not possess a completed transportation certificate, or if in the opinion of the officer the form possessed is improper, the officer may provide the person with a blank standard form, and may request that the person execute the form, including the person’s signature. The person shall be permitted to view any documents in the person’s possession for the purpose of completing the form. Except as provided in section 172B.4, the officer shall retain a copy of the certificate and shall give the person a receipt for that certificate.
  3.  Detention.  A law enforcement officer may detain a person transporting livestock for a reasonable period of time not to exceed thirty minutes for the purpose of verifying any information obtained by the officer.
  4.  Arrest.  A detention for the purposes of subsections 1, 2, and 3 shall not constitute an arrest. If the law enforcement officer has probable cause to believe that the person transporting livestock has committed a public offense, the officer may place the person under arrest. The officer may require the person to move the vehicle to a place determined by the officer, or the officer may make other provisions for the vehicle and the livestock, as the officer shall determine. If the owner of the livestock is not available, the officer is authorized to incur reasonable expense for the care of the livestock which expense shall be charged to and paid by the owner of the livestock.
[C77, 79, 81, §172B.5]
90 Acts, ch 1230, §3; 98 Acts, ch 1073, §9

     
172B.6  Offenses and penalties.
  1.  A person who is convicted of violating section 172B.2 shall be guilty of a simple misdemeanor.
  2.  A person who makes or utters a transportation certificate with knowledge that some or all of the information contained in the certificate is false, or a person who alters, forges, or counterfeits a transportation certificate, or the receipt prescribed in section 172B.4, commits a class “C” felony.
[C77, 79, 81, §172B.6]
Referred to in §172B.2