441.8  Term — continuing education — filling vacancy.
  1.  The term of office of an assessor appointed under this chapter shall be for six years. Appointments for each succeeding term shall be made in the same manner as the original appointment except that not less than ninety days before the expiration of the term of the assessor the conference board shall hold a meeting to determine whether or not it desires to reappoint the incumbent assessor to a new term. The conference board shall have the power to reappoint the incumbent assessor only if the incumbent assessor has satisfactorily completed the continuing education program provided for in this section. If the decision is made not to reappoint the assessor, the assessor shall be notified, in writing, of such decision not less than ninety days prior to the expiration of the assessor’s term of office. Failure of the conference board to provide timely notification of the decision not to reappoint the assessor shall result in the assessor being reappointed.
  2.  a.  The director of revenue shall develop and administer a program of continuing education which shall emphasize assessment and appraisal procedures, and the assessment laws of this state, and which shall include the subject matter specified in section 441.5.
  b.  The director of revenue shall establish, designate, or approve courses, workshops, seminars, or symposiums to be offered as part of the continuing education program, the content of these courses, workshops, seminars, or symposiums and the number of hours of classroom instruction for each. The director of revenue may provide that no more than thirty hours of tested credit may be received for the submission of a narrative appraisal approved by a professional appraisal society designated by the director. At least once each year the director of revenue shall evaluate the continuing education program and make necessary changes in the program.
  3.  Upon the successful completion of courses, workshops, seminars, a narrative appraisal or symposiums contained in the program of continuing education, as demonstrated by attendance at sessions of the courses, workshops, seminars or symposiums and, in the case of a course designated by the director of revenue, attaining a grade of at least seventy percent on an examination administered at the conclusion of the course, or the submission of proof that a narrative appraisal has been approved by a professional appraisal society designated by the director of revenue the assessor or deputy assessor shall receive credit equal to the number of hours of classroom instruction contained in those courses, workshops, seminars, or symposiums or the number of hours of credit specified by the director of revenue for a narrative appraisal. An assessor or deputy assessor shall not be allowed to obtain credit for a course, workshop, seminar, or symposium for which the assessor or deputy assessor has previously received credit during the current term or appointment except for those courses, workshops, seminars, or symposiums designated by the director of revenue. Only one narrative appraisal may be approved for credit during the assessor’s or deputy assessor’s current term or appointment and credit shall not be allowed for a narrative appraisal approved by a professional appraisal society prior to the beginning of the assessor’s or deputy assessor’s current term or appointment. The examinations shall be confidential, except that the director of revenue and persons designated by the director may have access to the examinations.
  4.  Upon receiving credit equal to one hundred fifty hours of classroom instruction during the assessor’s current term of office of which at least ninety of the one hundred fifty hours are from courses requiring an examination upon conclusion of the course, the director of revenue shall certify to the assessor’s conference board that the assessor is eligible to be reappointed to the position. For persons appointed to complete an unexpired term, the number of credits required to be certified as eligible for reappointment shall be prorated according to the amount of time remaining in the present term of the assessor. If the person was an assessor in another jurisdiction, the assessor may carry forward any credit hours received in the previous position in excess of the number that would be necessary to be considered current in that position. Upon written request by the person seeking a waiver of the continuing education requirements, the director may waive the continuing education requirements if the director determines good cause exists for the waiver.
  5.  Within each six-year period following the appointment of a deputy assessor, the deputy assessor shall comply with this section except that upon the successful completion of ninety hours of classroom instruction of which at least sixty of the ninety hours are from courses requiring an examination upon conclusion of the course, the deputy assessor shall be certified by the director of revenue as being eligible to remain in the position. If a deputy assessor fails to comply with this section, the deputy assessor shall be removed from the position until successful completion of the required hours of credit. If a deputy is appointed to the office of assessor, the hours of credit obtained as deputy pursuant to this section shall be credited to that individual as assessor and for the individual to be reappointed at the expiration of the term as assessor, that individual must obtain the credits which are necessary to total the number of hours for reappointment. Upon written request by the person seeking a waiver of the continuing education requirements, the director may waive the continuing education requirements if the director determines good cause exists for the waiver.
  6.  Each conference board shall include in the budget for the operation of the assessor’s office funds sufficient to enable the assessor and any deputy assessor to obtain certification as provided in this section. The conference board shall also allow the assessor and any deputy assessor sufficient time off from their regular duties to obtain certification. The director of revenue shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to implement and administer this section.
  7.  If the incumbent assessor is not reappointed as provided in this section, then not less than sixty days before the expiration of the term of said assessor, a new assessor shall be selected as provided in section 441.6.
  8.  In the event of the removal, resignation, death, or removal from the county of the said assessor, the conference board shall proceed to fill the vacancy by appointing an assessor to serve the unexpired term in the manner provided in section 441.6. Until the vacancy is filled, the chief deputy shall act as assessor, and in the event there be no deputy, in the case of counties the auditor shall act as assessor and in the case of cities having an assessor the city clerk shall act as assessor.
  9.  Notwithstanding a budget previously established pursuant to section 441.16, if an assessor is appointed to fill a vacancy, the conference board may establish a salary for the newly appointed assessor in an amount the conference board determines to be reasonable.
[C46, §405.6; C50, 54, 58, §405.6, 441.3; C62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, S81, §441.8; 81 Acts, ch 143, §1]
86 Acts, ch 1245, §449; 87 Acts, ch 198, §6; 97 Acts, ch 158, §37; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §286; 2005 Acts, ch 140, §55, 56; 2011 Acts, ch 34, §100; 2024 Acts, ch 1034, §1
Referred to in §331.502, 441.1, 441.5, 441.6, 441.10, 441.56
NEW subsection 9