8A.702  Departmental duties — historical resources.
  The duties of the department as it relates to the historical resources of the state shall include all of the following:
  1.  Develop a comprehensive, coordinated, and efficient policy to preserve, research, interpret, and promote to the public an awareness and understanding of local, state, and regional history.
  2.  Administer and care for historical sites under the authority of the department and maintain collections within these sites. For the purposes of this section, “historical site” means any district, site, building, or structure listed on the national register of historic sites or identified as eligible for such status by the state historic preservation officer or that is identified according to established criteria by the state historic preservation officer as significant in national, state, and local history, architecture, engineering, archaeology, or culture.
  3.  Encourage and assist local, county, and state organizations and museums devoted to historical purposes.
  4.  Develop, in consultation with the state historic preservation officer, standards and criteria for the acquisition of historic properties and for the preservation, restoration, maintenance, operation, and interpretation of properties under the jurisdiction of the department.
  5.  Implement tourism-related art and history projects as directed by the general assembly.
  6.  Encourage the use of volunteers throughout the department as it relates to the historical resources of the state, especially for purposes of restoring books and manuscripts.
  7.  Publish matters of historical value to the public.
  8.  Buy or receive by other means historical materials including but not limited to artifacts, art, books, manuscripts, and images. Such materials are not personal property under sections 8A.321 and 8A.324 and shall be received and cared for under the rules of the department. The department may sell or otherwise dispose of those materials according to the rules of the department and be credited for any revenues credited by the disposal less the costs incurred.
  9.  Administer the historical resource development program established in section 8A.712.
  10.  Administer, preserve, and interpret the battle flag collection assembled by the state in consultation and coordination with the department of veterans affairs. A portion of the battle flag collection shall be on display at the state capitol and the state historical building at all times, unless on loan approved by the department.
  11.  Establish, maintain, and administer a digital collection of historical manuscripts, documents, records, reports, images, and artifacts and make the collection available to the public through an online research center.
  12.  Perform such duties as required under chapter 305B.
2023 Acts, ch 19, §1400; 2024 Acts, ch 1182, §170, 171
Referred to in §427.16
Subsection 2 stricken and rewritten
Subsection 4 amended