SSB 3150 (LSB 5810XC (3) 91)

SENATE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON ROZENBOOM)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to matters associated with county officers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 35B.10, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  The county commission of veteran affairs shall prepare and file in the office of the county auditor on or before the thirtieth day of each January, April, July, and October a report showing the case numbers of all recipients receiving assistance under this chapter, together with the amount paid to each during the preceding quarter. Each report so filed shall be maintained as a permanent record to be used only for such reports made under this chapter.
    Sec. 2.  Section 39.17, subsection 1, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  There shall be elected in each county at the general election to be held in the year 1976 2028 and every four years thereafter, an auditor and a sheriff, each to hold office for a term of four years.
    Sec. 3.  Section 39.21, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  5.  County auditors as required by section 331.501A.
    Sec. 4.  Section 53.2, subsection 2, paragraph d, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   d.  (1)  No Except as provided in subparagraphs (2) and (3), an absentee ballot application shall not be provided to a registered voter with any field prefilled, except that the. 
   (2)  The absentee ballot application may have the fields for the type and date of the election prefilled.
   (3)  A county commissioner of elections may provide an absentee ballot with the personal information of a registered voter prefilled to a registered voter who appears to vote in person pursuant to section 53.10 or 53.11 and whose identity has been verified as provided in section 49.78.
    Sec. 5.  Section 53.8, subsection 1, paragraph a, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   Upon receipt of an application for an absentee ballot and immediately after the absentee ballots are printed, but not more than twenty twenty-five days before the election, the commissioner shall mail an absentee ballot to the applicant within twenty-four hours, except as otherwise provided in subsection 3. The absentee ballot shall be sent to the registered voter by one of the following methods:
    Sec. 6.  Section 53.17A, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  The state commissioner shall adopt rules regarding the statewide implementation of a postal service barcode and tracking information database and the implementation of a postal service barcode for absentee ballots requested or returned pursuant to section 9E.6, 53.22, 53.39, 53.44, or 53.45, including procedures to be followed when usage of a postal service barcode or the tracking information database is negatively impacted. Each commissioner shall use a postal service barcode and tracking information database consistent with rules of the state commissioner. Every commissioner shall send notice to the state commissioner and implement the use of a postal service barcode and tracking information database prior to October 1, 2020.
    Sec. 7.  Section 53.17A, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  An absentee ballot requested or returned pursuant to section 9E.6, 53.22, 53.39, 53.44, or 53.45 and received after the polls close on election day but prior to the official canvass shall be counted if the commissioner determines that the ballot entered the federal mail system by the deadline specified in section 53.17 or 53.22. The date of entry of such an absentee ballot into the federal mail system shall only be verified as provided in paragraph “b”.
    Sec. 8.  Section 298.11, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   298.11  Apportionment of school funds.
   1.  The county auditor treasurer shall, on the first Monday in April and the first Monday in October of each year, apportion the school tax, together with rents on unsold school lands to which the county is entitled as shown in notice from the director of the department of administrative services, and all other moneys in the hands of the county treasurer belonging in common to the schools of the county and not included in a previous apportionment, among the corporations in the county in the manner provided by law.
   2.  The county auditor shall immediately notify the county treasurer of such apportionment and of the amount due thereby to each corporation.
   3.  2.  The county treasurer shall thereupon give notice to the president of each corporation, and shall pay out such apportionment moneys in the same manner that the county treasurer is authorized to pay other school moneys to the treasurers of the several school districts.
    Sec. 9.  NEW SECTION.  331.501A  Election of auditor.
   1.  There shall be elected in each county at the general election a county auditor, who shall hold office for a term of four years.
   2.  The ballot for county auditor shall not reflect a nominee’s political affiliation.
   3.  Nomination of candidates for the office of county auditor shall be made by petition in accordance with chapter 45.
    Sec. 10.  Section 331.502, subsections 10, 11, 16, and 35, Code 2026, are amended by striking the subsections.
    Sec. 11.  Section 331.502, subsection 12, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   12.  Issue warrants and maintain a permanent record for payment of claims of persons receiving veteran assistance as provided in section 35B.10.
    Sec. 12.  Section 331.508, subsections 4 and 5, Code 2026, are amended by striking the subsections.
    Sec. 13.  Section 331.552, subsection 16, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   16.  Pay Apportion and pay to the treasurers of the school corporations located in the county the taxes and other moneys due as provided in section 298.11 and send amounts collected for each fund of a school corporation for direct deposit into the depository and account designated as provided in section 298.13.
    Sec. 14.  Section 331.552, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  37.  Receive and record in a book kept for that purpose, moneys recovered from a person willfully committing waste or trespass on real estate as provided in section 658.10.
    Sec. 15.  Section 331.907, subsection 1, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The annual compensation of the auditor, treasurer, recorder, sheriff, county attorney, and supervisors shall be determined as provided in this section. The county compensation board annually shall review the compensation paid to comparable officers in other counties of this state, other states, private enterprise, and the federal government, as well as school business officials, state employees, and city clerks employed by cities of similar population to the county. In setting the salary of the county sheriff, the county compensation board shall set the sheriff’s salary so that it is comparable to salaries paid to professional law enforcement administrators and command officers of the state patrol, the division of criminal investigation of the department of public safety, and city police chiefs employed by cities of similar population to the population of the county. The county compensation board shall prepare a compensation schedule for the elected county officers for the succeeding fiscal year. The county compensation board shall provide documentation to the board of supervisors that demonstrates how the county compensation board determined the recommended compensation schedule, including by providing the applicable compensation information for comparable officers in other counties of this state, other states, private enterprise, and the federal government as described in this subsection. A recommended compensation schedule requires a majority vote of the membership of the county compensation board.
    Sec. 16.  Section 658.10, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   658.10  Disposition of money.
   All money recovered in an action brought under section 658.9 shall be paid by the officer collecting it to the auditor treasurer of the county in which the lands are situated, which shall be held by the auditor treasurer, and an entry thereof made in a book kept for that purpose, until the lands are redeemed, or a treasurer’s deed therefor executed to the holder of said certificate. If redemption is made, the money shall be paid to the owner of the land, and if not, to the person to whom the deed is executed.
    Sec. 17.  REPEAL.  Section 225.35, Code 2026, is repealed.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to matters associated with county officers. 
   The bill strikes a requirement that a county commission of veteran affairs file in the office of the county auditor a report regarding recipients of services from the county commission of veteran affairs. Under the bill, the commission rather than the auditor is responsible for maintaining permanent records of the reports. Under current law and the bill, a person who discloses, authorizes, knowingly permits, participates in, or acquiesces in the use of any lists, names, or other information obtained from the reports for commercial or political purposes commits a serious misdemeanor. A serious misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least $430 but not more than $2,560.
   The bill changes elections for county auditors from partisan elections to nonpartisan elections. The bill requires candidates for election to the office of county auditor to be nominated by petition as provided in Code chapter 45 (nominations by petition).
   The bill allows a county auditor, in the auditor’s role as county commissioner of elections, to provide an absentee ballot to a voter with the personal information prefilled if the voter appears to vote absentee in person and the voter’s identity has been verified as provided in Code section 49.78 (voter identity and signature verification). The bill changes the first day on which a county commissioner of elections may mail absentee ballots from 20 days before an election to 25 days before an election. The bill requires a county commissioner of elections to implement a postal service barcode only for absentee ballots requested or returned by a confined person or a person participating in the address confidentiality program or voting pursuant to the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act. Current law requires the implementation of a postal service barcode for all absentee ballots.
   The bill changes the person responsible for the apportionment of school tax, rents, and other moneys belonging to schools from the county auditor to the county treasurer. The bill strikes requirements that a county auditor collect the costs relating to the treatment and care of private patients at the state psychiatric hospital and carry out duties relating to the hospitalization and support of persons with mental illness. The bill also strikes a reference to a repealed requirement that a county auditor maintain an account book and index of persons receiving mental health treatment.
   When reviewing the compensation of county officers, the bill requires a county compensation board to review compensation paid to school business officials, state employees, and city clerks employed by cities of similar population to the county. Current law requires a county compensation board to review compensation paid to comparable officers in other counties of this state, other states, private enterprise, and the federal government.
   The bill requires money recovered by the owner of a treasurer’s certificate of purchase of land sold for taxes from a person willfully committing waste or trespass on the land to be paid to the county treasurer rather than the county auditor.