1. a. Except as provided in subsection 3, a governmental body shall give notice of the time, date, and place of each meeting including a reconvened meeting of the governmental body, and the tentative agenda of the meeting, in a manner reasonably calculated to apprise the public of that information. Reasonable notice shall include advising the news media who have filed a request for notice with the governmental body and posting the notice on a bulletin board or other prominent place which is easily accessible to the public and clearly designated for that purpose at the principal office of the body holding the meeting, or if no such office exists, at the building in which the meeting is to be held.
b. Each meeting shall be held at a place reasonably accessible to the public and at a time reasonably convenient to the public, unless for good cause such a place or time is impossible or impracticable. Special access to the meeting may be granted to persons with disabilities.
2. a. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph “c”, notice conforming with all of the requirements of subsection 1 shall be given at least twenty-four hours prior to the commencement of any meeting of a governmental body unless for good cause such notice is impossible or impractical, in which case as much notice as is reasonably possible shall be given.
b. When it is necessary to hold a meeting on less than twenty-four hours’ notice, or at a place that is not reasonably accessible to the public, or at a time that is not reasonably convenient to the public, the nature of the good cause justifying that departure from the normal requirements shall be stated in the minutes.
c. If a governmental body is prevented from convening an otherwise properly noticed meeting under the requirements of subsection 1, the governmental body may convene the meeting if the governmental body posts an amended notice of the meeting conforming with all of the requirements of subsection 1.
3. Subsection 1 does not apply to any of the following:
a. A meeting reconvened within four hours of the start of its recess, where an announcement of the time, date, and place of the reconvened meeting is made at the original meeting in open session and recorded in the minutes of the meeting and there is no change in the agenda.
b. A meeting held by a formally constituted subunit of a parent governmental body during\n\nTue Dec 09 22:32:24 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 21 (29, 2) 3 OFFICIAL MEETINGS OPEN TO PUBLIC (OPEN MEETINGS), §21.5\n\na lawful meeting of the parent governmental body or during a recess in that meeting of up to four hours, or a meeting of that subunit immediately following the meeting of the parent governmental body, if the meeting of that subunit is publicly announced in open session at the parent meeting and the subject of the meeting reasonably coincides with the subjects discussed or acted upon by the parent governmental body.
4. If another section of the Code requires a manner of giving specific notice of a meeting, hearing, or an intent to take action by a governmental body, compliance with that section shall constitute compliance with the notice requirements of this section. [C71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §28A.4] C85, §21.4 96 Acts, ch 1129, §113; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §201; 2011 Acts, ch 106, §4, 17; 2016 Acts, ch 1025, §1 Referred to in §21.3, 21.8, 35C.1, 275.15, 282.11 \n
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
16
cases (
5 in the last 5 years), 1969–2025 · leading case:
City of Postville, Iowa & Jason Meyer v. Upper Explorerland Reg'l Plan. Comm'n, Martin Brennan, Kathy Campbell, Ray Whalen, Leon Griebenow, Andrew Wenthe, Karla Organist, Warren Steffen, Michael Kenedy, Janet McGovern, Dean Darling, Les Askelson, & Randy Uhl, 834 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa 2013).
City of Postville, Iowa & Jason Meyer v. Upper Explorerland Reg'l Plan. Comm'n, Martin Brennan, Kathy Campbell, Ray Whalen, Leon Griebenow, Andrew Wenthe, Karla Organist, Warren Steffen, Michael Kenedy, Janet McGovern, Dean Darling, Les Askelson, & Randy Uhl, 834 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa 2013).
· cites it 16× “” Iowa Code § 21.4 (1) (emphasis added). One statutorily prescribed method for providing reasonable notice is to Iowa Code § 21.”
KCOB/KLVN, Inc. v. Jasper Cnty. Bd. of Supervisors, 473 N.W.2d 171 (Iowa 1991).
· cites it 14× “4 which requires that notice be given “in a manner reasonably calculated to apprise the pub-lic_” Iowa Code § 21.4 (1). Thus, the issue to be resolved is not whether the notice given by the governmental body could have been improved, but whether the notice sufficiently apprised…”
Mason v. Vision Iowa Bd., 700 N.W.2d 349 (Iowa 2005).
· cites it 2× “The plaintiffs claim the defendants violated the following provision of chapter 21: “Meetings of governmental bodies shall be preceded by public notice as provided in section 21.4 and shall be held in open session unless closed sessions are expressly permitted by law.”
Hardaway v. City of Des Moines, 166 N.W.2d 578 (Iowa 1969).
· cites it 6× “, section 21.4(1). "It is, at most, a species of indirect evidence of the person making such offer as to the value of the land.”
Barrett v. Lode, 603 N.W.2d 766 (Iowa 1999).
· cites it 6× “Iowa Code section 21.4(1) provides: A governmental body .”
Gustafson v. Iowa Power & Light Co., 183 N.W.2d 212 (Iowa 1971).
“It does not presuppose a willing seller and a willing buyer, but is based upon the price which a corporation, intending to take the land at all events, is willing to pay to avoid the expense of litigation and the chance of an excessive verdict from an unsympathetic jury.”
James W. Olinger & Larry C. Meyer, plaintiffs-appellants/cross-appellees v. Robert Smith, Walter Utman, Gaylord Pitt, Harrison Cnty., Iowa, & Utman Drainage Dist., defendants-appellees/cross-appellants., 892 N.W.2d 775 (Iowa Ct. App. 2016).
· cites it 2× “5(4)(a) and provided notice of the meetings as required by section 21.4. In its holding, the district court determined, It is clear from the record that defendants considered this gathering to be a meeting governed by the open meetings law.”
Paula Dawn McIntosh v. City of Riverdale & Sonya Paddock, 922 N.W.2d 104 (Iowa Ct. App. 2018).
· cites it 7× “" "If another section of the Code requires a manner of giving specific notice of a meeting, hearing, or an intent to take action by a governmental body, compliance with that section shall constitute compliance with the notice requirements of" section 21.4. Id. § 21.4(4). Section…”
City of Postville, Iowa & Jason Meyer v. Upper Explorerland Reg'l Plan. Comm'n, Martin Brennan, Kathy Campbell, Ray Whalen, Leon Griebenow, Andrew Wenthe, Karla Organist, Warren Steffen, Michael Kenedy, Janet McGovern, Dean Darling, Les Askelson, & Rany Uhl (Iowa Ct. App. 2015).
· cites it 4× “” See Iowa Code § 21.4 . We conclude substantial evidence supports the district court’s conclusion that the Commission substantially complied with IOMA in the posting of its meeting notices on the Commission’s bulletin board.”
State of Iowa v. Jason Gene Weitzel (Iowa Ct. App. 2017).
“, Criminal Procedure § 21.4(d) (4th ed. 2016) (noting emphasis has been on requirement that the judge inform the defendant of the maximum possible punishment).”
— Iowa Code § 21.4(1) — 5 cases
City of Postville, Iowa & Jason Meyer v. Upper Explorerland Reg'l Plan. Comm'n, Martin Brennan, Kathy Campbell, Ray Whalen, Leon Griebenow, Andrew Wenthe, Karla Organist, Warren Steffen, Michael Kenedy, Janet McGovern, Dean Darling, Les Askelson, & Randy Uhl, 834 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa 2013).
“” Iowa Code § 21.4 (1) (emphasis added). One statutorily prescribed method for providing reasonable notice is to Iowa Code § 21.”
Hardaway v. City of Des Moines, 166 N.W.2d 578 (Iowa 1969).
“, section 21.4(1). "It is, at most, a species of indirect evidence of the person making such offer as to the value of the land.”
Barrett v. Lode, 603 N.W.2d 766 (Iowa 1999).
“Iowa Code section 21.4(1) provides: A governmental body .”
City of Postville, Iowa & Jason Meyer v. Upper Explorerland Reg'l Plan. Comm'n, Martin Brennan, Kathy Campbell, Ray Whalen, Leon Griebenow, Andrew Wenthe, Karla Organist, Warren Steffen, Michael Kenedy, Janet McGovern, Dean Darling, Les Askelson, & Rany Uhl (Iowa Ct. App. 2015).
“” See Iowa Code § 21.4 . We conclude substantial evidence supports the district court’s conclusion that the Commission substantially complied with IOMA in the posting of its meeting notices on the Commission’s bulletin board.”
— Iowa Code § 21.4(1)(a) — 2 cases
Paula Dawn McIntosh v. City of Riverdale & Sonya Paddock, 922 N.W.2d 104 (Iowa Ct. App. 2018).
“" "If another section of the Code requires a manner of giving specific notice of a meeting, hearing, or an intent to take action by a governmental body, compliance with that section shall constitute compliance with the notice requirements of" section 21.4. Id. § 21.4(4). Section…”
— Iowa Code § 21.4(2) — 1 case
KCOB/KLVN, Inc. v. Jasper Cnty. Bd. of Supervisors, 473 N.W.2d 171 (Iowa 1991).
“4 which requires that notice be given “in a manner reasonably calculated to apprise the pub-lic_” Iowa Code § 21.4 (1). Thus, the issue to be resolved is not whether the notice given by the governmental body could have been improved, but whether the notice sufficiently apprised…”
— Iowa Code § 21.4(2)(a) — 1 case
Paula Dawn McIntosh v. City of Riverdale & Sonya Paddock, 922 N.W.2d 104 (Iowa Ct. App. 2018).
“" "If another section of the Code requires a manner of giving specific notice of a meeting, hearing, or an intent to take action by a governmental body, compliance with that section shall constitute compliance with the notice requirements of" section 21.4. Id. § 21.4(4). Section…”
— Iowa Code § 21.4(4) — 1 case
Paula Dawn McIntosh v. City of Riverdale & Sonya Paddock, 922 N.W.2d 104 (Iowa Ct. App. 2018).
“" "If another section of the Code requires a manner of giving specific notice of a meeting, hearing, or an intent to take action by a governmental body, compliance with that section shall constitute compliance with the notice requirements of" section 21.4. Id. § 21.4(4). Section…”
— Iowa Code § 21.4(5) — 1 case
— Iowa Code § 21.4(d) — 4 cases
State of Iowa v. Jason Gene Weitzel (Iowa Ct. App. 2017).
“, Criminal Procedure § 21.4(d) (4th ed. 2016) (noting emphasis has been on requirement that the judge inform the defendant of the maximum possible punishment).”
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