Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 368.3 (2026)

Discontinuance — cemetery fund transfer

✓ current as of July 2026

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1. A city is discontinued if, for a period of six years or more, it has held no city election and has caused no taxes to be levied. If the board receives knowledge of facts which cause an automatic discontinuance under this section, it shall make a determination that the city is discontinued, shall take control of the property of the discontinued city, and shall carry out all necessary procedures as if the city were discontinued under a petition or plan.

2. A city may also be discontinued in accordance with the following procedures. The council shall adopt a resolution of intent to discontinue and shall call a public hearing on the proposal to discontinue. Notice of the time and place of the public hearing and the proposed action shall be published as provided in section 362.3. At the public hearing, the council shall receive oral and written comments regarding the proposal from any person. Thereafter, the council, at the same meeting or at a subsequent meeting, may pass a resolution of discontinuance or pass a resolution abandoning the proposal. If the council passes a resolution of discontinuance, a petition may be filed with the clerk in the manner provided in section 362.4, within thirty days following the effective date of the resolution, requesting that the question of discontinuance be submitted to the registered voters of the city. Upon receipt of a petition requesting an election, the council shall direct the county commissioner of elections to call a special election on the question of discontinuance or shall adopt a resolution abandoning the discontinuance. Notice of the election shall be given by publication as required in section 49.53. If a majority of those voting approve the discontinuance or if no petition for an election is filed, the clerk shall send a copy of the resolution of discontinuance and, if an election is held, the results of the election to the board. The board shall take control of the property of the discontinued city and shall supervise procedures necessary to carry out the discontinuance in accordance with section 368.21.

3. When a city is discontinued under this section or under sections 368.11 through 368.22, and that city owns a cemetery, the board shall determine if any perpetual care funds exist\n\nTue Dec 09 22:13:46 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 368 (31, 1) 3 CITY DEVELOPMENT, §368.7\n\nand provide for their transfer to a trustee named by a district court or to the county or other suitable governmental entity. [C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, §362.18; C75, 77, 79, 81, §368.3] 91 Acts, ch 188, §2; 2000 Acts, ch 1006, §1; 2017 Acts, ch 54, §76; 2025 Acts, ch 130, §4 Subsection 2 amended \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1959–2021 · leading case: Shriver v. City of Jefferson, 190 N.W.2d 838 (Iowa 1971).

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Shriver v. City of Jefferson, 190 N.W.2d 838 (Iowa 1971). · cites it 6× “In his opinion filed May 15, 1969 the Attorney General considered the pertinent statutes, including that above quoted (then section 368.3, Code, 1966) and concluded a city could assess “the property” for diseased Dutch elm trees “found thereon” but not for those on the city…”

Dotson v. City of Ames, 101 N.W.2d 711 (Iowa 1960). · cites it 4× “We quote section 368.3: “Nuisances. They shall have power to abate, restrain, or prohibit any nuisance, public or private, and provide for the assessment of the cost thereof against the property.”

Harvey v. Prall, 97 N.W.2d 306 (Iowa 1959). · cites it 2× “Code section 368.3 confers upon cities and towns the power to restrain any nuisance, public or private.”

Marek v. Johnson (Iowa Ct. App. 2020). · cites it 5× “See Iowa Code §§ 368.3 , 368.21. 4 Board issued its directive confirming discontinuance of the City—the district court issued an order in the defamation suit denying a request to substitute the Board for the City as the defendant in the suit.”

John C. Marek Jr. v. The City Dev. Bd. of the State of Iowa & Henry Cnty., Iowa, & Dan Johnson & Linda Johnson (Iowa 2021). “Iowa Code § 368.3 (2). A petition was filed with the city clerk, which under Iowa law triggered a special election on the question of discontinuance.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.