HF157 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to petitions for special elections to fill vacancies in city offices.(See HF 510 .)

Elections

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: BARKER
Last action: 2025-03-21
Official status: Withdrawn. H.J. 772 .
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to petitions for special elections to fill vacancies in city offices.(See HF 510 .)

What This Bill Does

A bill for an act relating to petitions for special elections to fill vacancies in city offices.(See HF 510 .)

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2025-03-21 Iowa Legislature
Withdrawn. H.J. 772 .
2025-02-20 Iowa Legislature
Committee report approving bill, renumbered as HF 510 .
2025-02-18 Iowa Legislature
Committee vote: Yeas, 13. Nays, 6. Excused, 2. H.J. 354 .
2025-02-18 Iowa Legislature
Committee report, recommending amendment and passage. H.J. 354 .
2025-02-12 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
2025-02-10 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee Meeting: 02/12/2025 7:30AM RM 19.
2025-02-03 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee reassigned: Jones, Henderson and Zabner. H.J. 179 .
2025-01-30 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee: Golding, Henderson and Zabner. H.J. 171 .
2025-01-30 Iowa Legislature
Introduced, referred to Local Government. H.J. 150 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to petitions for special elections to fill vacancies in city offices.(See HF 510 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

House

File

157

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

157

BY

BARKER

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

petitions

for

special

elections

to

fill

1

vacancies

in

city

offices.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

TLSB

1946YH

(4)

91

ss/ns

H.F.

157

Section

1.

Section

372.13,

subsection

2,

paragraph

a,

1

subparagraph

(2),

unnumbered

paragraph

1,

Code

2025,

is

amended

2

to

read

as

follows:

3

If

the

council

chooses

to

proceed

under

this

paragraph,

4

it

shall

publish

notice

in

the

manner

prescribed

by

section

5

362.3

,

stating

that

the

council

intends

to

fill

the

vacancy

by

6

appointment

but

that

the

electors

of

the

city

or

ward,

as

the

7

case

may

be,

have

the

right

to

file

a

petition

requiring

that

8

the

vacancy

be

filled

by

a

special

election

if

the

remaining

9

balance

of

the

unexpired

term

is

at

least

one

year

.

The

10

council

may

publish

notice

in

advance

if

an

elected

official

11

submits

a

resignation

to

take

effect

at

a

future

date.

The

12

council

may

make

an

appointment

to

fill

the

vacancy

after

the

13

notice

is

published

or

after

the

vacancy

occurs,

whichever

is

14

later.

However,

if

within

fourteen

days

after

publication

15

of

the

notice

or

within

fourteen

days

after

the

appointment

16

is

made,

there

is

filed

with

the

city

clerk

a

petition

which

17

requests

a

special

election

to

fill

the

vacancy

and

the

18

remaining

balance

of

the

unexpired

term

is

at

least

one

year

,

19

an

appointment

to

fill

the

vacancy

is

temporary

and

the

council

20

shall

call

a

special

election

to

fill

the

vacancy

permanently,

21

under

paragraph

“b”

.

The

number

of

signatures

of

eligible

22

electors

of

a

city

for

a

valid

petition

shall

be

determined

as

23

follows:

24

EXPLANATION

25

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

26

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

27

This

bill

relates

to

the

filling

of

vacancies

in

elective

28

city

offices.

If

a

city

council

chooses

to

fill

a

vacancy

in

an

29

elective

city

office

by

appointment,

the

bill

allows

eligible

30

electors

of

a

city

to

submit

a

petition

to

fill

the

vacancy

by

a

31

special

election

only

if

the

remaining

balance

of

the

unexpired

32

term

is

at

least

one

year.

33

-1-

LSB

1946YH

(4)

91

ss/ns

1/

1