SF553 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to restrictions on the acquisition of real property by the department of natural resources.(Formerly SSB 1198 .)

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor: COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
Last action: 2025-06-16
Official status: Referred to Natural Resources and Environment. S.J. 1058 .
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 restrictions on the acquisition of real property by the department of natural resources.(Formerly SSB 1198 .)

What This Bill Does

A bill for an act relating to restrictions on the acquisition of real property by the department of natural resources.(Formerly SSB 1198 .)

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

2025-06-16 Iowa Legislature
Referred to Natural Resources and Environment. S.J. 1058 .
2025-03-06 Iowa Legislature
Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 439 .
2025-03-06 Iowa Legislature
Introduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 431 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to restrictions on the acquisition of real property by the department of natural resources.(Formerly SSB 1198 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

Senate

File

553

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

553

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

NATURAL

RESOURCES

AND

ENVIRONMENT

(SUCCESSOR

TO

SSB

1198)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

restrictions

on

the

acquisition

of

real

1

property

by

the

department

of

natural

resources.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

TLSB

1938SV

(2)

91

sb/js

S.F.

553

Section

1.

NEW

SECTION

.

461A.10A

Restrictions

on

acquiring

1

real

property.

2

1.

The

department

shall

not

acquire

real

property

available

3

for

sale

at

a

public

auction

for

real

property.

The

department

4

shall

only

acquire

real

property

from

a

willing

donor

or

5

willing

seller,

who

shall

not

be

under

any

compulsion

by

the

6

department.

The

department

shall

not

acquire

real

property

for

7

more

than

appraised

value

from

a

nonprofit

corporation

that

8

directly

purchased

real

property

for

sale

at

a

public

auction.

9

2.

For

purposes

of

this

section,

“auction”

includes

but

is

10

not

limited

to

an

auction

by

electronic

means,

an

auction

by

11

sealed

bid,

or

a

conventional

oral

auction.

12

Sec.

2.

Section

461A.11,

subsection

1,

Code

2025,

is

amended

13

to

read

as

follows:

14

1.

The

commission

may

accept

gifts

of

land

or

other

15

property,

subject

to

section

461A.10,

or

the

use

of

lands

or

16

other

property

for

a

term

of

years,

and

improve

and

use

the

17

land

as

public

state

parks.

18

EXPLANATION

19

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

20

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

21

This

bill

restricts

the

acquisition

of

real

property

by

the

22

department

of

natural

resources

(DNR).

The

bill

prohibits

DNR

23

from

acquiring

real

property

at

a

public

auction.

The

bill

24

authorizes

DNR

to

only

acquire

property

through

willing

donors

25

and

sellers,

who

shall

not

be

under

the

compulsion

of

DNR.

DNR

26

also

shall

not

acquire

property

for

more

than

appraised

value

27

from

a

nonprofit

corporation

that

purchased

the

property

at

a

28

public

auction.

29

-1-

LSB

1938SV

(2)

91

sb/js

1/

1