IOWA STATUTES AND CODES
6B.3 - APPLICATION -- RECORDING -- NOTICE -- TIME FOR APPRAISEMENT -- NEW PROCEEDINGS.
6B.3 APPLICATION -- RECORDING -- NOTICE -- TIME FOR
APPRAISEMENT -- NEW PROCEEDINGS.
1. The proceedings shall be instituted by a written application
filed with the chief judge of the judicial district of the county in
which the land sought to be condemned is located. The application
shall set forth:
a. A description of all the property in the county affected
or sought to be condemned, by its congressional numbers, in tracts
not exceeding one-sixteenth of a section, or, if the land consists of
lots, by the numbers of the lot and block, and plat designation.
b. A plat showing the location of the right-of-way or other
property sought to be condemned with reference to such description.
c. The names of all record owners of the different tracts of
land sought to be condemned, or otherwise affected by such
proceedings, and of all record holders of liens and encumbrances on
such lands; also the place of residence of all such persons so far as
known to the applicant.
d. The purpose for which condemnation is sought.
e. A request for the appointment of a commission to appraise
the damages.
f. If the damages are to be paid by the state and the land to
be condemned is within an agricultural area as provided in chapter
352, a statement disclosing whether any of that land is classified as
class I or class II land under the United States department of
agriculture natural resources conservation service land capability
classification system contained in the agriculture handbook number
210, 1961 edition and, if so classified, stating that the class I or
class II land is reasonably necessary for the work of internal
improvement for which condemnation is sought.
g. A showing of the minimum amount of land necessary to
achieve the public purpose and the amount of land to be acquired by
condemnation for the public improvement. Any land to be acquired by
condemnation beyond the necessary minimum to complete the project
shall be presumed not to be necessary for a public use or public
purpose unless the applicant can show that a substantial need exists
for the additional property to achieve the public use or public
purpose, or that the land in question constitutes an uneconomical
remnant that has little or no value or utility to the owner, or that
the owner consents to the condemnation.
h. A statement indicating the efforts made by the applicant
to negotiate in good faith with the owner to acquire the private
property sought to be condemned.
2. a. The applicant shall mail a copy of the application by
certified mail to the owner at the owner's last known address, to any
contract purchaser of record of the property, to any tenant known to
be occupying the property, and to any record lienholder or
encumbrancer of the property at the lienholder's or encumbrancer's
last known address. The applicant shall also cause the application
to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the
county, not less than four nor more than twenty days before the
meeting of the compensation commission to assess the damages.
Service of the application by publication shall be deemed complete on
the day of publication.
b. In lieu of mailing and publishing the application, the
applicant may cause the application to be served upon the owner,
contract purchaser of record, tenant known to be occupying the
property, record lienholders, and record encumbrancers of the
property in the manner provided by the Iowa rules of civil procedure
for the personal service of original notice. The application shall
be mailed and published or served, as above provided, prior to or
contemporaneously with the mailing and publication or service of the
list of compensation commissioners as provided in section 6B.4.
3. a. The applicant shall promptly certify that its
application for condemnation has been approved by the chief judge and
shall file the original approved application with the county recorder
in the manner required under section 6B.37.
b. The county recorder shall file and index the application
in the record of deeds and preserve the application as required by
sections 6B.38 and 558.55. The filing and indexing constitute
constructive notice to all parties that a proceeding to condemn the
property is pending and that the applicant has the right to acquire
the property from all owners, lienholders, and encumbrancers whose
interests are of record at the time of the filing. After filing and
indexing, the county recorder shall file a copy of the application
with the office of secretary of state.
c. When indexed, the proceeding is considered pending so as
to charge all persons not having an interest in the property with
notice of its pendency, and while pending no interest can be acquired
by the third parties in the property against the rights of the
applicant.
d. If the appraisement of damages by the commission pursuant
to section 6B.14 is not made within one hundred twenty days of
indexing, the proceedings instituted under this section are
terminated and all rights and interests of the applicant arising out
of the application for condemnation terminate. The applicant may
reinstitute a new condemnation proceeding at any time. The
reinstituted proceedings are entirely new proceedings and not a
revival of the terminated proceeding. Section History: Early Form
[R60, § 1230; C73, § 1247; C97, § 2002; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §
7824; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 472.3;
82 Acts, ch 1245, § 19] Section History: Recent Form
84 Acts, ch 1065, § 1, 2
C93, § 6B.3
95 Acts, ch 216, § 25; 99 Acts, ch 171, §4, 42; 2000 Acts, ch
1179, §8, 9, 30; 2006 Acts, 1st Ex, ch 1001, §8--10, 49; 2008 Acts,
ch 1032, § 201
Referred to in § 6A.24, 6B.56, 6B.56A, 335.27
Manner of service, R.C.P. 1.302--1.315 Footnotes
2006 amendments to this section take effect July 14, 2006; 2006
amendments to subsection 1, paragraph d, and subsection 2 apply to
applications for condemnation filed on or after July 14, 2006; 2006
Acts, 1st Ex, ch 1001, §49