Iowa Constitution

Iowa Constitution
Preamble
Articles
I • II • III • IV • V • VI • VII • VIII • IX • X • XI • XII

The Iowa Constitution is the state constitution of Iowa.

• The current Iowa Constitution was adopted on March 3, 1857.^[1]
• Iowa has had three state constitutions.
• The current state constitution has 12 articles.
• The current constitution has been amended 49 times.^[2]
• Voters most recently approved a new amendment to the Iowa Constitution on November 8, 2022.

A state constitution is the fundamental document that outlines a state's framework for governance, including the powers, structure, and limitations of the state government, individual and civil rights, and other matters.

Background

Iowa became the 29th state on December 28, 1846. The state's current constitution was adopted in August 1857 by a vote of 40,311 to 38,681.^[3]

Preamble

Main article: Preambles to state constitutions

The preamble to the Iowa Constitution states:

Article I

See also: Article I, Iowa Constitution

Article I of the Iowa Constitution is labeled "Bill of Rights." It has 25 sections and describes the rights of the citizens of Iowa in great detail.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Article II

See also: Article II, Iowa Constitution

Article II of the Iowa Constitution is entitled "Right of Suffrage." It has seven sections and details the rights of suffrage and the election process.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Article III

See also: Article III, Iowa Constitution

Article III of the Iowa Constitution is labeled "Of the Distribution of Powers" and consists of two parts: "Three Separate Departments" and "Legislative Department."

The first part consists of one section dividing the government into three separate branches.

The second part consists of 42 sections.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Article IV

See also: Article IV, Iowa Constitution

Article IV of the Iowa Constitution is labeled "Executive Department." It has 22 sections and establishes the executive department and outlines the powers of the governor.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Article V

See also: Article V, Iowa Constitution

Article V of the Iowa Constitution is labeled "Judicial Department." It has 19 sections and establishes the court system of the judicial department.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Article VI

See also: Article VI, Iowa Constitution

Article VI of the Iowa Constitution is labeled "Militia." It has three sections and concerns the state militia.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Article VII

See also: Article VII, Iowa Constitution

Article VII of the Iowa Constitution is labeled "State Debts." It has 10 sections and deals with state debts.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Article VIII

See also: Article VIII, Iowa Constitution

Article VIII of the Iowa Constitution is labeled "Corporations." It has twelve sections and concerns the formation of corporations, as well as their privileges and limitations.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Article IX

See also: Article IX, Iowa Constitution

Article IX of the Iowa Constitution is labeled "Education and School Lands." It has two parts. The first part, Education, has 15 sections. The second part, School Funds and School Lands, has seven sections. This article concerns the public school system of Iowa.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Article X

See also: Article X, Iowa Constitution

Article X of the Iowa Constitution is labeled "Amendments to the Constitution." It has three sections and governs the ways in which the state's constitution can be changed over time and describes how constitutional amendments are made.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Article XI

See also: Article XI, Iowa Constitution

Article XI of the Iowa Constitution is labeled "Miscellaneous." It has eight sections and contains miscellaneous governmental provisions.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Article XII

See also: Article XII, Iowa Constitution

Article XII of the Iowa Constitution is labeled "Schedule." It includes text that used to be in the constitution and was designed to ease the transition from territory to state.

Click here to read this article of the Iowa Constitution.

Amending the Iowa constitution

See also: Amending state constitutions

The Iowa Constitution provides two mechanisms for amending the state's constitution— a legislative process and a state constitutional convention. Iowa requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.

Legislature

See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

A simple majority vote is required during two successive legislative sessions with an election for state legislators in between for the Iowa State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 51 votes in the Iowa House of Representatives and 26 votes in the Iowa State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

Convention

See also: Convention-referred constitutional amendment

According to Section 3 of Article X of the Iowa Constitution, a question about whether to hold a state constitutional convention is to automatically appear on the state's ballot every 10 years starting in 1970. Iowa is one of 14 states that provides for an automatic constitutional convention question.

The table below shows the last and next constitutional convention question election years:

See also

• State constitution
• Constitutional article
• Constitutional amendment
• Constitutional revision
• Constitutional convention
• Amendments
  • Initiated constitutional amendment
  • Legislatively-referred constitutional amendment
  • Publication requirements for proposed state constitutional amendments
  • Rules about constitutional conventions in state constitutions
  • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures

External links

Suggest a link

• Iowa.gov, "Iowa Constitution"
• Iowa.gov, "Amendments to the Constitution of Iowa"

Footnotes

v • e Iowa Constitution Iowa Constitution • Preamble • Article I • Article II • Article III • Legislative • Article IV • Article V • Article VI • Article VII • Article VIII • Article IX • Article X • Article XI • Article XII

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