2B.17 Official legal publications — citations.

1. An official legal publication designated as such by the legislative services agency as provided in sections 2.42 and 2A.1, is the official and authoritative version of the statutes, administrative rules, or court rules of the state of Iowa.

2. a. The codified version of the state’s constitution shall be known as the Constitution of the State of Iowa.

b. For statutes, the official versions of publications shall be known as the Iowa Acts, the Iowa Code, and the Code Supplement for supplements for the years 1979 through 2011.

c. For administrative rules, the official versions of the publications shall be known as the Iowa Administrative Bulletin and the Iowa Administrative Code.

d. For court rules, the official version of the publication shall be known as the Iowa Court Rules.

3. The legislative services agency may adopt a style manual providing a uniform system of citing the codified Constitution of the State of Iowa and the official versions of publications listed in subsection 2, including by reference to commonly accepted legal sources. The legislative services agency style manual may provide for a different form of citation for electronic and printed versions of the same publication. Nothing in this section affects rules for style and format adopted pursuant to section 2.42.

4. The codified Constitution of the State of Iowa, and statutes enacted and joint resolutions enacted or passed by the general assembly shall be cited as follows:

a. The codified Constitution of the State of Iowa shall be cited as the Constitution of the State of Iowa, with a reference identifying the preamble or boundaries, or article, section, and subunit of a section. Subject to the legislative services agency style manual, the Constitution of the State of Iowa may be cited as the Iowa Constitution.

b. The Iowa Acts shall be cited as the Iowa Acts with a reference identifying the year of the publication in conformance with section 2.2, and the chapter of a bill enacted or joint resolution enacted or passed during a regular session, or in the alternative the bill or joint resolution chamber designation, and the section of the chapter or bill or subunit of a section. A bill or joint resolution enacted or passed during a special session shall be cited by the extraordinary session designation in conformance with section 2.2. If the Iowa Acts have not been published, a bill or joint resolution may be cited by its bill or joint resolution chamber designation.

c. The Iowa Code shall be cited as the Iowa Code. Supplements to the Iowa Code published for the years 1979 through 2011 shall be cited as the Code Supplement. Subject to the legislative services agency style manual, the Iowa Code may be cited as the Code of Iowa or Code and the Code Supplement may be cited as the Iowa Code Supplement, with references identifying parts of the publication, including but not limited to title or chapter, section, or subunit of a section. If the citation refers to a past edition of the Iowa Code or Code Supplement, the citation shall identify the year of publication. The legislative services agency style manual shall provide for a citation form for any supplements to the Iowa Code published after the year 2013.

5. Administrative rules shall be cited as follows:

a. The Iowa Administrative Bulletin shall be cited as the IAB, with references identifying the volume number which may be based on a fiscal year cycle, the issue number, and the ARC number assigned to the rulemaking document by the administrative rules coordinator pursuant to section 17A.4. Subject to the legislative services agency style manual, the citation may also include the publication’s page number.

b. The Iowa Administrative Code shall be cited as the IAC, with references to an agency’s identification number placed at the beginning of the citation and with references to parts of the publication, including but not limited to chapter, rule, or subunit of a rule.

6. The Iowa Court Rules shall be cited as the Iowa Court Rules, with references to the rule number and to subunits of the publication, which may include but are not limited to the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure, the Iowa Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Iowa Rules of Evidence, the Iowa Rules of Appellate Procedure, the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct, and the Iowa Code of Judicial Conduct. Subject to the legislative services agency style manual, the names of the rules may be abbreviated.

[C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §172; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §14.17; 82 Acts, ch 1061, §5]

91 Acts, ch 258, §14

C93, §2B.17

96 Acts, ch 1099, §3, 4; 2003 Acts, ch 35, §19, 49; 2004 Acts, ch 1086, §2; 2005 Acts, ch 19, §3; 2010 Acts, ch 1031, §49; 2014 Acts, ch 1141, §48, 49