136.3 Duties.

The state board of health shall provide a forum for the development of public health policy in the state of Iowa and shall have the following powers and duties:

1. Consider and study legislation and administration concerning public health.

2. Advise the department on any issue related to the promotion and protection of the health of Iowans including but not limited to:

a. Prevention of epidemics and the spread of disease, including communicable and infectious diseases such as zoonotic diseases, quarantine and isolation, sexually transmitted diseases, and antitoxins and vaccines.

b. Protection against environmental hazards.

c. Prevention of injuries.

d. Promotion of healthy behaviors.

e. Preparing for, responding to, and recovering from public health emergencies and disasters.

3. Establish policies governing the performance of the department in the discharge of any duties imposed on it by law.

4. Provide guidance to the director in the discharge of the director’s duties.

5. Assure that the department complies with Iowa Code and administrative rules. For this purpose the board shall have access at any time to all documents and records of the department.

6. Assure that the department prepares and distributes an annual report.

7. Advise or make recommendations to the director of public health, governor, and general assembly relative to public health and advocate for the importance of public health standards for state and local public health.

8. Offer consultation to the governor in the appointment of the director of the department.

9. Adopt, promulgate, amend, and repeal rules and regulations consistent with law for the protection of the public health and prevention of substance abuse, and for the guidance of the department. All rules adopted by the department are subject to approval by the board.

10. Act by committee, or by a majority of the board.

11. Keep minutes of the transactions of each session, regular or special, which shall be public records and filed with the department.

12. Perform those duties authorized pursuant to chapter 125. The board may appoint a substance abuse and gambling treatment program committee to approve or deny applications for licensure received from substance abuse programs pursuant to chapter 125 and gambling treatment programs pursuant to chapter 135 and to perform any other function authorized by chapter 125 or 135 and delegated to the committee.

[C97, §2565; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §2220; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §136.3]

86 Acts, ch 1245, §1120; 2001 Acts, ch 184, §8; 2002 Acts, ch 1050, §19; 2005 Acts, ch 175, §79, 80; 2008 Acts, ch 1188, §27, 47, 53, 66; 2010 Acts, ch 1090, §2; 2011 Acts, ch 129, §80, 82; 2016 Acts, ch 1026, §7, 8; 2017 Acts, ch 148, §27, 28