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2016 Op. Iowa Att'y Gen. [i] (2016)

handle is hein.sag/sagia2016 and id is 1 raw text is: The Honorable Rich Taylor Office of the Attorney General October 13, 2016 Office of the Attorney General State of Iowa *1 Opinion No. 16-10-1 *1 October 13, 2016 *1 CITIES: Iowa Code §§ 400.1 & 400.30. City over 8,000 in population with paid police and fire departments is required to strictly follow statutory mandate of Iowa Code § 400.1 requiring mayor to appoint three members of the civil service committee one year after a regular city election, subject to approval by the city council. Failure to take actions tending to avoid or defeat the purpose of this statute is punishable as a simple misdemeanor. Iowa Code § 400.30. (Thompson to Taylor, State Senator, 10-13-16) *1 The Honorable Rich Taylor *1 State Senator *1 2667 Iowa Ave. *1 Mt. Pleasant, IA 52641 Dear Senator Taylor: *1 You have requested an opinion from our office regarding the interpretation and application of Iowa Code section 400.1 relating to the appointment of civil service commissioners. Specifically, you ask: [Ils there any authority for allowing city officials to diverge from the statutory requirement that the mayor appoint the Civil Service Commission members with the approval of the council? Please accept this letter as our formal response to your request. *1 The short answer to your question is - no, there is no authority for city officials of a city having a population of eight thousand or over and having a paid fire department or a paid police department to diverge from the requirements of section 400.1. To the contrary, we have repeatedly characterized the general requirements set forth in section 400.1 as mandatory. See,_e.g., 1982 Iowa Op. Att'y Gen. 440, 1982 WL 524824, (Iowa A.G. June 17, 1982). Moreover, the statute clearly and expressly sets forth a requirement that the mayor, one year after a regular city election, with the approval of the council, shall appoint three civil service commissioners. Iowa Code § 400.1 (emphasis added). Under the rules of construction that govern the Iowa Code, the use of the word shall in this provision imposes a legal duty. See Iowa Code § 4.1 (30)(a). Simply put, the mayor of a city subject to section 400.1 has a legal obligation to comply with its terms. *1 Typically, our analysis would stop there; however, in the case of the Civil Service provisions of Chapter 400, the Legislation has made its intent very clear: The provisions of this chapter shall be strictly carried out by each person or body having powers or duties thereunder, and any act or failure to act tending to avoid or defeat the purposes of the such provisions is hereby prohibited and shall be a simple misdemeanor. Iowa Code § 400.30 (Penalty). Thus, not only do the express terms of section 400.1 require compliance, any act or failure to act that falls short of strict compliance with its provisions constitutes a crime. Sincerely, *1 Jeffrey Thompson *1 Solicitor General @2019 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. END OF DOCUMENT

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