TABLE OF CONTENTS 

• Iowa State University Extension Community Development Representative Jeff Zacharakis-Jutz: Review of the Duties of Township Trustees and Clerks
• Comments from County Attorney Pat White
• Assistant County Attorney Janet Lyness: Policies, Procedures, and Mutual Concerns

Chairperson Jordahl called the Joint Meeting to order in Montgomery Hall on the Johnson County Fairgrounds at 7:05 p.m. Supervisors present were: Mike Lehman, Jonathan Jordahl, Carol Thompson, and Charlie Duffy; absent: Sally Stutsman.

Other County personnel present were: County Attorney Pat White, Assistant County Attorney Janet Lyness, Board of Supervisors Administrative Assistant Carol Peters and Auditor's Office Recording Secretary Casie Parkins.

Jordahl left at 7:15 p.m.

Iowa state university extension community development representative Jeff Zacharakis-Jutz: review of the duties of township trustees and clerks

Iowa State University Extension Community Development Representative Jeff Zacharakis-Jutz presented a quiz on basic rules and duties of the township trustees and clerks. Below are some of the points highlighted in the quiz.

1. A township clerk, while engaged in official business, shall be compensated at the same pay rate as the pay rate of a township trustee of the same township.

2. Trustees are not exempt from the Open Meeting Law, they are only exempt from public notice of meetings.

3. No claim shall be paid until audited by the Trustees.

4. It is generally best to hire work to be done on an independent contractor basis as opposed to an hourly wage in order to avoid Workmen's Compensation and withholding tax. Also, trustees should obtain a "certificate of insurance" from those you hire to do work.

5. Officers shall be elected by the voters of the township who reside outside the corporate limits of the city, but a township officer may be a resident of the city. .

6. The County Attorney isn't required to represent the trustees in a county with over 25,000 residents.

7. When a vacancy occurs in an elected township office the vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the trustees unless the offices of two trustees are vacant, in which case the supervisors will appoint the replacements. If all 3 trustee offices are vacant, the supervisors will appoint replacements or exercise their duties until the next general election.

8. The trustees of each township shall provide fire protection service, exclusive of any part of the township within a benefited fire district and may provide emergency medical service.

9. The township trustees may divide the township into tax districts for the purpose of providing services authorized or required.

10. The trustees may contract with any public or private agency under Chapter 28E for the purpose of providing any service or system required or authorized under this section.

11. If the levy is insufficient to provide the services authorized or required the township trustees may levy an additional tax not exceeding 20 1/4 cents (over the maximum of 40 1/2 cents provided in paragraph 1) for a total of 60 3/4 cents. (Note: This applies to all Iowa counties but Polk County).

12. Supervisors may adopt an ordinance assuming jurisdiction and control of pioneer cemeteries in the county.

13. Under existing law, the trustees can do what is necessary to a cemetery for upkeep. The next-of-kin are usually not available and there are no court cases that restrict the trustees from taking such action.

14. Cemetery tax funds may be used if such cemeteries are utilized for burial purposes by the people of the township.

15. There is nothing in Iowa law that requires a hearing before making cemetery maintenance or repair. .

16. The "right hand rule" does not have the force of law unless decreed by the fence viewers or specified in a fence agreement.

17. Oral agreements may be enforceable against a party, but subsequent parties are not bound by the predecessors' oral agreements.

18. The township trustees do hot have the authority to determine the location of a partition fence. The location of a partition fence is a function of the district court in the county under Chapter 650 of the Code of Iowa.

19. There are two major exceptions to the general rule that partition fences must be built on the property line: (1) Private roadways or lanes that are astride the property line. (2) Adjacent tracts of land that are separated by a watercourse which would make it impractical to build a fence on the property line.

20. This is a question that has yet to be resolved in the courts. A lawful/tight fence is defined as that "which the fence viewers consider to be equivalent to a lawful/tight partition fence or which meets the standards established by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. (Iowa is a "fencing in" state).

21. The Iowa court ruled in 1995 that Iowa's fencing statutes apply to all adjoining landowners without regard to the use of the land. The court further ruled that Iowa's fencing statute is not preempted by the Iowa Code's section on Home Rule for cities. The court noted that Iowa fencing statutes date from our earliest times... it is difficult to imagine a more deeply rooted Iowa statutory provision.

22. When settling a fence dispute the decision must be based on the personal inspection of the fence viewers, the inspections need not to have been made by all together.

23. Each person shall keep his share of the partition fence in such condition as shall restrain such sheep and swine.

24. While a fence must be legal/tight, nothing in the Iowa Fence Statutes requires the fence to conform to the same identical appearance, material or standards.

25. Normally, when a governmental entity owns land adjoining a farm (such as a state/county park or landfill), both parties are responsible for maintaining the fence in the same manner as two private owners. However , an Iowa Supreme Court case ruled that when a governmental entity such as the Iowa Department of Natural Resources or a county conservation board convert a railroad right-of-way, such governmental entity was entirely responsible for erecting and maintaining the fence. (Iowa law requires railroads to assume all responsibility for fences).

26. Township trustees are no longer authorized to settle disputes arising from trespassing livestock. Chapter 188 of the Code of Iowa, which required trustees to intervene in trespassing animal disputes was repealed in 1994.

County Attorney Pat White reminded the trustees to minimize their control over circumstances of work being done to avoid workmen's compensation claims. He also told the trustees that if they have one vacancy they can appoint, but if they have 2 then the Board of Supervisors fills both vacancies.

White informed the Trustees of one possible legislation change. He said the legislature is proposing that vacant positions go off of the general election ballot. He said there would be no more write ins for the township trustees and this would save the Auditor's Office a lot of work.

White noted that there had been some discussion over the 1977 County Subdivision Ordinance. He said that a subdivision has to take care of a fence and the weakness is that the County lacks enforcement. A trustee asked if you can go to a suvdivider and ask for an agreement. White said yes, and that it would only go to the fence viewers when there was a disagreement. He recommended they get the agreement in writing and have it recorded because if not it wouldn't hold for future owners.

White took an informal poll of the trustees on whether or not the County should enact an exotic animals ordinance. One trustee asked if the County couldn't control fences, how were they going to control exotic animals. White said that was a good question and the county was starting from scratch with this one.

A trustee asked if they have to take an oath of office each time they are elected. White said yes.

A trustee said they were setting up rules and regulations for one of their cemeteries. He asked if they could charge township residents a fee for burial. White said that would be up to them.

A trustee asked fi they could take deeds for cemetery lots to the Recorder's Office to have them recorded. White said that his preference was that cemetery deeds don't go in the permanent land record, that they go in the trustee records. White explained that cemetery deeds don't have a right of ownership, they just give a right to use the ground.

A trustee asked if they had to put bids out each year for a new person to mow the cemeteries. White said no because good reliable mowers are hard to find.

A trustee asked if there was an advantage to incorporating a cemetery. White said no.

White said these were interesting times in County government. He said that Johnson County has been experiencing huge growth and development. White said towns are annexing and there are large number of zoning and platting applications. He said there are continued concerns over fences. He explained that a Building Code Study Committee had a public hearing the night before and only 10 members of the public showed up. He said the Committee is unanimously of the opinion to adopt a building code and that farmers would be exempt. He said the Board of Supervisors has come to grips with the needs of it's Physical Plant. White said the jail is too small and that people would hear some news in the next few days that he has completed negotiations on a piece of land for a possible future Department of Human Services building. He said the Board will decide April 8 whether or not to buy the land. He said they also want to try to buy some of the University of Iowa's land that is near the jail.

Lyness explained that with fence agreements, 2 adjacent land owners can make an agreement or if there is a dispute, fence viewers can be called in. She said they should try to have the agreement in writing for future generations. She said the right hand rule is not the law but it can be the agreement. She said when the trustees have a viewing and make a decision they need to put it in writing and record it with their township clerk and the County Recorder. She said there is an enforcement mechanism for people who don't keep up with their part of a fence agreement. She said that fees can be assessed in taxes. She said this decision can be appealed to the District Court and decisions will hold for the next property owners. She explained that different types of fences are written out in the Code of Iowa.

A trustee said that trustees only get paid $5.00 an hour for their work and it hasn't been raised since February of '89. White said the Board could raise their pay because it sets the pay and it won't change the County budget. White said that a lot of trustees are modest about their paid time. Lehman said he would take this issue under consideration.

Adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

Attest: Tom Slockett, Auditor

By Casie Parkins, Recording Secretary