7E.5 Principal departments and primary responsibilities.

1. The principal central departments of the executive branch as established by law are listed in this section for central reference purposes as follows:

a. The department of management, created in section 8.4, which has primary responsibility for coordination of state policy planning, management of interagency programs, economic reports, and program development.

b. The department of administrative services, created in section 8A.102, which has primary responsibility for the management and coordination of the major resources of state government.

c. The department of revenue, created in section 421.2, which has primary responsibility for revenue collection and revenue law compliance.

d. The department of inspections and appeals, created in section 10A.102, which has primary responsibility for coordinating the conducting of various inspections, investigations, appeals, hearings, and audits.

e. The department of agriculture and land stewardship, created in section 159.2, which has primary responsibility for encouraging, promoting, and advancing the interests of agriculture and allied industries. The secretary of agriculture is the director of the department of agriculture and land stewardship.

f. The department of commerce, created in section 546.2, which has primary responsibility for business and professional regulatory, service, and licensing functions.

g. The economic development authority, created in section 15.105, which has responsibility for ensuring that the economic development policies of the state are effectively and efficiently carried out.

h. The department of workforce development, created in section 84A.1, which has primary responsibility for administering the laws relating to unemployment compensation insurance, job placement and training, employment safety, labor standards, workers’ compensation, and related matters.

i. The department of human services, created in section 217.1, which has primary responsibility for services to individuals to promote the well-being and the social and economic development of the people of the state.

j. The Iowa department of public health, created in chapter 135, which has primary responsibility for supervision of public health programs, promotion of public hygiene and sanitation, treatment and prevention of substance abuse, and enforcement of related laws.

k. The department on aging, created in section 231.21, which has primary responsibility for leadership and program management for programs which serve the older individuals of the state.

l. The department of cultural affairs, created in section 303.1, which has primary responsibility for managing the state’s interests in the areas of the arts, history, the state archives and records program, and other cultural matters.

m. The department of education, created in section 256.1, which has primary responsibility for supervising public education at the elementary and secondary levels and for supervising the community colleges.

n. The department of corrections, created in section 904.102, which has primary responsibility for corrections administration, corrections institutions, prison industries, and the development, funding, and monitoring of community-based corrections programs.

o. The department of public safety, created in section 80.1, which has primary responsibility for statewide law enforcement and public safety programs that complement and supplement local law enforcement agencies and local inspection services.

p. The department of public defense, created in section 29.1, which has primary responsibility for state military forces.

q. The department of natural resources, created in section 455A.2, which has primary responsibility for state parks and forests, protecting the environment, and managing fish, wildlife, and land and water resources.

r. The state department of transportation, created in section 307.2, which has primary responsibility for development and regulation of highway, railway, and air transportation throughout the state, including public transit.

s. The department of human rights, created in section 216A.1, which has primary responsibility for services relating to Latino persons, women, persons with disabilities, community action agencies, criminal and juvenile justice planning, African Americans, deaf and hard-of-hearing persons, persons of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage, and Native Americans.

t. In the area of higher education, an agency headed by the state board of regents and including all the institutions administered by the state board of regents, which has primary responsibility for state involvement in higher education.

u. The department for the blind, created in chapter 216B, which has primary responsibility for services relating to blind persons.

v. The department of veterans affairs. However, the commission of veterans affairs created in section 35A.2 shall have primary responsibility for state veterans affairs.

w. The department of homeland security and emergency management, created in section 29C.5, which has primary responsibility for the administration of emergency planning matters, including emergency resource planning in this state, homeland security activities, and coordination of available services and resources in the event of a disaster to include those services and resources of the federal government and private entities.

2. a. There is a civil rights commission, a public employment relations board, an interstate cooperation commission, an Iowa ethics and campaign disclosure board, and an Iowa law enforcement academy.

b. The listing of additional state agencies in this subsection is for reference purposes only and is not exhaustive.

3. The responsibilities listed for each department and agency in this section are generally descriptive of the department’s or agency’s duties, are not all-inclusive, and do not exclude duties and powers specifically prescribed for by statute, or delegated to, each department or agency.

86 Acts, ch 1245, §5; 88 Acts, ch 1277, §20, 21; 89 Acts, ch 83, §1; 90 Acts, ch 1180, §1; 92 Acts, ch 1139, §19; 92 Acts, ch 1140, §1, 2; 92 Acts, ch 1163, §1; 93 Acts, ch 48, §2; 93 Acts, ch 75, §1; 93 Acts, ch 163, §38; 96 Acts, ch 1186, §23; 98 Acts, ch 1017, §1; 2000 Acts, ch 1058, §2; 2000 Acts, ch 1141, §11, 19; 2002 Acts, ch 1050, §1; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §116 – 119; 2003 Acts, ch 178, §96, 121; 2003 Acts, ch 179, §142; 2005 Acts, ch 115, §1, 40; 2008 Acts, ch 1031, §7; 2008 Acts, ch 1184, §37; 2009 Acts, ch 23, §1; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §4; 2009 Acts, ch 108, §3, 41; 2011 Acts, ch 118, §54, 85, 89; 2013 Acts, ch 29, §1, 2; 2017 Acts, ch 54, §5

Referred to in §8A.101, 8E.103, 8F.2, 22.13A, 199.1, 200.22, 206.34