Date: May 19, 2017 TO: Jackson County Board of Supervisors FROM: ‘Sara Davenport RE: House File $17 COUNTY ATTORNEY'S OPINION Lhaye been asked to issue an opinion regarding the affect House File 517 has on Jackson County Resolution #544-01-25-11. It is my official opinion that House File 517 does not change the County's ability to prohibit firearms on County owned property. Jackson County Resolution #544-01-25-11 prohibits any firearm, dangerous wespon, or item prohibited by the Jackson County Sheriff from being on the Courthouse grounds and parking lot, excluding those left in private vehicles, Current Iowa Code Seetion 724.28 provides: A political subdivision of the state shall not enact an ordinance regulating the ownership, possession, legal transfer, lawful transportation, registration, or licensing of firearms when the ownership, possession, transfer, or transportation is otherwise lawful under the Jaws of this state Au ordinance regulating firearms in violation of this section existing on or after April 5, 1990, is void. ‘The Attorney General’s office issued an opinion on April 7, 2003 interpreting lowa Code section 724.28. It was the AG's opinion that the cade section did not preempt a political subdivision from prohibiting firearms on property owned or direetly controlled by a political subdivision. ‘The opinion pointed out that “the statute does not explicitly restrict all local regulation.” ‘The opinion further points out that a private property or business owner would be within his/her right to prohibit firearms on his/her private/business property. “Further, we believe it is highly unlikely that chapter 724 would be interpreted by the Jowa courts as granting concealed weapon permit holders an absolute and unqualified right to be in possession of a firearm at any time or place.” 2003 WL 22100958 (Jowa A.G.). ‘The opinion points out that the intent of the legislature in enacting chapter 724 “was to ensure uniform state-wide regulation of weapons.” In other words 724.28’s purpose is to prevent counties from creating additional countywide requirements to own, possess, transfer, or transport firearms. Counties, just like private property or business owners, are allowed to create rules that prohibit firearms on property owned by the County, Howse File 517 amended lowa Code Section 724.28 by adding a definition of political subdivision that only includes cities, counties, and townships and adding a section that allows a political subdivision to be sued if a person is adversely affected by an ordinance, measure, enactment, rule, resolution, motion or policy, as described in the current 724.28. A person who feels they are adversely affected by any county ordinance or resolution can file a lawsuit forinjunctive relief or damages, just as they can file any lawsuit against any person, New subsection 3 of 724.28 does not ereate a new type of lawsuit; rather it merely tells people what they may already have known. This is reinforced by the fact that the new subsection states an aggrieved person can file suit “if a political subdivision of the state, prior fo, on, or after July 2017, adopts, makes, enacts, or amends any ordinance...” In other words, even if the county repeals Resolution #544-01-25-11, iffa person feels they are adversely affected by the resolution today, can file a law suit The original bill introduced into the house was House Study Bill 133, ‘This study bill made it very clear in Division VII that counties could not prohibit firearms on county property and that if they did so they would be sued. ‘The study bill struck 724.28 in its entirety and rewrote it with seven subsections. Prior to passing the bill, the House amended Division VII, leaving the current language of 724.28 and adding only the two subsections previously mentioned, Rules of legislative construction would argue that since the final bill was not as explicit as the original study bill, the legislature did not intend to preempt a county’s ability to prohibit firearms on county property. If the legislature in fact wanted to prohibit counties from creating rules that, prohibited firearms on county property then the legislature would have said so. If the Attomey General’s Office issues an opinion in light of House File 517 that contradicts or overturns the 2003 Attorney General Opinion, then my official opinion on this matter may change as well. Sara D. Davenport Jackson County Attorney