Iowa Code
Chapter 306 - ESTABLISHMENT, ALTERATION, AND VACATION OF HIGHWAYS
Section 306.42 - Transfer of rights-of-way.

306.42 Transfer of rights-of-way.
1. This section is intended to vest all documents of title in road right-of-way in the jurisdiction responsible for the road. This section establishes a simple method to transfer road rights-of-way by quitclaim deed and to authorize the use of available descriptions, plats, maps or engineering drawings to effect such transfers and to provide an orderly method by which such transfers may be filed, indexed and recorded.
2. The department shall transfer by quitclaim deed to the county or to the city having jurisdiction over a road, all of the state’s legal or equitable title and interest in right-of-way for the road or street and may transfer any adjacent unused right-of-way or land in excess of that needed as right-of-way. The deed shall be executed by the director of the department. However, if the department owns any adjacent unused right-of-way in excess of that needed as right-of-way which is located outside the incorporated limits of a city and is suitable for purposes specified in section 350.4, subsection 2, the department may, at the request of the county and the county conservation board, transfer the property by quitclaim deed to the county for the use and benefit of the county conservation board.
3. The county or the city shall transfer by quitclaim deed to the state department of transportation when having jurisdiction over a road, all of the county’s or the city’s legal or equitable title and interest in rights-of-way for the road and may transfer any adjacent unused right-of-way or land in excess of that needed as right-of-way. The deed shall be executed by the chairperson of the board of supervisors by order of the board for county roads and by the mayor or city manager by order of the city council for city streets.
4. Transfers under this section shall be subject to the right of a utility, association, company or corporation to continue in possession of a right-of-way in use at the time of the transfer. Transfers shall be subject to rights of ingress and egress whether excepted, reserved or granted by the transferring authority to land or to owners of land adjacent to the right-of-way. Transfers shall include an index of parcels transferred by the character of the instrument or proceeding, the grantor and grantee, and date of the last instrument or proceeding acquiring rights to each parcel. Transfers shall locate the right-of-way by quarter-quarter section, township and range or if so acquired, by lot, block and subdivision. The transferring jurisdiction shall transmit to the receiving jurisdiction all available original documents of title or a certified true copy if the right-of-way was acquired by condemnation or the original deed is lost. Transfers shall be recorded and indexed in the county in which the land is located.
5. Notwithstanding chapter 542B and sections 6A.20, 306.22, 354.13, 354.15, and 364.7, legal descriptions, plats, maps, or engineering drawings used to describe transfers of right-of-way shall, where available, be descriptions, plats, maps, or engineering drawings of record and shall be incorporated by reference to the title instrument or proceedings. If a part but not all of the land acquired by a single conveyance or condemnation is being transferred, the description of that part to be transferred shall be abstracted from the present legal description, plat, map, or engineering drawing of record.
6. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Code, for transfers of roads and streets made after May 1, 1987, neither the transferring jurisdiction or the receiving jurisdiction shall be held liable for any claim or damage for any act or omission relating to the design, construction, or maintenance of the road or street that occurred prior to the effective date of the transfer. This subsection shall apply to all transfers pursuant to this chapter or section 313.2.
[C79, 81, S81, §306.42; 81 Acts, ch 99, §1, ch 117, §1044]
86 Acts, ch 1245, §1902; 87 Acts, ch 232, §18; 90 Acts, ch 1236, §44; 2019 Acts, ch 59, §85

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