A Senate subcommittee advanced a measure Tuesday to remove the state requirement to maintain a State Historical Society of Iowa research center in Iowa City — a point of litigation as the state has already moved to close the facility.
SSB 3033 strikes the state requirement for the Iowa Department of Administrative Services to maintain a historical resource research center in Iowa City. It would specify that the facility must be maintained in Des Moines.
The change was proposed months after the announced closure of the Iowa City center. Beginning June 30, 2026, the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI) Research Center is set to close, with changes in operations and hours beginning July 9. This change was announced by the State Historical Society of Iowa in June 2025 and sparked a lawsuit from a group of historians, donors and professors.
However, the location closed to the public earlier than expected — beginning Jan. 1 this year — after the state reached an agreement with the University of Iowa that keeps some records accessible through the university library, in response to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed in Johnson County District Court in September, argues the move to close the Iowa City library and archives violated state law. The language cited in the lawsuit is what legislators are proposing to remove in the bill discussed at the Tuesday subcommittee meeting.
There is a second lawsuit filed by the nonprofit corporation State Historical Society Inc., which Jim Carney with the organization said is currently going through the administrative law process. As these lawsuits proceed, he urged lawmakers to continue requiring DAS maintain the Iowa City location, saying many Iowans are “very concerned about capacity to merge everything” into Des Moines, both in terms of staffing and facility capabilities.
Public officials have said closing the Iowa City facility and moving materials to Des Moines is needed as the SHSI faces a $800,000 budget shortfall. But donors, historians and other advocates say the State Historical Building in Des Moines will not be able to properly maintain the Iowa City resources, as it “lacks sufficient climate-controlled space to house the Iowa City collections” alongside $72 million in deferred maintenance projects.
Additionally, more than half of the Iowa City historical collection is not expected to make the move to Des Moines. Iowa State Archivist Tony Jahn said at a June board meeting that 40 percent of the Iowa City collections will be transferred to the State Historical Building while the other 60 percent will be sold, dispersed or discarded.
Carney, as well as several other speakers, said a major concern coming out of the DAS-announced closure and moving of historical materials was a lack of “transparency” on what is happening with documents and other items.
“We don’t have an inventory of what was taken, nor do we have any understanding of how those materials — which are very valuable, irreplaceable — are being preserved and taken care of,” Carney said.
Several people opposing the bill criticized DAS for not sharing enough information on what was happening to the materials formerly housed at the Iowa City SHSI Research Center, but Nathan Reckman, DAS deputy director, said there are answers to the concerns brought up. He said the department’s decision to close the Iowa City facility was made because “we can’t support with our budget a center in Iowa City and a center here in Des Moines.”
He said there is a DAS website that details the items that have been moved from Iowa City to Des Moines, and that the department is committed to going through the required processes for any removal of access to the current collection. He also said the move will make Iowa historical materials more accessible to the wider public, as the cataloging system used at the Iowa City center does not make the items accessible online.
Robin Opsahl covers the Iowa Legislature and politics for Iowa Capital Dispatch, where this story first appeared.
