Iowans Gather Signatures for a New State Constitution:
Read the Proposed Draft, Sign the Petition, and Help Shape Our Future
Citizens argue that corrupt legal structure is beyond repair

By Sondra Wilson | Updated October 8, 2026

 

Part Four — Reclaiming Iowa's Constitution: From Investigation to Reform

This article is the fourth and final installment of Reclaiming Iowa's Constitution, a historical investigation, civic education initiative, and emerging grassroots effort to draft a new Constitution for the State of Iowa.

The first three installments established the historical foundation, examined changes to Iowa's legal institutions, and explored the people's authority to reform their government.

Now we are moving from investigating the problems to proposing solutions.

Part One: Remembering What Iowa's Founders Established

In Iowa's Forgotten Founding: Who Built Our Government, and What Did They Promise?, we examined Iowa's constitutional conventions of 1844, 1846, and 1857.

We encountered delegates who warned against legislative corruption, opposed property qualifications for voting, debated corporate privileges, defended common schools, and insisted that the people retain authority over their own government.

We also discovered that Iowa's original 1857 Constitution provided for the direct election of Supreme Court justices—a system subsequently replaced through constitutional amendment.

Above all, Iowa's founders preserved a declaration that remains in Article I, Section 2:

"All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people; and they have the right at all times, to alter or reform the same, whenever the public good may require it."

That declaration is the foundation of this constitutional reform project.

Part Two: Examining How Iowa's Legal Institutions Changed

In How Far We've Fallen: The Laws and Doctrines That Reshaped Iowa's Government, we examined laws, court decisions, and legal doctrines that can prevent ordinary Iowans from obtaining remedies when their rights have been violated.

These include judicial immunity, governmental and prosecutorial immunity, restrictions on trial by jury in certain civil proceedings, barriers to constitutional damages, and procedural rules that can prevent lawsuits from reaching trial.

We also examined the legal and institutional barriers affecting independent and third-party candidates, including restrictions on ballot access and participation in publicly sponsored political debates.

Some of these laws and doctrines were established to protect governmental independence, administrative efficiency, or the orderly administration of justice.

But their cumulative effects raise a fundamental concern: What happens when the institutions established to protect our rights become exceptionally effective at protecting themselves from accountability?

We have also seen how difficult it can be for Iowans without legal representation to navigate an increasingly complicated judicial system.

An individual can possess constitutional rights on paper, yet discover that enforcing those rights—or obtaining compensation when they are violated—is far more difficult than expected.

We believe these conditions warrant structural reforms rather than another generation of piecemeal adjustments.

Part Three: Learning From Earlier Constitutional Reform Efforts

In The People's Power to Reform Government: Iowa's Constitutional Convention History, we explored how Iowans have previously attempted to reconsider their constitutional framework.

We examined the efforts to call constitutional conventions after 1857, including the unresolved controversy surrounding Iowa's 1920 convention referendum.

We also considered Rhode Island's nineteenth-century constitutional struggle, including the Dorr Rebellion, and the lessons it offers about political representation, constitutional legitimacy, and the importance of lawful democratic reform.

These histories demonstrate that constitutional reform is neither an entirely new idea nor a process without challenges.

They also show why the procedures for changing a constitution matter almost as much as the provisions being proposed.

Iowa's founders did not establish their Constitution as an untouchable document. They expressly recognized the people's continuing authority to alter or reform their government.

Part Four is an effort to begin putting that principle into practice.

A New Iowa Constitution:
Moving Beyond Piecemeal Reform

For years, Iowans have debated many of the same institutional problems.

We hear repeated concerns about government accountability, judicial accessibility, political influence, the rising cost of living, the future of public education, and whether ordinary citizens have meaningful influence over the government established in their name.

Yet addressing these issues often requires navigating generations of accumulated statutes, court decisions, administrative procedures, and legal doctrines.

Some reforms can be accomplished through ordinary legislation. Others may require constitutional amendments, changes in judicial precedent, or more fundamental restructuring.

Our proposal begins from the conclusion that Iowa's constitutional framework deserves comprehensive reconsideration.

We are not proposing a new Constitution merely to restate the freedoms that already appear in our founding documents.

We are working to establish protections that can be understood, exercised, and enforced by ordinary people—and safeguards intended to prevent future governments from systematically weakening those protections.

Our proposed Constitution will address several central objectives:

• Justice accessible to ordinary Iowans. Simplifying judicial procedures, increasing transparency, and ensuring meaningful opportunities for people to present their claims.

• Restoring and expanding trial by jury. Establishing stronger jury-trial protections, including in categories of civil proceedings currently decided without juries.

• Government accountability. Reconsidering immunity doctrines and establishing enforceable remedies and accountability mechanisms for misconduct by public officials.

• Independent institutions and fair elections. Strengthening checks and balances, protecting political participation, and preventing the entrenchment of political factions.

• Common public schools. Protecting a statewide system of public education and equal educational opportunity.

• A modern Bill of Rights. Expressly establishing proposed protections for healthcare, LGBTQ+ equality, personal liberty, and other fundamental rights.

• Iowa land and community wealth. Developing proposed restrictions on out-of-state landownership and safeguards against economic arrangements that transfer wealth out of Iowa communities.

These proposals will require detailed constitutional language, workable enforcement provisions, and careful consideration of federal constitutional requirements.

A right without a meaningful remedy can become little more than a promise. We intend to address both.

Rights Do Not Depend on the Political Party in Power

We learn that our government was divided into three branches to prevent the concentration of governmental authority.

But three branches of government are not the same thing as two political parties.

When elected officials, legislators, and judicial institutions become closely aligned with competing partisan agendas, questions arise about whether government retains the independence and accountability its constitutional structure was intended to provide.

The political party exercising power may change. The underlying institutional vulnerabilities can remain.

This reform effort therefore seeks safeguards that protect citizens regardless of which political party controls the legislature, the governor's office, or judicial appointments.

Fundamental rights should not exist only for as long as a political majority is willing to protect them.

Nor should an individual's ability to obtain justice depend on their wealth, political connections, or ability to afford a team of attorneys.

The purpose of a constitution is not simply to authorize governmental power. It is also to establish the boundaries that government cannot lawfully cross.

We intend to make those boundaries clearer and the rights they protect more enforceable.

A Constructive, Nonpartisan Constitutional Reform Project

This project is not intended to become another contest between Democrats and Republicans.

Iowa's Constitution belongs to the people, regardless of political affiliation.

We are seeking contributions from Iowans who recognize the need for structural reform and are interested in helping develop a constitutional framework that can protect future generations.

We are not asking participants to agree with every proposed provision.

We welcome thoughtful disagreement, alternative constitutional language, historical research, legal analysis, and constructive proposals that strengthen the draft.

At the same time, this project is moving beyond the preliminary question of whether a new Iowa Constitution should be discussed.

We have begun the work of drafting one.

The proposed document is not being presented as a final constitution or as the exclusive vision of any one political party, organization, or individual.

It is a starting point for a public process of constitutional development.

Our intention is to build something that can survive changes in political leadership, economic interests, and public opinion while continuing to protect the fundamental rights of the people.

Read the Draft, Sign the Petition, and Participate

The proposed new Iowa Constitution is available for public review as part of this project.

We invite Iowans to read it carefully, consider both its protections and its practical consequences, and participate in improving it.

A petition accompanies the proposal to document public interest in pursuing constitutional reform. Signing the petition expresses support for advancing the reform effort; it does not itself call a constitutional convention, enact a new constitution, or replace the procedures established under Iowa law.

We also invite Iowans to submit suggested amendments, identify overlooked problems, propose additional safeguards, and share relevant experiences with Iowa's governmental institutions.

Participation can take many forms: historical research, constitutional drafting, community discussions, organizational assistance, and public education.

The objective is not to produce a document that escapes criticism. It is to produce a constitutional proposal that becomes stronger through public scrutiny.

Nearly 170 years ago, Iowa's founders declared that political power belongs to the people and that government exists for their protection, security, and benefit.

We are working to give that promise renewed meaning through a modern constitutional framework.

We began this series by asking what Iowa's founders established.

We examined how the institutions operating under their Constitution changed.

We studied the history of Iowans seeking constitutional reform.

Now we invite fellow Iowans to examine what comes next.

Read the proposed Constitution. Consider its provisions. Help improve it. And, if you support advancing the effort, add your signature.

The Constitution belongs to the people. Its future should be shaped by them.