Two layers apply. Statewide, Iowa Code Chapter 317 makes every landowner destroy noxious weeds like Canada thistle and Palmer amaranth, enforced by the Johnson County weed commissioner. Locally, each city's ordinance abates overgrown lots at the owner's expense.
Iowa Code section 317.10 obligates every owner to cut, burn, or destroy the noxious weeds listed in section 317.1A, a roster that includes Canada thistle, leafy spurge, multiflora rose, poison hemlock, and, since 2017, Palmer amaranth. The Johnson County weed commissioner, appointed by the board of supervisors, can serve notice and, if you ignore it, have the weeds destroyed and charge the cost back against your property taxes. The county and the DOT control noxious weeds along the roads they maintain. Separately, Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty enforce their own roughly 10-inch grass-and-weed limits inside city limits.
The county weed commissioner issues notice; unaddressed weeds are destroyed at the county's direction and billed to the owner, collected as a tax lien. City weed limits carry mowing charges plus administrative fees, roughly $100 in Iowa City.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Johnson County, IA
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See how Johnson County's weed ordinances rules stack up against other locations.
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