1. A person who establishes, conducts, manages, or operates a center without a license commits a serious misdemeanor. Each day of continuing violation after conviction, or notice from the department by certified mail of the violation, shall be considered a separate offense.

Attorney's Note

Under the Iowa Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Serious misdemeanorup to 1 yearbetween $430 and $2,560
Simple misdemeanorup to 30 daysbetween $105 and $855
For details, see Iowa Code§ 903.1

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Terms Used In Iowa Code 237A.19

  • center: means a facility providing child care or preschool services for seven or more children, except when the facility is registered as a child development home. See Iowa Code 237A.1
  • Child: includes but shall not be limited to a stepchild, foster child, or legally adopted child and means a child actually or apparently under eighteen years of age, and a dependent person eighteen years of age or over who is unable to maintain the person's self and is likely to become a public charge. See Iowa Code 252A.2
  • Child: means either of the following:
  • Child care: means the care, supervision, and guidance of a child by a person other than the child's parent, guardian, or custodian for periods of less than twenty-four hours per day per child on a regular basis, but does not include care, supervision, and guidance of a child by any of the following:
  • Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
  • Department: means the department of health and human services. See Iowa Code 249L.2
  • Department: means the department of health and human services. See Iowa Code 237A.1
  • Involvement with child care: means licensed or registered under this chapter, employed in a child care facility, residing in a child care facility, receiving public funding for providing child care, or providing child care as a child care home provider, or residing in a child care home. See Iowa Code 237A.1
  • person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. If registration is required under section 237A.3A, a person who establishes, conducts, manages, or operates a child development home without registering or a person who operates a child development home contrary to section 237A.5, commits a simple misdemeanor. Each day of continuing violation after conviction, or notice from the department by certified mail of the violation, is a separate offense. A single charge alleging continuing violation may be made in lieu of filing charges for each day of violation.
 3. A person who establishes, conducts, manages, or operates a child care home in violation of section 237A.3, subsection 2, or a person or program that has been prohibited by the department from involvement with child care but continues that involvement commits a simple misdemeanor. Each day of continuing violation after conviction, or notice from the department by certified mail of the violation, is a separate offense. A single charge alleging continuing violation may be made in lieu of filing charges for each day of violation.