Iowa Const. art. XI, § 8

Seat of government established — state university. The seat of government is hereby permanently established, as now fixed by law, at the city of Des Moines, in the county of Polk; and the state university, at Iowa City, in the county of Johnson. In January of 1855, the fifth general assembly established a commission to relocate the seat of government to within two miles of the junction of the Des Moines and Raccoon rivers in Polk county, see 1855 Acts, ch 72