Supreme Court of Iowa

The court held that Iowa’s solid-waste penalty provision permits personal liability for corporate officers who are responsible for violations, and that the State adequately pleaded claims against both officers.

The court held that Iowa's indefinite firearm prohibition for persons convicted of misdemeanor domestic abuse violates the Iowa Constitution as applied to Schadl, who had gone fourteen years without reoffending.

The court affirmed the district court’s judgment upholding Iowa’s restrictions on incarcerated individuals’ access to publications featuring nudity. It held that the Turner reasonableness framework, rather than strict scrutiny or traditional rational-basis review, governs both the federal and Iowa constitutional…

The Iowa Supreme Court vacated the Court of Appeals decision, reversed the district court judgment, and remanded the case for further workers’ compensation proceedings, holding that the AMA Guides’ Table 16‑27 impairment value for a distal clavicle excision is not subject to the 25% multiplier in Table 16‑18.

The court affirmed dismissal of the human-trafficking charge because, under the 2024 statute, attempting to purchase commercial sexual services from a victim or person engaged in human trafficking required that such an actual person exist.

The court vacated the court of appeals decision and sustained the writ of certiorari as to Eagle Rise, Troy Wilbur, and Alexander Wilbur. It held that the contempt court lacked authority to punish Troy and Alexander individually because the show cause order was directed only to Eagle Rise, and that Eagle Rise was not…

The court held that the scholarship’s race-based restriction had become impracticable to administer, even without a conclusive determination that it was unlawful. It rejected the University’s proposed substitution of a first-generation-student restriction because the existing record did not show that the change was…

The court affirmed the decision that Growmark’s propane tanks are unattached equipment and therefore are not taxable as real property. It held that the Department of Revenue’s manuals and guidance did not merit statutory deference on the classification question, and that tax statutes must be construed according to…

The court held that Sharples’s two out-of-state felony convictions qualified for Iowa’s habitual-offender enhancement because the plain text of Iowa Code section 902.8 requires two prior felony convictions and does not impose the sequencing requirement he urged.

The Iowa Supreme Court reversed the district court’s denial of the defendants’ motion to dismiss, holding that Miller applies retroactively, the defendants did not waive their challenge, and the original certificate of merit did not substantially comply with Iowa Code §147.140.

The court held that Iowa's savings statute applies to a medical-malpractice action voluntarily dismissed after the plaintiff discovered that his certificates of merit did not comply with a newly clarified statutory requirement.

The Iowa Supreme Court reversed the district court’s summary‑judgment dismissal, holding that the savings statute Iowa Code § 614.10 applies to the plaintiff’s second malpractice suit because the first suit “failed” when she voluntarily dismissed it without a deadline to challenge the defective certificates of merit…

The court held that Iowa's certificate-of-merit statute does not require a certificate for the plaintiffs' informed-consent claim alleging nondisclosure that a medical resident would participate in the child's surgery.

The court held that Hayes preserved his argument that the employer was bound by its selected treating physician's causation opinion because the agency necessarily rejected that argument when it relied on a contrary medical opinion to deny permanent-disability benefits.

The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s denial of Wyldes’s post‑conviction relief, holding that the newly‑presented forensic evidence does not meet the statutory requirements for new evidence, that firearm toolmark and shoe‑print testimony remain admissible, and that Wyldes failed to show a due‑process…

The court affirmed dismissal of the medical malpractice action because the plaintiffs' timely certificate of merit was neither a properly executed affidavit nor a qualifying statement under penalty of perjury.

The court affirmed Hall’s harassment conviction, holding that the statute does not require the defendant to initiate the encounter when he purposefully continues the contact and engages in threatening conduct.

The court affirmed Thompson’s convictions for two counts of theft by deception. It held that the marshaling instructions were technically inaccurate because they did not expressly connect the deception to the transfers of money, but the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt in light of the instructions as a…

The court reversed the denial of summary judgment and remanded because the hospital was entitled to judgment on the negligent-retention, bystander-emotional-distress, and punitive-damages claims.

The Iowa Supreme Court denied the motion to dismiss the estates’ appeal, holding that the non‑lawyer executor’s filing of the notice of appeal does not require dismissal, and because the court was evenly split on the certificate‑of‑merit issue, the district court’s dismissal of the malpractice suit is affirmed by…

The court affirmed possession of the commercial premises because Short’s did not timely exercise the lease-renewal option and failed to prove that the written renewal requirement had been modified.

The court held that the estate's wrongful-death action was timely because the limitations period did not begin until a court declared Miles dead. Because Miles suffered no known discrete physical injury when she disappeared and remained legally presumed alive, the cause of action accrued only upon the judicial…

The Iowa Supreme Court held that the trial court preserved error on Jackson’s weight‑of‑evidence challenge and that the trial court erred by applying the sufficiency‑of‑evidence standard to a motion for new trial, requiring a weight‑of‑evidence analysis.

The Iowa Supreme Court reversed the district court and vacated the default judgment that gave the Dunn Trust title to an unpaved road, holding that the Trust’s reliance on service by publication violated Iowa procedural rules and due‑process requirements for both neighboring landowners and the State DNR.

The court held that the workers’ compensation commissioner could review an expert’s interpretation of the AMA Guides, but that the commissioner incorrectly applied a 25% multiplier to the impairment rating for a distal clavicle excision.

The Iowa Supreme Court held that Iowa Code section 598.41(1)(b) creates a rebuttable presumption only for legal custody, not for physical care, and that the district court erred in denying the mother primary physical care despite her evidence of stability and the father’s ongoing domestic‑abuse concerns.

The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s dismissal of Norman Davis’s post‑conviction relief application, holding that under Iowa Code § 822.3 an application is not filed until it is received by the clerk of the district court.

The Iowa Supreme Court reversed the district court’s order compelling arbitration and remanded, holding that Iowa’s arbitration‑specific waiver test requiring prejudice is preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act and that Arbor Court implicitly waived its contractual right to arbitrate through its conduct in…

The court held that Iowa Code section 232.117(3) requires a juvenile court to transfer guardianship and custody to HHS when HHS had custody at the time the termination petition was filed and has not waived its priority.

The Iowa Supreme Court reversed the district court’s summary‑judgment dismissal, holding that Iowa Code §670.4A does not extend qualified immunity to common‑law tort claims such as assault and battery and that the district court improperly applied issue preclusion based on the federal Harlow decision because the…

The court held that a surviving spouse's elective share does not include property owned by a Panamanian private interest foundation because the foundation is a separate legal entity governed by a distinct legal regime, not a revocable trust.

The court affirmed summary judgment rejecting a challenge to a school bond referendum because the contestants alleged illegal votes but did not identify the persons who allegedly cast them.

The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the district court’s judgment, holding that Mayo Clinic, as a contingent beneficiary, lacks standing to challenge the bequest to Floyd County Medical Center because the condition triggering Mayo’s interest—FCMC’s loss of independence—never occurred.

The court affirmed the district court’s judgment removing the sheriff from the county attorney’s Brady-Giglio list. It held that judicial review of list-placement decisions does not interfere with prosecutors’ constitutional disclosure obligations or core prosecutorial functions because the statute regulates only the…

The court held that Worthwhile had no vested right to develop its wind project because it had not obtained a permit or other official governmental authorization for the project, and that the county’s adoption of a new wind-energy ordinance did not establish bad faith.

The court held that Kingsbury could not pursue Second Injury Fund benefits after entering a full and final settlement with her employer that did not establish the employer’s liability for any degree of permanent disability.

The court affirmed the court of appeals, reversed the district court judgment, and remanded for a new trial limited to the disability-discrimination claim. It held that sufficient evidence supported submitting Hunter's qualification and motivating-factor theories to the jury, but his accommodation claim failed because…

The court held that a buyer covering after a seller's breach is not required to purchase the same goods from the breaching seller at a higher price. The buyer must nevertheless act in good faith, without unreasonable delay, and make a reasonable purchase, and substantial evidence supported the finding that Logan…

The court affirmed as modified the order setting aside the drainage districts' reclassifications. It held that Iowa Code section 307.45, which regulates assessments by cities and counties against state highway property, does not apply to drainage districts because drainage districts are distinct entities rather than…

The court vacated the court of appeals decision and affirmed the district court’s enforcement of the parties’ settlement agreement. It treated the enforcement proceeding as a bench trial rather than a summary-judgment proceeding and held that Johnathon could not establish error because he failed to provide a record of…