Iowa Court Records

Iowa Court Record Lookup

Iowa IA Court records may be necessary for a number of purposes, from proving a fine has been paid or probationary period served to enforce a financial judgment or custody order. Iowa court records online are public documents can be found by performing an Iowa court records search by anyone, with some limitations. Getting documents is a matter of locating the correct source. These records include IA criminal records, traffic violations, civil cases, and more.

Trial Courts

There are eight judicial districts in Iowa, each comprised of multiple counties. Each of the state’s district courts has jurisdiction over trials in more than one county. These courts are divisions that handle family issues, such as Iowa child support and custody matters, juvenile, probate, small claims, and other limited matters. Magistrates or associate justices are authorized by the district court judge to preside over many of these cases.

Access to some records, particularly those involving juveniles, is restricted by confidentiality.

Intermediate Courts of Appeal

Disputed decisions from lower Iowa courthouses are assigned to state appeals courts by the Iowa supreme court. At this level, nine justices sit in three-judge panels to hear cases.

The court of last resort is the supreme court, which is occupied by seven justices. This court hears selected cases appealed from lower courts to determine correct application of state law, and assigns cases to the intermediate court of appeals. It also hears appeals of state administrative agencies and oversees the state bar. These cases can be accessed via Iowa court case lookup. 

Bankruptcy Court

When an individual from Iowa declares bankruptcy, he files in the U.S. District Court with jurisdiction. Bankruptcy records can be viewded by performing Iowa court record lookup. Each state has at least one such federal court that also handles class action suits, violations of federal law, and other cases that cross state lines. 

Iowa Notable Court Cases

A 17-year-old convicted of the premeditated shotgun murder of his grandparents will not spend his life in prison because the Iowa Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that sentencing a juvenile to life in prison constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. State Supreme Courts are responsible for determining the constitutionality of laws in their states. A district court judge had sentenced the teen to two life terms for the murders but Supreme Court justices decided that a teen's still-developing brain allows the potential for rehabilitation later in life.

In a minor case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, an Iowa man stopped for speeding had his conviction for drug possession thrown out by the top court in the land. In 1998 the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the conviction of a man whose car was searched after he was cited for speeding. Although Iowa courts upheld his conviction for drugs that were found after he received the speeding ticket, the U.S. Supreme Court said that the police investigation (searching the car) had concluded when the man received the speeding ticket.