A northwestern Iowa city’s ordinance that requires landlords and tenants to allow city officials into apartments to inspect for building code violations is not unconstitutional, at least on its face, because the ordinance may be applied in ways that would not offend the Iowa Constitution, the Iowa Supreme Court said in a decision handed down…

The Iowa Supreme Court entered opinions in twelve cases in November 2024. At the links immediately below, you can read Rox Laird’s analysis of the following opinions:

• Brendeland et. al v. Iowa Department of Transportation, concerning deadlines to challenge eminent domain actions and to file notices of appeal in district court;
• Summit Carbon Solutions

…

The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in 10 cases Dec. 17 and 18, and three other cases will be submitted to the Court without oral argument. Following are brief summaries of the December cases. [Go to On Brief’s “Cases in the Pipeline” page to read briefs filed in these cases.]
 
Abbas,…

The Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure was not violated when a drug detection dog inserted its nose into the open window of a suspect’s vehicle, the Iowa Supreme Court held in a divided Dec. 6 decision.
Earlier this year the Court held in State v. Bauler that a drug dog’s placing of…

Owners of farmland in Story County seeking to block the Iowa Department of Transportation’s condemnation of part of their property for a highway project succeeded in getting their appeal before the Iowa Supreme Court even after missing one filing deadline, but they lost their bid to revive their case in district court because they missed…

Iowa’s statute governing hazardous underground pipelines that allows pipeline developers to enter private property to conduct surveys against a landowner’s will is not an unconstitutional taking, the Iowa Supreme Court held in a Nov. 22 decision.
Kent Kasischke refused to allow Summit Carbon Solutions to enter his property to survey for a proposed underground pipeline…

In its first decision addressing a 2022 constitutional amendment that for the first time recognizes a “fundamental” right to bear arms in the Iowa Constitution, a divided Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the Pottawattamie District Court’s ruling denying an Iowa man’s bid to have his firearms rights restored after those rights had been revoked.
The appellant,…