IowaJury Nullification
In Iowa a court rule says questions of law are decided by the court and questions of fact by the jury. The same set of rules requires a unanimous verdict on each count. The state constitution keeps the right of trial by jury and lets the legislature allow smaller juries in lower courts.
Overview
Juries in Iowa
Iowa puts the answer in a court rule with a plain heading: questions of law and fact. Questions of law are decided by the court and questions of fact are determined by the jury. Another rule requires the jury's verdict to be unanimous on each count.
Iowa's rules go on to say what a judge has to tell jurors every time they leave the courtroom. The list reaches social media, news reports and research of their own. What is on it, and what happens to the notes jurors take, is in the Iowa chapter of the guide.
The Iowa constitution says the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate, and it lets the legislature allow a jury of fewer than twelve in lower courts. What else it gives a person accused of a crime is in the chapter.
The Iowa chapter
What's in the Guide for Iowa?
Jury selection
What happens in an Iowa courtroom once the jury is seated, from the reading of the charge to the one part of a misdemeanor trial that need not be recorded.
What the judge tells you
The chapter explains the court rule that divides law from fact and points to where Iowa's pattern instructions can be read free.
How the verdict works
What a unanimous verdict on each count asks of an Iowa jury, what happens when a juror disagrees as the jury is polled, and when a jury has to answer written questions as well.
Protections and risks
What Iowa law says about people who try to influence a juror or get back at one afterwards, and what the officer in charge of a deliberating jury is sworn to keep secret.
The law in plain English
The Iowa laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the court rules on law and fact, on verdicts and polling, and on how a trial is run, the laws on tampering with jurors and harassing court officers, and two sections of the state constitution.
Official state resources
Links to Iowa's official sources, each one checked. They cover the Iowa Code and constitution on the legislature's site, the court rules, the free copy of the jury instructions hosted by the State Public Defender, and the Judicial Branch's Jury Service page.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in Iowa?
An Iowa jury summons asks you to come to court and, if you are picked, to determine the facts of a case. The questions of law belong to the court.
The Iowa Judicial Branch has a Jury Service page. It covers reporting, who can serve, and how to ask to be excused.
That page covers serving. What the judge has to warn you about at every break, how a verdict is polled, and what Iowa law says about anyone who tries to reach a juror are covered in the Iowa chapter of the guide.
Your Iowa summons
- Sent byThe jury manager of your county's district court
- Names come fromLicensed drivers, state ID card holders and registered voters
- It asks you toCome to court and, if you are picked, determine the facts of a case
- Jury size6 to 12