What to Know About the Iowa Domestic Abuse Act
Each year, approximately 30,600 petitions for relief from domestic abuse pursuant to the Iowa Domestic Abuse Act are filed in the state’s district court. These unique, non-criminal civil proceedings allow Iowans who have experienced domestic violence or threats of harm to seek a court order barring a family member, roommate, spouse, ex-spouse, co-parent, or romantic partner from further contacting, abusing, or threatening them.
Frequently, a petition for relief from domestic abuse is one part of a broader family law matter such as a divorce, custody dispute, or child support action.
Whether you are seeking relief from domestic abuse or you have been served with a petition for relief from domestic abuse, it’s important to understand that civil protective orders are powerful tools with serious, often underestimated, consequences that can dramatically reshape a person’s or family’s life.
An experienced attorney can help you navigate the procedures and considerations that you need to have top-of-mind – whether you are filing for relief or the defendant to an action.
Iowa Code Chapter 236 – Brief Overview
An order pursuant to the Domestic Abuse Act – Iowa Code Chapter 236 – can provide an abused person a wide range of relief tailored to the person’s situation. The most widely understood relief is the Act’s no-contact provision prohibiting a defendant from contacting the petitioner in-person, by phone or text message, through social media, or through third parties. However, other relief can include:
- Stay-away orders: A Domestic Abuse Act protective order can be entered requiring the defendant to stay away from the petitioner’s home, workplace, school, or other specified locations.
- Counseling: An order can require both the petitioner, defendant, and any shared children receive professional counseling at the expense of the parties.
- Exclusive possession of a shared residence: If requested, an order can grant the petitioner the sole right to remain in a shared home – even if both parties have a legal right to the home through ownership or a lease.
- Temporary custody and child support: A petitioner who shares children with the defendant can request the court issue an order granting the petitioner temporary legal custody and physical care of the children, dictating a visitation schedule with the defendant, and ordering the defendant to pay child support.
- Control of pets: An order can grant to a petitioner exclusive possession and care of any pets owned by the respondent or shared between the parties.
For a petitioner to qualify for protection under the Domestic Abuse Act, the abuse they are seeking relief from must be from a person who they share a certain domestic relationship with. This means the law does not apply to disputes or abuse that happens between strangers, coworkers, or neighbors. It’s limited abuse that occurs in domestic and intimate relationships, including:
- A current or former spouse;
- Family members by blood, marriage, or adoption;
- People who live together or have in the past;
- Parents of the same minor child, regardless of whether they have ever lived together;
- Individuals who are or have been in an intimate relationship (even if they never lived together.
It’s also important to understand that “domestic abuse” has a specific meaning within the context of the Domestic Abuse Act. For a judge to ender an order, a plaintiff must be able to show that it is more likely than not that the defendant physically harmed the plaintiff or attempted to, or made threats of harm, or acted in a way that was intended to cause the plaintiff to be afraid of suffering an immediate injury. However, even one single instance of assault is enough for a judge to enter an order if supported by evidence and the plaintiff’s testimony is credible. Once an order pursuant to the Domestic Abuse Act is entered, it remains in effect for one year, unless extended in a subsequent proceeding.
One often-implicated tool in Domestic Abuse Act proceedings is the order by consent agreement. This is an order entered by a judge pursuant to an agreement between the parties on relevant no-contact, temporary custody and support, and other provisions, but without the judge making a finding that domestic abuse occurred or the defendant admitting wrongdoing.
Because consent agreements allow parties to resolve a Domestic Abuse Act matter without a finding of abuse, they are often relied upon by attorneys and can be attractive to parties. However, it is vital that you understand being subject to a protective order entered by consent agreement can still have major ramifications – even with no admission by you of committing abuse or a finding of such by the judge.
Considerations in Domestic Abuse Act Proceedings
Because of the wide range of relief available pursuant to the Domestic Abuse Act, it’s important that you and your attorney have a holistic understanding of both how to prepare for proceedings and the ramifications beyond the matter itself of certain kinds of relief. Two areas require your understanding.
Custody
Because a judge deciding a Domestic Abuse Act case can award temporary legal custody and physical care to a plaintiff, as well as set a visitation schedule for the defendant and order child support to be paid, it’s important to treat these matters almost as mini-divorce proceedings.
If you share children with the opposing party in a Domestic Abuse Act case and want temporary determination on these issues, you need to gather key documents like pay stubs, tax returns, childcare receipts, medical and school records, and communication logs. It’s important to bring to the court evidence of each parent’s involvement in the child’s life – such as calendars, messages, or testimony – to help the judge assess what arrangements best serve the children’s interests.
It’s also important to be aware that being a defendant subject to a protective order – even one entered by consent agreement – can be detrimental to your interests in a subsequent or ongoing divorce case where child custody is a contested issue.
For instance, “legal custody” refers to a parent’s right and responsibility to make major decisions affecting their child’s welfare, including decisions about education, medical care, religion, and extracurricular activities. Iowa’s divorce statute, Iowa Chapter 598, presumes that two divorced parents will share legal custody after the marriage. However, a party at trial can overcome that presumption by showing that their spouse is subject to a protective order, even one entered by consent agreement.
Iowans defending themselves in Domestic Abuse Act cases (and sometimes even their attorneys) often are not aware of this reality that a protective order can be used by an opposing party to fight for sole legal custody in a subsequent proceeding. It’s important you consider this with experienced counsel if faced with a petition for relief from domestic abuse.
Firearms
Federal law prohibits persons subject to certain domestic abuse protective orders from possessing firearms or ammunition. It is possible that even a protective order entered by consent agreement of the parties could qualify to bar a defendant from possessing firearms while the order is in effect. This is often misunderstood by Iowans who believe they are clear to keep their guns as long as no finding of abuse is made. Keeping guns after a protective order is entered can make a person vulnerable to both state and federal criminal charges.
It’s important that you discuss your particular case with an attorney who is up-to-date on the law as it relates to domestic abuse and firearms.
Procedures Under the Domestic Abuse Act
Under the Domestic Abuse Act, a person seeking protection from domestic abuse may file a petition in Iowa district court requesting a protective order. The court can enter a temporary order the same day, usually without notice to the defendant.
A full hearing to determine whether the plaintiff can prove domestic abuse occurred must be held within 15 days of the petition being filed, unless the defendant waives that right and requests a continuance of the hearing. Because of the short timeline from the filing of a petition to a dispositional hearing, it’s important you contact an attorney for representation as soon as possible after being served with a petition and temporary order.
An attorney can help a petitioner prepare a strong, legally sound case by gathering evidence, drafting the petition, navigating court procedures, and advocating for protective relief tailored to their safety needs. For a defendant, an attorney can ensure due process rights are protected, challenge unfounded allegations, negotiate consent agreements when appropriate, and advise on the potential legal consequences, including impacts on child custody, housing, and firearm rights. An attorney may also be able to help you make use of the Domestic Abuse Act’s subpoena power and discovery procedures available under the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure – enabling the gathering of key evidence from the opposing party that could make or break a case.
Contact Us for a Free Consultation
At Higgins Law Firm, PLLC, our Iowa Family Law Attorneys regularly represents parties on both side of Domestic Abuse Act proceedings. Do not hesitate to reach out for expert guidance designed to make sure your life is protected and future is minimally impacted by a Domestic Abuse Act case.