§ 95. Iowa

Iowa is divided into two judicial districts to be known as the Northern and Southern Districts of Iowa.

Northern District

(a) The Northern District comprises four divisions.

(1) The Cedar Rapids Division comprises the counties of Benton, Cedar, Grundy, Hardin, Iowa, Jones, Linn, and Tama.

Court for the Cedar Rapids Division shall be held at Cedar Rapids.

(2) The Eastern Division comprises the counties of Allamakee, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Chickasaw, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Floyd, Howard, Jackson, Mitchell, and Winneshiek.

Court for the Eastern Division shall be held at Dubuque and Waterloo.

(3) The Western Division comprises the counties of Buena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Crawford, Dickinson, Ida, Lyon, Monona, O’Brien, Osceola, Plymouth, Sac, Sioux, and Woodbury.

Court for the Western Division shall be held at Sioux City.

(4) The Central Division comprises the counties of Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cerro Gordo, Emmet, Franklin, Hamilton, Hancock, Humboldt, Kossuth, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Webster, Winnebago, Worth, and Wright.

Court for the Central Division shall be held at Fort Dodge and Mason City.

Southern District

(b) The Southern District comprises six divisions.

(1) The Central Division comprises the counties of Boone, Dallas, Greene, Guthrie, Jasper, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Polk, Poweshiek, Story, and Warren.

Court for the Central Division shall be held at Des Moines.

(2) The Eastern Division comprises the counties of Des Moines, Henry, Lee, Louisa, and Van Buren.

Court for the Eastern Division shall be held at Keokuk.

(3) The Western Division comprises the counties of Audubon, Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, and Shelby.

Court for the Western Division shall be held at Council Bluffs.

(4) The Southern Division comprises the counties of Adair, Adams, Clarke, Decatur, Lucas, Ringgold, Taylor, Union, and Wayne.

Court for the Southern Division shall be held at Creston.

(5) The Davenport Division comprises the counties of Clinton, Johnson, Muscatine, Scott, and Washington.

Court for the Davenport Division shall be held at Davenport.

(6) The Ottumwa Division comprises the counties of Appanoose, Davis, Jefferson, Keokuk, Mahaska, Monroe, and Wapello.

Court for the Ottumwa Division shall be held at Ottumwa.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 879; Pub. L. 96–462, § 3(a), Oct. 15, 1980, 94 Stat. 2053.)

Historical And Revision

Historical and Revision Notes

Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§ 156 and 156a (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, § 81, 36 Stat. 1111; Mar. 3, 1913, ch. 122, 37 Stat. 734; Feb. 23, 1916, ch. 32, 39 Stat. 12; Apr. 27, 1916, ch. 90, 39 Stat. 55; Mar. 4, 1923, ch. 256, 42 Stat. 1483; Jan. 28, 1925, ch. 104, 43 Stat. 794; July 5, 1937, ch. 428, 50 Stat. 474).

A provision relating to the maintenance of clerk’s office was omitted as covered by section 751 of this title.

Changes in arrangement and phraseology were made.

Amendments

Amendments

1980—Subsec. (b)(3). Pub. L. 96–462, § 3(a)(1), added Fremont and Page counties to Western Division of Southern District.

Subsec. (b)(4). Pub. L. 96–462, § 3(a)(2), struck out references to Fremont and Page counties in list of counties comprising Southern Division of Southern District.

Effective Date Of Amendment

Effective Date of 1980 Amendment; Savings Provision

Amendment by Pub. L. 96–462 effective Oct. 1, 1981, but not to affect the composition or preclude the service of any grand or petit juror summoned, empaneled, or actually serving in any judicial district on Oct. 1, 1981, see section 7 of Pub. L. 96–462, set out as a note under section 84 of this title.

Pub. L. 96–462, § 3(b), Oct. 15, 1980, 94 Stat. 2053, provided that: “The amendments made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall not apply to any action commenced before the effective date of such amendments [Oct. 1, 1981] and pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa on such date.”

Miscellaneous

Holding Court for the Southern District of Iowa

Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title I, § 11029, Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1836, as amended by Pub. L. 108–455, § 1, Dec. 10, 2004, 118 Stat. 3628, provided that: “Notwithstanding any other provision of law, during the period beginning on January 1, 2003, through July 1, 2006, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa may—

“(1) with the consent of the parties in any case filed in the Eastern Division or the Davenport Division of the Southern District of Iowa, hold court on that case in Rock Island, Illinois; and

“(2) summon jurors from the Southern District of Iowa to serve in any case described under paragraph (1).”