The agency shall have the following powers and duties:
1. To receive, investigate, mediate, conciliate, and determine the merits of complaints
alleging illegal discriminatory practices. The agency shall not disclose the filing of a
complaint, the information gathered during the investigation, or the endeavors to eliminate
such illegal discriminatory practice by mediation or conciliation, unless such disclosure is
made in connection with the agency’s investigation.
2. To investigate compliance with conciliation agreements and pursue appropriate
remedies up to and including filing in district court.
3. To investigate, study, and report on the existence, causes, and extent of illegal
discrimination, as deemed necessary by the director.
4. To provide education and outreach regarding illegal discrimination, including
individuals and organizations.
5. To seek a temporary injunction against a respondent when it appears that a
complainant may suffer irreparable injury as a result of an alleged violation of this chapter.
Unless otherwise specified in this chapter, a temporary injunction may be issued only after
the respondent has been notified and afforded an opportunity to be heard.\n\nTue Dec 09 22:22:07 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 216 (47, 2)
§216.5, OFFICE OF CIVIL RIGHTS 4\n\n 6. To hold contested case hearings upon any complaint made against a respondent, and
all of the following:
a. To subpoena witnesses and compel their attendance.
b. To administer oaths and take the testimony of any person under oath.
c. To compel a respondent to produce for examination any books and papers relating to
the complaint.
7. To issue subpoenas at the request of a party in contested hearings.
8. To petition the district court for issuance of a subpoena and the court, in a proper case,
shall issue the subpoena for contested case hearings. Refusal to obey a district court subpoena
shall be subject to punishment for contempt.
9. To pursue the entry of a consent decree in district court for conciliation agreements.
10. To petition and appear before the district court for the enforcement of office orders
following a contested case hearing.
11. To provide education opportunities and informal technical advice to local commissions
regarding legal developments, case process improvements, and cooperation for cross-filing.
12. To prepare and transmit to the governor and the general assembly an annual report
describing performance outcomes of the agency.
13. To make recommendations to the governor and general assembly for such further
legislation concerning illegal discrimination as deemed necessary by the director.
14. To adopt, publish, amend, and rescind office rules pursuant to chapter 17A consistent
with and necessary for the enforcement of this chapter.
15. To receive, administer, dispense, and account for any moneys that may be granted or
voluntarily contributed to the office for furthering the purposes of this chapter.
16. To utilize volunteers to aid in the conduct of the agency’s duties as deemed necessary
by the director.
17. To issue a copy of the case file to any party following the issuance of a right to sue
letter, the filing of a contested case, or the filing of an action for judicial review.
18. To issue protective orders in case files when necessary.
[C66, 71, §105A.5; C73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §601A.5]
86 Acts, ch 1245, §1991; 91 Acts, ch 184, §2
C93, §216.5
95 Acts, ch 129, §3, 4; 2007 Acts, ch 191, §2; 2016 Acts, ch 1108, §19; 2019 Acts, ch 59, §60;
2024 Acts, ch 1170, §256
\n
Notes of Decisions
Matthew Jahnke v. Deere & Co., Richard Czarnecki, & Bernhard Haas, 912 N.W.2d 136 (Iowa 2018).
· cites it 7× “" Iowa Code § 216.5 (3) (emphasis added). It also authorizes the ICRC "[t]o issue such publications and reports of investigations and research as in the judgment of the commission shall tend to promote goodwill among the various racial, religious, and ethnic groups of the state .”
Nicole Lara Shumate v. Drake Univ. A/K/A Drake Univ. Law Sch., 846 N.W.2d 503 (Iowa 2014).
· cites it 4× “See Iowa Code § 216.5 (3), (6), (8), (10). Recognizing an implied right to sue under chapter 216C would interfere with the enforcement procedures of chapter 216 because several protections afforded under chapter 216C are duplicative of those found in chapter 216.”
Marlon Mormann v. Iowa Workforce Dev., 913 N.W.2d 554 (Iowa 2018).
· cites it 2× “Fourth, the ICRC long ago promulgated a rule under the legislature's grant of rulemaking authority in Iowa Code section 216.5(1) that embraced equitable tolling.”
Dickten Masch Plastics, LLC v. Williams, 199 F. Supp. 3d 1207 (S.D. Iowa 2016).
· cites it 4× “After all, the ICRC does not possess the power to redress violations of ERISA, See Iowa Code § 216.5 (listing the statutory powers of the ICRC).”
Gray v. Kinseth Corp., 636 N.W.2d 100 (Iowa 2001).
· cites it 2× “Much of Kinseth’s argument is based on its claim the state commission deferred to the local commission or referred the case to it, citing Iowa Code section 216.5(12) (1995), which grants power to the state commission “[t]o defer a complaint to a local civil rights commission…”
Hardy v. GMRI, Inc., 423 F. Supp. 2d 951 (S.D. Iowa 2006).
· cites it 2× “Iowa Code § 216.5 . Because Iowa “has enacted laws to protect against discriminatory public accommodation practices, a Title II plaintiff must establish he has satisfied the procedural prerequisites of section 2000a-3(c) before filing a civil action in federal court.”
Toppert v. Nw. Mech., Inc., 968 F. Supp. 2d 1001 (S.D. Iowa 2013).
· cites it 2× “Law & Analysis Plaintiff is correct in stating that Iowa Code §§ 216.5 and 216.19 make clear that a plaintiffs rights should not be affected by filing with a referral agency and a complaint may be referred for investigation.”
Johnson v. Mental Health Inst. (Iowa Ct. App. 2018).
· cites it 2× “In the employer’s appellate brief, they urge us to find the hostile work environment claim is time barred by Iowa Code section 216.5(13) (2015), even though “[t]he District Court did not rule on the issue.”
— Iowa Code § 216.5(1) — 1 case
Marlon Mormann v. Iowa Workforce Dev., 913 N.W.2d 554 (Iowa 2018).
“Fourth, the ICRC long ago promulgated a rule under the legislature's grant of rulemaking authority in Iowa Code section 216.5(1) that embraced equitable tolling.”
— Iowa Code § 216.5(10) — 1 case
— Iowa Code § 216.5(12) — 1 case
Gray v. Kinseth Corp., 636 N.W.2d 100 (Iowa 2001).
“Much of Kinseth’s argument is based on its claim the state commission deferred to the local commission or referred the case to it, citing Iowa Code section 216.5(12) (1995), which grants power to the state commission “[t]o defer a complaint to a local civil rights commission…”
— Iowa Code § 216.5(13) — 1 case
Johnson v. Mental Health Inst. (Iowa Ct. App. 2018).
“In the employer’s appellate brief, they urge us to find the hostile work environment claim is time barred by Iowa Code section 216.5(13) (2015), even though “[t]he District Court did not rule on the issue.”
— Iowa Code § 216.5(6) — 1 case
Matthew Jahnke v. Deere & Co., Richard Czarnecki, & Bernhard Haas, 912 N.W.2d 136 (Iowa 2018).
“" Iowa Code § 216.5 (3) (emphasis added). It also authorizes the ICRC "[t]o issue such publications and reports of investigations and research as in the judgment of the commission shall tend to promote goodwill among the various racial, religious, and ethnic groups of the state .”
— Iowa Code § 216.5(7) — 1 case
Matthew Jahnke v. Deere & Co., Richard Czarnecki, & Bernhard Haas, 912 N.W.2d 136 (Iowa 2018).
“" Iowa Code § 216.5 (3) (emphasis added). It also authorizes the ICRC "[t]o issue such publications and reports of investigations and research as in the judgment of the commission shall tend to promote goodwill among the various racial, religious, and ethnic groups of the state .”
— Iowa Code § 216.5(8) — 1 case
Matthew Jahnke v. Deere & Co., Richard Czarnecki, & Bernhard Haas, 912 N.W.2d 136 (Iowa 2018).
“" Iowa Code § 216.5 (3) (emphasis added). It also authorizes the ICRC "[t]o issue such publications and reports of investigations and research as in the judgment of the commission shall tend to promote goodwill among the various racial, religious, and ethnic groups of the state .”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.