Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 229.2 (2026)

Application for voluntary admission — authority to receive voluntary patients

✓ current as of July 2026

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1. a. An application for admission to a public or private hospital for observation, diagnosis, care, and treatment as a voluntary patient may be made by any person who is mentally ill or has symptoms of mental illness.

b. In the case of a minor, the parent, guardian, or custodian may make application for admission of the minor as a voluntary patient.

(1) Upon receipt of an application for voluntary admission of a minor, the chief medical officer shall provide separate prescreening interviews and consultations with the parent, guardian, or custodian and the minor to assess the family environment and the appropriateness of the application for admission.

(2) During the interview and consultation the chief medical officer shall inform the minor orally and in writing that the minor has a right to object to the admission. If the chief medical officer of the hospital to which application is made determines that the admission is appropriate but the minor objects to the admission, the parent, guardian, or custodian must petition the juvenile court for approval of the admission before the minor is actually admitted.

(3) As soon as is practicable after the filing of a petition for juvenile court approval of the admission of the minor, the juvenile court shall determine whether the minor has an attorney to represent the minor in the hospitalization proceeding, and if not, the court shall assign to the minor an attorney. If the minor is financially unable to pay for an attorney, the attorney shall be compensated by an administrative services organization at an hourly rate to \n Tue Dec 09 22:21:30 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 229 (47, 1) §229.2, HOSPITALIZATION OF PERSONS WITH MENTAL ILLNESS 4\n\nbe established by the administrative services organization in substantially the same manner as provided in section 815.7.

(4) The juvenile court shall determine whether the admission is in the best interest of the minor and is consistent with the minor’s rights.

(5) The juvenile court shall order hospitalization of a minor, over the minor’s objections, only after a hearing in which it is shown by clear and convincing evidence that:

(a) The minor needs and will substantially benefit from treatment.

(b) No other setting which involves less restriction of the minor’s liberties is feasible for the purposes of treatment.

(6) Upon approval of the admission of a minor over the minor’s objections, the juvenile court shall appoint an individual to act as an advocate representing the interests of the minor in the same manner as an advocate representing the interests of patients involuntarily hospitalized pursuant to section 229.19.

2. Upon receiving an application for admission as a voluntary patient, made pursuant to subsection 1:

a. The chief medical officer of a public hospital shall receive and may admit the person whose admission is sought, subject in cases other than medical emergencies to availability of suitable accommodations and to the provisions of section 229.41.

b. The chief medical officer of a private hospital may receive and may admit the person whose admission is sought. [R60, §1480; C73, §1399; C97, §2264; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §3544; C46, §229.1; C50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, §229.1, 229.41; C77, 79, 81, §229.2] 87 Acts, ch 90, §2; 99 Acts, ch 135, §17; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §263; 2015 Acts, ch 69, §60; 2015 Acts, ch 138, §30, 161, 162; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §516; 2024 Acts, ch 1161, §75, 76, 137 Referred to in §229.4, 229.6A, 229.41, 331.910 2024 amendment to subsection 1, paragraph b, subparagraph (3) effective July 1, 2025; 2024 Acts, ch 1161, §137 2024 amendment to subsection 2, paragraph a effective July 1, 2025; 2024 Acts, ch 1161, §137 Subsection 1, paragraph b, subparagraph (3) amended Subsection 2, paragraph a amended\n\n 229.2A Dual filings. Repealed by 2013 Acts, ch 130, §55. \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 6 cases, 1969–2015 · leading case: Stamus v. Leonhardt, 414 F. Supp. 439 (S.D. Iowa 1976).

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Stamus v. Leonhardt, 414 F. Supp. 439 (S.D. Iowa 1976). · cites it 8× “Iowa Code § 229.2 . To this end, the commission could provide for and order custody of the subject until its investigation was concluded.”

State v. Medina, 165 N.W.2d 777 (Iowa 1969). · cites it 4× “Section 229.2 provides: “Hearing — custody.”

In The Matter Of S.p., Alleged To Be A Chronic Substance Abuser, S.p., 719 N.W.2d 535 (Iowa 2006). “Iowa Code § 229.21 . "When appealed, the matter shall stand for trial de novo,” and the court shall schedule the hearing before a district judge at the earliest practicable time.”

In re R.L.D., 456 N.W.2d 919 (Iowa 1990). · cites it 2× “90, § 2 (codified at Iowa Code § 229.2 (l)(c) (Supp.1987)). The Act further provides that in the case of a minor’s involuntary admission, the juvenile court has exclusive original jurisdiction.”

Monson v. Hospitalization Com'n for Polk Cnty., Iowa, 338 F. Supp. 1315 (S.D. Iowa 1972). · cites it 2× “§ 229.2. Thus, with regard to involuntary commitment, we are confronted with a statutory scheme under which a warrant may issue ex parte upon the filing of a sworn information, the execution of which requires no notice, and the effect of which is to authorize immediate detention…”

State of Iowa v. Nigel Wayne Graves (Iowa Ct. App. 2015). “Graves contends the court should have suspended his sentence on the condition he “seek and obtain” voluntary or involuntary hospitalization for persons with mental illness under Iowa Code sections 229.2 or 229.6. Graves cites no 5 authority for a sentencing court to order civil…”

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