Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 299.6 (2026)

Violations — community service or fine or imprisonment

✓ current as of July 2026

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1. Any person who violates the terms of an absenteeism prevention plan entered into under section 299.12, who is referred for prosecution under section 299.12 and is convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of sections 299.1 through 299.5, who violates any of the provisions of sections 299.1 through 299.5, or who refuses to participate in a school engagement meeting under section 299.12, commits a public offense.

a. A first offense is a simple misdemeanor and a conviction is punishable by imprisonment not exceeding ten days or a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars. The court may order the person to perform not more than forty hours of unpaid community service instead of any fine or imprisonment.

b. A second offense is a serious misdemeanor and a conviction is punishable by imprisonment not exceeding twenty days or a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or both a fine and imprisonment. The court may order the person to perform unpaid community service instead of any fine or imprisonment.

c. A third or subsequent offense is a serious misdemeanor and a conviction is punishable by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days or a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or both a fine and imprisonment. The court may order the person to perform unpaid community service instead of any fine or imprisonment.

2. If community service is imposed as part of a sentencing order, the court may require that part or all of the service be performed for a public school district or nonpublic school if the court finds that service in the school is appropriate under the circumstances.

3. If a parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian of a child who is truant, has made reasonable efforts to comply with the provisions of sections 299.1 through 299.5, but is unable to cause the child to attend school, the parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian may file an affidavit listing the reasonable efforts made by the parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian to cause the child’s attendance and the parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian shall not be criminally liable for the child’s nonattendance. [S13, §2823-a; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §4415; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §299.6] 88 Acts, ch 1259, §6; 91 Acts, ch 200, §10; 97 Acts, ch 174, §3; 2004 Acts, ch 1043, §5; 2013 Acts, ch 90, §73; 2024 Acts, ch 1152, §16 Referred to in §299.6A, 299.12, 299A.1 \n

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 4 cases, 1981–1993 · leading case: State v. Trucke, 410 N.W.2d 242 (Iowa 1987).

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State v. Trucke, 410 N.W.2d 242 (Iowa 1987). · cites it 2× “§ 299.6. Because the statute is penal in nature, we construe its terms strictly against the State.”

State v. Moorhead, 308 N.W.2d 60 (Iowa 1981). “§ 299.6, The Code 1979. A jury trial was held on January 17,1980, in the Magistrate Division of the Warren District Court.”

State v. Skeel, 486 N.W.2d 43 (Iowa 1992). · cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 299.6 . The only hearing on the matter was a bench trial, following which the associate district judge found Skeel guilty.”

State v. Rivera, 497 N.W.2d 878 (Iowa 1993). · cites it 2× “Iowa Code § 299.6 (1989). At the beginning of the school year, which commenced on August 27, 1990, defendants’ children, Elisha, age 10, and Stephen, age 8, had not been registered for attendance in the public schools in the district in which they resided.”

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.