Iowa Code » Chapter 321 — MOTOR VEHICLES AND LAW OF THE ROAD
Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 321.504 (2026)

Optional notification

✓ current as of July 2026
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In lieu of mailing the notification described in section 321.502 to the defendant in a foreign state, the plaintiff may cause the notification to be personally served in the foreign state on the defendant by any adult person not a party to the suit, by delivering the notification to the defendant or by offering to make such delivery in case the defendant refuses to accept delivery. [C31, 35, §5079-d17; C39, §5038.07; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §321.504] 2020 Acts, ch 1063, §156; 2021 Acts, ch 76, §59 Referred to in §321.507, 321.511, 321.556

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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1962–2026 · leading case: Wolfs v. Challacombe, 218 N.W.2d 564 (Iowa 1974).
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Wolfs v. Challacombe, 218 N.W.2d 564 (Iowa 1974). · cites it 18× “" Section 321.504 provides that notification to a nonresident defendant may be served personally in a foreign state in lieu of mailing.”
Emery Transp. Co. v. Baker, 119 N.W.2d 272 (Iowa 1963). · cites it 6× “Section 321.504, Code, 1954, provided: “In lieu of mailing said notification to the defendant in a foreign state, plaintiff may cause said notification to be personally served in the foreign state * Section 321.”
Neumeister v. City Dev. Bd., 291 N.W.2d 11 (Iowa 1980). · cites it 2× “See § 321.504, The Code ("In lieu of mailing said notification to the defendant .”
Kraft v. Bahr, 128 N.W.2d 261 (Iowa 1964). · cites it 2× “) You will take notice that an original notice of suit against you, a copy of which is hereto attached, was- duly served upon you at Des Moines, Iowa, by filing a copy of said notice on the.”
Johnson v. Brooks, 117 N.W.2d 457 (Iowa 1962). · cites it 2× “) Under section 321.504 notification may be served personally in the foreign state by delivering such notification to defendant or offering to do so, but no such attempt was made herein.”
Emery Transp. Co. v. Baker, 136 N.W.2d 529 (Iowa 1965). · cites it 2× “- : • In February 1963, more than five years after filing, of notice with the" commissioner, plaintiff caused new notices to be served on defendants in Illinois and Indiana.”
Van Gundy v. Ellis, 246 F. Supp. 802 (S.D. Iowa 1965). · cites it 4× “It is contended by plaintiff that Section 321.504 of the Iowa Code permits service of process upon a nonresident and that under this provision the process may be personally served in a foreign state.”
In Re Appeal of Elliott, 319 N.W.2d 244 (Iowa 1982). “Obviously, the legislature knows how to make plain a requirement for notice by mail.”
Williamson v. Casey, 220 N.W.2d 638 (Iowa 1974). “See § 321.504, The Code. The original notice and notification were in statutory form.”
John J. Ahlen v. Tyrell Letre Williams (Iowa Ct. App. 2026). · cites it 2× “service on defendant[] personally under section 321.504.” Id. at 277 . The court concluded that the plaintiff had not strictly complied with the statute because he did not obtain a return receipt showing delivery and the return of the mailing marked “unclaimed” was not sufficient…”
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.