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Iowa Code § 4.12 (2026)

Acts or statutes are severable

✓ current as of July 2026
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If any provision of an Act or statute or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act or statute which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of the Act or statute are severable. [C73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §4.12]

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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 32 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1955–2024 · leading case: Gacke v. Pork Xtra, L.L.C., 684 N.W.2d 168 (Iowa 2004).
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Gacke v. Pork Xtra, L.L.C., 684 N.W.2d 168 (Iowa 2004). · cites it 6× “Iowa Code § 4.12 . We have held that [severance of unconstitutional provisions from constitutional portions of a statute is appropriate if it does not substantially impair legislative purpose, the enactment remains capable of fulfilling the apparent legislative intent, and the…”
Planned Parenthood of the Heartland & Jill Meadows v. Kimberly K. Reynolds ex rel. State of Iowa & Iowa Bd. of Med., 915 N.W.2d 206 (Iowa 2018). · cites it 4× “See Iowa Code § 4.12 (codifying the severability doctrine).”
Westco Agronomy Co. v. Wollesen, 909 N.W.2d 212 (Iowa 2017). · cites it 4× “See Iowa Code § 4.12 ("If any provision of an Act or statute or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act or statute which *224 can be given effect without the invalid…”
State of Iowa v. Yvette Marie Louisell, 865 N.W.2d 590 (Iowa 2015). · cites it 3× “Iowa Code § 4.12 ; Bonilla, 791 N.W.2d at 701–02. Severing constitutionally infirm provisions “is appropriate if it does not substantially impair the legislative purpose, if the enactment remains capable of fulfilling the apparent legislative intent, and if the remaining portion…”
State of Iowa v. Rene Zarate, 908 N.W.2d 831 (Iowa 2018). · cites it 2× “Beginning with the first prong of the analysis, an objective examination of legislative enactments and state practices demonstrates that there is not a national consensus against mandatorily sentencing juvenile offenders convicted of first-degree murder to life imprisonment with…”
City of Council Bluffs v. Cain, 342 N.W.2d 810 (Iowa 1983). · cites it 4× “A finding of separability, of course, is generally strengthened by a severability clause, such as exists in the ordinance here.”
State v. James, 393 N.W.2d 465 (Iowa 1986). · cites it 4× “Iowa Code § 4.12 (severability of statutes); State v.”
Motor Club of Iowa v. Dep't of Transp., 251 N.W.2d 510 (Iowa 1977). · cites it 3× “Section 4.12, The Code, cited by interve-nors, does not alter the principle that intent is the polestar in determining severability questions.”
Julio Bonilla Vs. State Of Iowa, 791 N.W.2d 697 (Iowa 2010). · cites it 2× “Iowa Code section 4.12 provides: If any provision of an Act or statute or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act or statute which can be given effect without the invalid…”
Shannon Breeden & Laura Hochmuth v. Iowa Dep't of Corr., 887 N.W.2d 602 (Iowa 2016). · cites it 2× “To that end, the Iowa legislature has codified a general severability provision, instructing, If any provision of an Act or statute or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the…”
Pfister v. Iowa Dist. Court for Polk Cnty., 688 N.W.2d 790 (Iowa 2004). · cites it 2× “2d 168, 174 (Iowa 2004) (holding statute “may be enforced to the extent it operates constitutionally”); accord Iowa Code § 4.12 (2003). In view of the fact that not all alleged violators have a right to court-appointed counsel, there is no constitutional infirmity in the…”
Clark v. Miller, 503 N.W.2d 422 (Iowa 1993). · cites it 2× “Iowa Code section 4.12 provides: If any provision of an Act or statute or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act or statute which can be given effect without the invalid…”
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