The person having the appointing power as provided in this chapter, or the chief of police or
chief of the fire department, may, upon presentation of reasonable and just grounds for such
action to the subordinate in writing, peremptorily remove, discharge, demote, or suspend a
subordinate then under the person’s or chief’s direction due to any act or failure to act by
the employee that is in violation of law, city policies, or department rules, and is deemed
reasonably anticipated to be detrimental to the public. This section shall not be construed
to modify the rights, requirements, or procedures provided in section 400.8A or other rights,
requirements, or procedures provided by law.
[SS15, §1056-a32; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §5703; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, §365.19; C75,
77, 79, 81, §400.19]
86 Acts, ch 1138, §6; 2017 Acts, ch 2, §58, 64; 2025 Acts, ch 82, §5, 12
Referred to in §411.1, 411.6
2025 amendment effective August 16, 2025; 2025 Acts, ch 82, §12
Section amended
\n
Notes of Decisions
City of Sioux City v. Fairbanks, 287 N.W.2d 579 (Iowa 1980).
· cites it 14× “There is no indication that Fairbanks willfully participated in the theft of the tires; nor was definite proof such as serial numbers or other identification presented that the tires missing from the maintenance garage were those sold by Fairbanks' companion that night.”
Dolan v. Civil Serv. Com'n of Davenport, 634 N.W.2d 657 (Iowa 2001).
· cites it 8× “Accordingly, we are also entitled to modify the Commission’s decision on our de novo review if we conclude suspension was the more appropriate sanction in this case.”
City of Des Moines v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 513 N.W.2d 746 (Iowa 1994).
· cites it 12× “It claims the record contains substantial evidence supporting termination and that the district court erred by (1) substituting its findings for the chief's, (2) relying on evidence not before the chief when he made his decision, and (3) giving weight to expert testimony…”
Mccormack v. Civil Serv. Com'n, Etc., 315 N.W.2d 855 (Iowa Ct. App. 1981).
· cites it 14× “On May 16, 1979, pursuant to section 400.19, The Code, the chief sent a letter to the mayor of the city enumerating his reasons for the discharge.”
Sieg v. Civ. Serv. Com'n of West Des Moines, 342 N.W.2d 824 (Iowa 1983).
· cites it 4× “This power is separate from and independent of the authority of the appointing power or police chief to peremptorily suspend, demote, or discharge a subordinate officer for the same reasons.”
Bevel v. Civil Serv. Comm'n, 426 N.W.2d 380 (Iowa 1988).
· cites it 7× “See Iowa Code § 400.19 (1985). A recent legislative change rendered the additional approvals of the chief’s suspension unnecessary.”
Lewis v. Civil Svc. Com'n of City of Ames, 776 N.W.2d 859 (Iowa 2010).
· cites it 6× “*862 Section 400.19 allows the city manager 1 to “peremptorily suspend, demote, or discharge a subordinate then under the person’s .”
Merritt v. Council Bluffs Civil Serv. Comm'n, 458 N.W.2d 867 (Iowa Ct. App. 1990).
· cites it 8× “Iowa Code section 400.19 permits a chief of police to suspend, demote, or discharge a police officer for, among other reasons, disobedience or misconduct.”
Van Baale v. City of Des Moines, 550 N.W.2d 153 (Iowa 1996).
· cites it 2× “18 provides that civil service employees shall not be “removed, demoted, or suspended arbitrarily, except as otherwise provided in this chapter_” In turn, section 400.19 states: “[T]he chief of police .”
Millsap v. Cedar Rapids Civil Serv. Comm'n, 249 N.W.2d 679 (Iowa 1977).
· cites it 2× “19, Code 1973 (now renumbered section 400.19 of the 1975 *684 Code) and section 6 of rule 20 of the Cedar Rapids Police Department Rules and Regulations on the grounds of vagueness and overbreadth.”
Mahaffey v. Civil Serv. Com'n of City, 350 N.W.2d 184 (Iowa 1984).
· cites it 6× “19, which requires that notice of all reports of suspension, demotion, and discharges made by chiefs of police be given to the civil service commission regardless of whether the action recommended is ultimately confirmed by the mayor or whether formal appeal is taken to the…”
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.