Iowa Code » Chapter 611 — ACTIONS
Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 611.2 (2026)

Civil and special actions

✓ Iowa Code 2026 (laws through the 2025 session)
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1. A civil action is a proceeding in a court of justice in which one party, known as the plaintiff, demands against another party, known as the defendant, the enforcement or protection of a private right, or the prevention or redress of a private wrong. It may also be brought for the recovery of a penalty or forfeiture.

2. Every other proceeding in a civil case is a special action. [R60, §2606, 2607, 2609; C73, §2505, 2506; C97, §3425; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §10939; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §611.2] 2021 Acts, ch 76, §150 \n

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 19 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1946–2023 · leading case: O'Hara v. State, 642 N.W.2d 303 (Iowa 2002).
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O'Hara v. State, 642 N.W.2d 303 (Iowa 2002). · cites it 8× “Iowa Code § 611.2 . Judicial review of an agency action is a special action as recognized in section 611.”
Anderson v. W. Hodgeman & Sons, Inc., 524 N.W.2d 418 (Iowa 1994). · cites it 4× “See Iowa Code § 611.2 (1991). It is in all respects dependent upon the statutes which authorize its pursuit.”
Dakota v. Iowa Dist. Court for Louisa Cnty., 898 N.W.2d 127 (Iowa 2017). · cites it 3× “Section 611.2 defines a “civil action” as *137 [a] proceeding in a court of justice in which one party, known as the plaintiff, demands against another party, known as the defendant, the enforcement or protection of a private right, or the prevention or redress of a private…”
Iowa West Racing Ass'n v. Iowa Racing & Gaming Comm'n, 578 N.W.2d 663 (Iowa 1998). · cites it 4× “It is a special action as recognized in Iowa Code section 611.2. *665 See Anderson v. W. Hodgeman & Sons, Inc.”
Peterson v. Pittman, 391 N.W.2d 235 (Iowa 1986). · cites it 2× “Iowa Code § 611.2 (1985). Because no relief of any kind was.”
Mazzoli v. City of Des Moines, 63 N.W.2d 218 (Iowa 1954). · cites it 4× “Code section 611.2, I.C.A. The assumption by the majority that this was an "appellate" proceeding in the district court and not an original action is clearly unsupported by any authority except the naked language of the statute that calls it an "appeal.”
Chambers v. Dist. Court of Dubuque Cnty., 152 N.W.2d 818 (Iowa 1967). · cites it 2× “Under' section 611.2, -Code of Iowa, this is not' a civil action, but rather • a special proceeding.”
Matter of Oseing, 296 N.W.2d 797 (Iowa 1980). “766, 768 (1937); § 611.2, The Code. The nature of our review depends upon whether it is triable as an ordinary or equitable proceeding.”
Dickten Masch Plastics, LLC v. Williams, 199 F. Supp. 3d 1207 (S.D. Iowa 2016). · cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 611.2 ("A civil action is a proceeding in a court of justice in which one party, known as the plaintiff, demands against another party, known as the defendant, the enforcement or protection of a private right, or the prevention or redress of a private wrong.”
Melsha v. Tribune Pub. Co. of Cedar Rapids, 51 N.W.2d 425 (Iowa 1952). · cites it 2× “isting for a period'of years may be renewed from time to time for the same or shorter periods, or may be renewed to exist perpetually, if a majority of the votes cast at any regular election, or special election called for that purpose, at any time during the corporate life or…”
State v. One Certain Auto., 23 N.W.2d 847 (Iowa 1946). · cites it 2× “Section 611.2, Code, 1946 (section 10939, Code, 1939); State v.”
Soo Line R.R. v. Iowa Dep't of Transp., 501 N.W.2d 525 (Iowa 1993). · cites it 2× “Iowa Code § 611.2 (1991). Civil actions are in turn divided into two categories that are either ordinary or equitable.”
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