Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 657.1 (2026)

Nuisance — what constitutes — action to abate — electric utility defense

✓ current as of July 2026
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1. Whatever is injurious to health, indecent, or unreasonably offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as essentially to interfere unreasonably with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property, is a nuisance, and a civil action by ordinary proceedings may be brought to enjoin and abate the nuisance and to recover damages sustained on account of the nuisance. A petition filed under this subsection shall include the legal description of the real property upon which the nuisance is located unless the nuisance is not situated on or confined to a parcel of real property or is portable or capable of being removed from the real property. 2. Notwithstanding subsection 1, in an action to abate a nuisance against an electric utility, an electric utility may assert a defense of comparative fault as set out in section 668.3 if the electric utility demonstrates that in the course of providing electric services to its customers it has complied with engineering and safety standards as adopted by the utilities commission, and if the electric utility has secured all permits and approvals, as required by state law and local ordinances, necessary to perform activities alleged to constitute a nuisance. [C51, §2131 – 2133; R60, §3713 – 3715; C73, §3331; C97, §4302; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §12395; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §657.1] 95 Acts, ch 195, §34; 2004 Acts, ch 1077, §1; 2005 Acts, ch 3, §108; 2010 Acts, ch 1050, §8; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §2698; 2024 Acts, ch 1170, §369

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Notes of Decisions
Goodell v. Humboldt Cnty., 575 N.W.2d 486 (Iowa 1998). · cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 657.1 . Section 657.11 places limitations on such actions when filed against animal feeding operations: 2.”
Dalarna Farms Vs. Access Energy Coop., 792 N.W.2d 656 (Iowa 2010). · cites it 3× “Iowa Code § 657.1 (2005) (emphasis add *660 ed).”
Chemsol, LLC v. City of Sibley, 386 F. Supp. 3d 1000 (N.D. Iowa 2019). · cites it 3× “See Iowa Code §§ 657.1 (1) (nuisance defined), 657.”
Martins v. Interstate Power Co., 652 N.W.2d 657 (Iowa 2002). · cites it 2× “1 defines nuisance and provides for civil remedies: Whatever is injurious to health, indecent, offensive to the senses, or an obstruction to the free use of property, so as essentially to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property, is a nuisance, and a civil…”
Rutter v. Carroll's Foods of the Midwest, Inc., 50 F. Supp. 2d 876 (N.D. Iowa 1999). · cites it 4× “” Iowa Code § 657.1 ; see also § 657.2 (identifying specific nuisances).”
Miller v. Rohling, 720 N.W.2d 562 (Iowa 2006). “We apply the following rules and analysis in determining whether one’s use of his property constitutes a nuisance: Whether a lawful business is a nuisance depends on the reasonableness of conducting the business in the manner, at the place, and under the circumstances in…”
Laurie Freeman, Sharon Mockmore, Beccy Boysel, Gary D. Boysel, Linda L. Goreham, Gary R. Goreham, Kelcey Brackett, & Bobbie Lynn Weatherman v. Grain Processing Corp., 848 N.W.2d 58 (Iowa 2014). “See Iowa Code § 657.1 . We have long held that the statutory nuisance provisions of Iowa Code chapter 657 do not modify the common law of nuisance but supplement it.”
Woody v. MacHin, 380 N.W.2d 727 (Iowa 1986). · cites it 2× “We find no merit in plaintiffs' challenge to the court's order concerning costs.”
Wilma Jean Kellogg v. City of Albia, Iowa, 908 N.W.2d 822 (Iowa 2018). “" Iowa Code § 657.1 (1). The nuisance statute "does not supersede common law nuisance," but rather expands upon it.”
Williams Pipe Line Co. v. Bayer Corp., 964 F. Supp. 1300 (S.D. Iowa 1997). “Iowa Code § 657.1 (1995). The statutory definition of nuisance does not modify the common-law rules regarding nuisance.”
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.