Iowa Code
Iowa Code § 665.5 (2026)
Imprisonment
✓ current as of July 2026
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If the contempt consists in an omission to perform an act which is yet in the power of the person to perform, the person may be imprisoned until the person performs it. In that case the act to be performed must be specified in the warrant of the commitment. [C51, §1601; R60, §2691; C73, §3494; C97, §4463; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §12544; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §665.5]
\nNotes of Decisions
Cited in 12
cases, 1953–2015 · leading case: Amro v. Iowa Dist. Court for Story Cnty., 429 N.W.2d 135 (Iowa 1988).
Amro v. Iowa Dist. Court for Story Cnty., 429 N.W.2d 135 (Iowa 1988). “4 (1987) with Iowa Code § 665.5 (1987). Section 665.4 authorizes specific periods of incarceration as punishment for past acts of contempt.”
Wilson v. Fenton, 312 N.W.2d 524 (Iowa 1981). “Section 665.5 provides: If the contempt consists in an omission to perform an act which is yet in the power of the person to perform, he may be imprisoned until he performs it.”
Ickowitz v. Iowa Dist. Court for Polk Cnty., 452 N.W.2d 446 (Iowa 1990). “Where a finding of contempt is based on disobedience of a court's order, our cases recognize that a court may impose punitive sanctions under section 665.”
State v. Longstreet, 407 N.W.2d 591 (Iowa 1987). “” Iowa Code § 665.5 . Implicit in that language is authority to continue the trial of the contemnors already held in pretrial confinement until they furnish the evidence required by court order.”
Christensen v. Iowa Dist. Court for Polk Cnty., 578 N.W.2d 675 (Iowa 1998). “) Section 665.5 provides for an indeterminate term of incarceration where imprisonment is used to coerce compliance with a court order.”
Phillips v. Iowa Dist. Court for Johnson Cnty., 380 N.W.2d 706 (Iowa 1986). “Imprisonment under section 665.5 is a coercive remedial sanction.”
Nystrom v. Dist. Court Ex Rel. Woodbury Cnty., 58 N.W.2d 40 (Iowa 1953). “Section 665.5, Iowa Code, 1950, certainly contemplates that the remedy by imprisonment for contempt is for the purpose, not of punishing *739 past default, but of compelling payment: “If the contempt consists in an omission to perform an act which is yet in the power of the…”
Upon the Petition of Brandy Marie Myers, & Concerning, Todd Alan Cosby, 874 N.W.2d 679 (Iowa Ct. App. 2015). “4 ; see also Iowa Code § 665.5 (allowing imprisonment as coercive contempt punishment).”
Scully v. Iowa Dist. Court for Polk Cnty., 489 N.W.2d 389 (Iowa 1992). “However, purely coercive sanctions are those based on Iowa Code section 665.5. See Amro v. Iowa Disk Court, 429 N.”
Gimzo v. Iowa Dist. Court for Hardin Cnty., 561 N.W.2d 833 (Iowa Ct. App. 1997). “Iowa Code section 665.5 provides: If the contempt consists in an omission to perform an act which is yet in the power of the person to perform, the person may be imprisoned until the person performs it.”
Medina v. Iowa Dist. Court for Woodbury Cnty., 552 N.W.2d 140 (Iowa 1996). “Iowa Code section 665.5 specifically authorizes a district court to incarcerate a contemner for an indefinite period to coerce compliance with its order when “the contempt consists in an omission to perform an act which is yet in the power of the person to perform.”
Harris v. Iowa Dist. Court for Cherokee Cnty., 584 N.W.2d 562 (Iowa 1998). “4 for past disobedience, impose coercive remedial sanctions under section 665.5 to encourage performance of affirmative acts required by the order, or impose both punitive and coercive remedial sanctions.”
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