Iowa Code
Iowa Code § 702.12 (2026)
Occupied structure
✓ current as of July 2026
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An “occupied structure” is any building, structure, appurtenances to buildings and structures, land, water or air vehicle, or similar place adapted for overnight accommodation of persons, or occupied by persons for the purpose of carrying on business or other activity therein, or for the storage or safekeeping of anything of value. Such a structure is an “occupied structure” whether or not a person is actually present. However, for purposes of chapter 713, a box, chest, safe, changer, or other object or device which is adapted or used for the deposit or storage of anything of value but which is too small or not designed to allow a person to physically enter or occupy it is not an “occupied structure”. [C79, 81, §702.12] 84 Acts, ch 1247, §1
\nNotes of Decisions
Cited in 86
cases (9 in the last 5 years), 1980–2026 · leading case: State of Iowa v. Dontay Dakwon Sanford, 814 N.W.2d 611 (Iowa 2012).
State of Iowa v. Dontay Dakwon Sanford, 814 N.W.2d 611 (Iowa 2012). “Iowa Code § 702.12 . Mills’ Dodge Stratus is clearly a land vehicle.”
State of Iowa v. David Howard Rooney, 862 N.W.2d 367 (Iowa 2015). “Iowa Code § 702.12 (2011). While the legislature has expanded the scope of burglary, it has also developed different degrees of burglary with graduated criminal penalties.”
Mathis v. United States, 195 L. Ed. 2d 604 (2016). “” Iowa Code §702.12 . Under Iowa law, that list of plac- es does not set out alternative elements, but rather alternative means of fulfilling a single locational element.”
State v. Hill, 449 N.W.2d 626 (Iowa 1989). “’ ” Iowa Code § 702.12 (1987). The fenced enclosure at issue in this case is not specifically excluded from the definition of “occupied structure” as defined by this additional sentence, since it is clearly large enough and designed to be physically entered and occupied by…”
United States v. Michael Herrold, 883 F.3d 517 (5th Cir. 2018). “Iowa Code § 702.12 (2013). 136 S.Ct. at 2250 .”
State v. Pace, 602 N.W.2d 764 (Iowa 1999). “Iowa Code § 702.12 (1985). Thus, our legislature not only expanded the burglary statute to include buildings, structures, vehicles, and similar places, but “appurtenances to buildings and structures,” as long as the protected place was also “adapted for overnight accommodation…”
United States v. Stitt, 139 S. Ct. 399 (2018). “" Iowa Code § 702.12 (2013). Courts have construed that statute to cover ordinary vehicles because they can be used for storage or safekeeping.”
United States v. Titties, 852 F.3d 1257 (10th Cir. 2017). “6 See Iowa Code § 702.12 . So Mathis had its answer at the start of its analysis—its conclusion was “easy” because “a state court decision definitively answer[ed] the question.”
United States v. Victor Stitt, 860 F.3d 854 (6th Cir. 2017). “” Iowa Code § 702.12 (2013). Nonetheless, the Mathis Court explained that Iowa’s burglary statute did not categorically qualify as generic burglary because it criminalized the entry of “land, water, or air vehicle[s].”
United States v. Nathan E. Gundy, 842 F.3d 1156 (11th Cir. 2016). “” Iowa Code § 702.12 . In Mathis, the Supreme Court concluded that the Iowa burglary statute in § 713.”
State v. Wills, 696 N.W.2d 20 (Iowa 2005). “The Code defines an “occupied structure” as: [A]ny building, structure, appurtenances to buildings and structures, land, water or air' vehicle, or similar place adapted for overnight accommodation of persons, or occupied by persons for the purpose of carrying on business or…”
United States v. Hamilton, 889 F.3d 688 (10th Cir. 2018). “1 , which gets its definitions from Iowa Code § 702.12 -§ 1435 includes a list of locations where the perpetrator could break and enter to commit a burglary.”
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