Iowa Code » Chapter 716 — DAMAGE AND TRESPASS TO PROPERTY
Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 716.5 (2026)

Criminal mischief in the third degree

✓ current as of July 2026
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1. Criminal mischief is criminal mischief in the third degree if any of the following apply:

a. The cost of replacing, repairing, or restoring the property that is damaged, defaced, altered, or destroyed exceeds seven hundred fifty dollars, but does not exceed one thousand five hundred dollars.

b. The property is a deed, will, commercial paper or any civil or criminal process or other instrument having legal effect.

c. The act consists of rendering substantially less effective than before any light, signal, obstruction, barricade, or guard which has been placed or erected for the purpose of enclosing any unsafe or dangerous place or of alerting persons to an unsafe or dangerous condition.

d. The person intentionally disinters human remains from a burial site without lawful authority.

e. The person intentionally disinters human remains that have state and national significance from an historical or scientific standpoint for the inspiration and benefit of the United States without the permission of the state archaeologist.

f. The act is committed upon property that consists of a device that has the ability to process a payment card as defined in section 715A.10.

2. Criminal mischief in the third degree is an aggravated misdemeanor. [C51, §2638, 2714, 2746; R60, §4265, 4356, 4396; C73, §3929, 4017, 4075; C97, §4865, 4945, 5043; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §13050, 13100, 13148; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, §713.5, 714.21, 718.10; C79, 81, §716.5] 83 Acts, ch 99, §1; 92 Acts, ch 1060, §10; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §169; 2018 Acts, ch 1011, §2; 2019 Acts, ch 140, §20 Referred to in §523I.316, 716.6A, 717A.3, 911.5 \n

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 14 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1981–2025 · leading case: Hunziker v. State, 519 N.W.2d 367 (Iowa 1994).
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Hunziker v. State, 519 N.W.2d 367 (Iowa 1994). · cites it 4× “Section 716.5(2) provides that a person commits criminal mischief in the third degree when the person [i]ntentionally disinters human remains that have state and national significance from an historical or scientific standpoint for the inspiration and benefit of the United…”
State v. Birch, 306 N.W.2d 781 (Iowa 1981). · cites it 2× “Defendant Daniel Ray Birch appeals from judgment entered on his guilty plea to a charge of criminal mischief in the third degree in violation of section 716.5, The Code. The questions concern the sufficiency of his notice of appeal and the remedy for the trial court’s failure to…”
State v. Wynn (Iowa Ct. App. 2018). · cites it 8× “The purpose of section 716.5 is to categorize the seriousness of the criminal-mischief offense.”
State of Iowa v. Loren Patrick Cramblit (Iowa Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 4× “” Iowa Code § 716.5 (2). Section 903.1(2) provides: When a person is convicted of an aggravated misdemeanor, and a specific penalty is not provided for, the maximum penalty shall be imprisonment not to exceed two years.”
State of Iowa v. Deshaun Alvin Smith (Iowa Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 4× “See Iowa Code §§ 716.5 (1)(a), .6(1)(a). The State insists Smith did not suffer prejudice because the value-of-the- property instruction told the jury “that the value they placed on the damage to the car had to be ‘reasonable.”
Hubert Todd, Jr., Applicant-Appellant v. State of Iowa (Iowa Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 2× “5, 2014); compare Iowa Code § 716.5 (2) (“Criminal mischief in the third degree is an aggravated misdeameanor.”
State of Iowa v. Major Calvin Moore Jr. (Iowa Ct. App. 2020). · cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 716.5 (2017). On April 26, 2018, the district court entered its order sentencing him to a term of incarceration not to exceed two years and imposed a fine, costs, and restitution.”
State of Iowa v. Jameesha Renae Allen (Iowa Ct. App. 2021). · cites it 2× “The original trial information charged Allen with third-degree criminal mischief, an aggravated misdemeanor, in violation of Iowa Code section 716.5 (2019) and assault causing bodily injury, a serious misdemeanor, in violation of Iowa Code section 708.”
State of Iowa v. Matthew William Chindlund (Iowa Ct. App. 2021). · cites it 2× “2(3) (2020), and to criminal mischief in the third degree, an aggravated misdemeanor in violation of Iowa Code section 716.5. He asked the court to accept his pleas and waived his rights to personally appear before the court and to have the court address him personally.”
State of Iowa v. Jameesha Renae Allen (Iowa 2021). · cites it 2× “2(2) (2019), and third-degree criminal mischief, an aggravated misdemeanor, in violation of Iowa Code section 716.5. On the first day of trial, the State dismissed the criminal mischief count and moved to amend the charge of assault causing bodily injury to assault while using…”
State of Iowa v. Sylvester Lavelle Trotter (Iowa Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 2× “7(1) and (2); third-degree criminal mischief, an aggravated misdemeanor, in violation of section 716.5; driving while barred, an aggravated misdemeanor, in violation of section 321.”
State of Iowa v. David Lee Polkinghorn (Iowa Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 2× “He pled guilty to criminal mischief in the third degree, an aggravated misdemeanor in violation of Iowa Code section 716.5 (2022). At sentencing, the State and Polkinghorn both recommended a sentence of 365 days in jail with 360 days suspended.”
Show all 14 citing cases →
— Iowa Code § 716.5(1)(a) — 2 cases
State v. Wynn (Iowa Ct. App. 2018). “The purpose of section 716.5 is to categorize the seriousness of the criminal-mischief offense.”
State of Iowa v. Trenton David Barnett (Iowa Ct. App. 2025).
— Iowa Code § 716.5(2) — 1 case
Hunziker v. State, 519 N.W.2d 367 (Iowa 1994). “Section 716.5(2) provides that a person commits criminal mischief in the third degree when the person [i]ntentionally disinters human remains that have state and national significance from an historical or scientific standpoint for the inspiration and benefit of the United…”
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