1. a. A person commits interference with official acts when the person knowingly
resists or obstructs anyone known by the person to be a peace officer, jailer, emergency
medical care provider under chapter 147A, medical examiner, or fire fighter, whether paid
or volunteer, or a person performing bailiff duties pursuant to section 602.1303, subsection
3, in the performance of any act which is within the scope of the lawful duty or authority of
that officer, jailer, emergency medical care provider under chapter 147A, medical examiner,
or fire fighter, whether paid or volunteer, or a person performing bailiff duties pursuant
to section 602.1303, subsection 3, or who knowingly resists or obstructs the service or
execution by any authorized person of any civil or criminal process or order of any court.
b. Interference with official acts is a simple misdemeanor. In addition to any other
penalties, the punishment imposed under this paragraph shall include assessment of a fine
of not less than two hundred fifty dollars.
c. If a person commits interference with official acts, as defined in this subsection, which
results in bodily injury, the person commits a serious misdemeanor.
d. If a person commits interference with official acts, as defined in this subsection, which
results in serious injury, the person commits an aggravated misdemeanor.
e. If a person commits interference with official acts, as defined in this subsection, and in
so doing inflicts bodily injury other than serious injury, that person commits an aggravated
misdemeanor.
f. If a person commits interference with official acts, as defined in this subsection, and
in so doing inflicts or attempts to inflict serious injury, or displays a dangerous weapon, as
defined in section 702.7, or is armed with a firearm, that person commits a class “D” felony.
2. a. A person under the custody, control, or supervision of the department of corrections
commits interference with official acts when the person knowingly resists, obstructs, or
interferes with a correctional officer, agent, employee, or contractor, whether paid or
volunteer, in the performance of the person’s official duties.
b. Interference with official acts in violation of this subsection is a serious misdemeanor.
c. If a person violates this subsection and in so doing commits an assault, as defined in
section 708.1, the person commits an aggravated misdemeanor.
d. If a person violates this subsection and the violation results in bodily injury to another,
the person commits an aggravated misdemeanor.
e. If a person violates this subsection and the violation results in serious injury to another,
the person commits a class “D” felony.
f. If a person violates this subsection and in so doing inflicts or attempts to inflict bodily
injury other than serious injury to another, displays a dangerous weapon, as defined in section
702.7, or is armed with a firearm, the person commits a class “D” felony.
g. If a person violates this subsection and uses or attempts to use a dangerous weapon, as
defined in section 702.7, or inflicts serious injury to another, the person commits a class “C”
felony.
3. The terms “resist” and “obstruct”, as used in this section, do not include verbal\n\nTue Dec 09 21:55:48 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 719 (30, 0)
§719.1, OBSTRUCTING JUSTICE 2\n\nharassment unless the verbal harassment is accompanied by a present ability and apparent
intention to execute a verbal threat physically.
4. The term “jailer” as used in this section means the same as defined in section 708.3A.
[C51, §2669; R60, §4296; C73, §3960; C97, §4899; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §13331; C46, 50, 54,
58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, §742.1; C79, 81, §719.1]
84 Acts, ch 1246, §4; 91 Acts, ch 219, §22; 95 Acts, ch 90, §4; 96 Acts, ch 1034, §63; 99 Acts,
ch 153, §21; 2013 Acts, ch 52, §3; 2013 Acts, ch 90, §202; 2014 Acts, ch 1026, §136; 2016 Acts,
ch 1027, §1, 2; 2017 Acts, ch 42, §1; 2021 Acts, ch 173, §2
Referred to in §29A.42
\n
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
174
cases (
49 in the last 5 years), 1946–2026 · leading case:
McCabe v. MacAulay, 551 F. Supp. 2d 771 (N.D. Iowa 2007).
McCabe v. MacAulay, 551 F. Supp. 2d 771 (N.D. Iowa 2007).
· cites it 18× “Iowa Code § 719.1 (1) Iowa Code section 719.”
State v. Legg, 633 N.W.2d 763 (Iowa 2001).
· cites it 8× “” Iowa Code § 719.1 . Legg’s conduct in speeding up her car, running a stop sign, driving to her home, and retreating into her garage, after officer Killpack had started to pursue her with his lights activated, gave Killpack reasonable grounds to believe that Legg was knowingly…”
State Of Iowa Vs. Colby Alan Palmer, 791 N.W.2d 840 (Iowa 2010).
· cites it 8× “Iowa Code § 719.1 (2). However, after properly delineating the elements of this crime, the instruction erroneously states the name of the crime by referring to it as, interference with an official act causing bodily injury in the first full paragraph after numbered paragraph…”
State v. Brecunier, 564 N.W.2d 365 (Iowa 1997).
· cites it 18× “See Iowa Code § 719.1 . Two pretrial motions, denied by the court, form the basis of this appeal.”
State v. Buchanan, 549 N.W.2d 291 (Iowa 1996).
· cites it 10× “” Iowa Code § 719.1 (emphasis added). In accordance with this statute, the court instructed the jury that the State was required to prove the following elements of the offense: 1.”
State v. Smithson, 594 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa 1999).
· cites it 16× “Iowa Code § 719.1 (1). In discussing this language, two commentators who participated in the 1978 Code revision state: The language of [section 719.”
Larenzo Irvin v. Tyler Richardson, 20 F.4th 1199 (8th Cir. 2021).
· cites it 3× “Fifteen minutes later, Richardson arrested Bates for interference with official acts in violation of Iowa Code § 719.1 (1). Irvin and Bates filed administrative complaints with the Cedar Rapids Police Department, which ruled them unfounded, and these § 1983 actions.”
State v. Olson, 86 N.W.2d 214 (Iowa 1958).
· cites it 14× “Gibson, in violation of section 719.1, Code, 1950. Hassett and Gibson were county employees.”
State v. Lewis, 675 N.W.2d 516 (Iowa 2004).
· cites it 4× “When these two individuals failed to comply with the officer's commands to stop, these individuals committed the crime of interference with official acts under Iowa Code section 719.1. Therefore, the State argues the entry on the property was in hot pursuit of these individuals.”
State v. Hauan, 361 N.W.2d 336 (Iowa Ct. App. 1984).
· cites it 8× “Iowa Code § 719.1 (1983). The defendant contends that the word "resist" means the same thing as "obstruct.”
State v. Bumpus, 459 N.W.2d 619 (Iowa 1990).
· cites it 4× “The trial court further stated that Bumpus’s resistance constituted a violation of Iowa Code section 719.1 (1987). The trial court’s ruling indicates that the court viewed the search of the pouch as a proper search incident to arrest based on the violation of section 719.”
— Iowa Code § 719.1(1) — 21 cases
McCabe v. MacAulay, 551 F. Supp. 2d 771 (N.D. Iowa 2007).
“Iowa Code § 719.1 (1) Iowa Code section 719.”
State v. Legg, 633 N.W.2d 763 (Iowa 2001).
“” Iowa Code § 719.1 . Legg’s conduct in speeding up her car, running a stop sign, driving to her home, and retreating into her garage, after officer Killpack had started to pursue her with his lights activated, gave Killpack reasonable grounds to believe that Legg was knowingly…”
— Iowa Code § 719.1(1)(a) — 10 cases
— Iowa Code § 719.1(1)(b) — 10 cases
— Iowa Code § 719.1(1)(c) — 8 cases
— Iowa Code § 719.1(1)(d) — 2 cases
— Iowa Code § 719.1(1)(e) — 2 cases
— Iowa Code § 719.1(1)(f) — 9 cases
— Iowa Code § 719.1(2) — 4 cases
State Of Iowa Vs. Colby Alan Palmer, 791 N.W.2d 840 (Iowa 2010).
“Iowa Code § 719.1 (2). However, after properly delineating the elements of this crime, the instruction erroneously states the name of the crime by referring to it as, interference with an official act causing bodily injury in the first full paragraph after numbered paragraph…”
— Iowa Code § 719.1(f) — 1 case
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.