A person who is the father, mother, or some other person having custody of a child, or of any
other person who by reason of mental or physical disability is not able to care for the person’s
self, who knowingly or recklessly exposes such person to a hazard or danger against which
such person cannot reasonably be expected to protect such person’s self or who deserts or
abandons such person, knowing or having reason to believe that the person will be exposed
to such hazard or danger, commits a class “C” felony. However, a parent or person authorized
by the parent shall not be prosecuted for a violation of this section involving abandonment of
a newborn infant, if the parent or the person authorized by the parent has voluntarily released
custody of the newborn infant in accordance with section 233.2.
[C51, §2589; R60, §4212; C73, §3870; C97, §4766; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §13236; C46, 50, 54,
58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, §731.7; C79, 81, §726.3]
2001 Acts, ch 67, §11, 13; 2002 Acts, ch 1119, §103
Referred to in §135B.34, 135C.33, 152.5A, 233.3, 252B.7, 600B.29, 726.4, 915.37\n\n 726.4 Husband or wife may be witness.
In all prosecutions under section 726.3, 726.5 or 726.6, the husband or wife is a competent
witness for the state and may testify to relevant acts or communications between them.
[S13, §4775-b; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §13231; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, §731.2;
C79, 81, §726.4]
83 Acts, ch 37, §6
Referred to in §600B.29
\n
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
40
cases (
10 in the last 5 years), 1980–2026 · leading case:
State v. Johnson, 528 N.W.2d 638 (Iowa 1995).
State v. Johnson, 528 N.W.2d 638 (Iowa 1995).
· cites it 32× “The State filed a trial information against Paula charging her with: (1) neglect or abandonment of a dependent person, in violation of Iowa Code section 726.3 (1993); (2) assault with intent to inflict serious injury, in violation of Iowa Code sections 708.”
In the Interest of M.W. & Z.W., Minor Child., R.W., Mother, 876 N.W.2d 212 (Iowa 2016).
· cites it 4× “was charged with three counts of neglect of a dependent person in violation of Iowa Code section 726.3, one count of child endangerment resulting in the death of a child in violation of Iowa Code section 726.”
State v. Leckington, 713 N.W.2d 208 (Iowa 2006).
· cites it 5× “6(4) (2003), neglect of a dependent person in violation of section 726.3, and providing alcohol to a minor resulting in serious injury in violation of section 123.”
State v. Leckington, 713 N.W.2d 218 (Iowa 2006).
· cites it 12× “See Iowa Code §§ 726.3 , .6 (2003). The State charged Sandra with the same crimes, and with the additional charge of providing alcohol to a minor resulting in serious injury.”
State v. Petithory, 702 N.W.2d 854 (Iowa 2005).
· cites it 4× “” Iowa Code § 726.3 . The alleged hazard or danger was Champoux and Petithory himself — two “illegal drug using parents.”
United States v. Vaughan, 58 M.J. 29 (C.A.A.F. 2003).
· cites it 2× “” Iowa Code § 726.3 (1996). B. “knowingly acts in a manner that creates a substantial risk to a child or minor's physical, mental or emotional health or safety .”
State v. Anspach, 627 N.W.2d 227 (Iowa 2001).
· cites it 2× “6 is broader than section 726.3 [which just talks about custody].”
State v. Anderson, 636 N.W.2d 26 (Iowa 2001).
· cites it 2× “This section provides: "In all prosecutions under section 726.3, 726.5 or 726.6, the husband or wife is a competent witness for the [S]tate and may testify to relevant acts or communications between them.”
State v. Johnson, 318 N.W.2d 417 (Iowa 1982).
· cites it 2× “the same day by arresting defendant on the abandonment charge, and also for carrying a concealed weapon.”
State v. Friend, 630 N.W.2d 843 (Iowa Ct. App. 2001).
· cites it 4× “2d 638 (Iowa 1995), the court was asked to decide the meaning of “custody” in Iowa Code section 726.3, a related provision addressing harm to children or other dependent persons.”
State v. Caskey, 539 N.W.2d 176 (Iowa 1995).
· cites it 6× “Tanya Janean Caskey appeals from her conviction, following a bench trial, for neglect of a dependent person, a class “C” felony, in violation of Iowa Code section 726.3 (1993). Caskey contends she was convicted under the wrong statute.”
State v. Wilson, 287 N.W.2d 587 (Iowa 1980).
· cites it 2× “6, the General Assembly also enacted related section 726.3 of the 1977 Code Supplement: A person who is the father, mother, or some other person having custody of a child, or of any other person who by reason of mental or physical disability is not able to care for himself or…”
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.