1. A peace officer may make an arrest under any of the following circumstances:
a. For a public offense committed or attempted in the peace officer’s presence.
b. Where a public offense has in fact been committed, and the peace officer has reasonable
grounds for believing that the person to be arrested has committed it.
c. Where the peace officer has reasonable grounds for believing that an indictable public
offense has been committed and has reasonable grounds for believing that the person to be
arrested has committed it.
d. Where the peace officer has received from the department of public safety, or from
any other peace officer of this state or any other state or the United States an official
communication by bulletin, radio, telegraph, telephone, or otherwise, informing the peace
officer that a warrant has been issued and is being held for the arrest of the person to be
arrested on a designated charge.
e. If the peace officer has reasonable grounds for believing that domestic abuse, as defined
in section 236.2, has occurred and has reasonable grounds for believing that the person to be
arrested has committed it.
f. As required by section 236.12, subsection 2.
\n
Tue Dec 09 21:54:27 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 804 (31, 0)
3 COMMENCEMENT OF ACTIONS — ARREST — DISPOSITIONS OF PRISONERS, §804.7B\n\n 2. A peace officer, as defined in section 801.4, shall have the authority to make an arrest
pursuant to subsection 1 anywhere within the state. However, a peace officer shall not
establish routine patrol outside of the jurisdiction of the peace officer’s employing agency.
[C51, §2840; R60, §4547, 4548; C73, §4199, 4200; C97, §5196; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §13468;
C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, §755.4; C79, 81, §804.7]
85 Acts, ch 175, §12; 86 Acts, ch 1179, §7; 2023 Acts, ch 42, §7
Referred to in §28J.7, 804.7A, 805.9
\n
Notes of Decisions
State v. Ceron, 573 N.W.2d 587 (Iowa 1997).
· cites it 32× “” Iowa Code § 804.7 (1). Iowa Code chapter 807 does not define “public offense.”
State v. Freeman, 705 N.W.2d 293 (Iowa 2005).
· cites it 8× “Iowa Code section 804.7(3) allows a peace officer to make an arrest without a warrant "[w]here the peace officer has reasonable ground for believing that an indictable public offense has been committed and has reasonable ground for believing that the person to be arrested has…”
Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 532 U.S. 318 (2001).
· cites it 2× “2000) (when the officer has probable cause to believe a person "is committing or attempting to commit a misdemeanor in the officer's presence"); Iowa Code § 804.7 (1) (1994) ("[f]or a public offense committed or attempted in the peace officer's presence"); Kan.”
State v. Adams, 554 N.W.2d 686 (Iowa 1996).
· cites it 5× “Iowa Code section 804.7(2) allows a police officer to arrest a person without a warrant where a public offense has been committed and the officer has reasonable grounds for believing the person arrested has committed it.”
Child. v. Burton, 331 N.W.2d 673 (Iowa 1983).
· cites it 4× “Iowa Code § 804.7 (3) (1979). Indecent exposure is a serious misdemeanor, section 709.”
Rickie Rilea & Timothy Riley v. Iowa Dep't of Transp., 919 N.W.2d 380 (Iowa 2018).
· cites it 3× “Additionally, although automated traffic enforcement has changed the playing field, at the time these statutes were written most traffic violations on public highways would have occurred in the presence of the person issuing the citation (if they were detected at all).”
Rife v. D.T. Corner, Inc., 641 N.W.2d 761 (Iowa 2002).
· cites it 2× “Rife acknowledged the employees and security officers acted in concert. The circumstances that permit peace officers to make an arrest without a warrant include the commission of a public offense in the presence of the peace officer.”
State v. Orozco, 573 N.W.2d 22 (Iowa 1997).
· cites it 6× “1 If section 804.7 is applicable, and we conclude that it is, subsection (e) of section 805.”
State v. Christopher, 757 N.W.2d 247 (Iowa 2008).
· cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 804.7 (1) (allowing an officer to make an arrest with or without a warrant “[f|or a public offense committed or attempted in the peace officer’s presence”).”
State v. Breuer, 577 N.W.2d 41 (Iowa 1998).
· cites it 2× “See also Iowa Code § 804.7 (listing instances where officer may make warrantless arrests).”
— Iowa Code § 804.7(1) — 8 cases
State v. Ceron, 573 N.W.2d 587 (Iowa 1997).
“” Iowa Code § 804.7 (1). Iowa Code chapter 807 does not define “public offense.”
State v. Orozco, 573 N.W.2d 22 (Iowa 1997).
“1 If section 804.7 is applicable, and we conclude that it is, subsection (e) of section 805.”
Rickie Rilea & Timothy Riley v. Iowa Dep't of Transp., 919 N.W.2d 380 (Iowa 2018).
“Additionally, although automated traffic enforcement has changed the playing field, at the time these statutes were written most traffic violations on public highways would have occurred in the presence of the person issuing the citation (if they were detected at all).”
— Iowa Code § 804.7(2) — 5 cases
State v. Adams, 554 N.W.2d 686 (Iowa 1996).
“Iowa Code section 804.7(2) allows a police officer to arrest a person without a warrant where a public offense has been committed and the officer has reasonable grounds for believing the person arrested has committed it.”
— Iowa Code § 804.7(3) — 8 cases
State v. Freeman, 705 N.W.2d 293 (Iowa 2005).
“Iowa Code section 804.7(3) allows a peace officer to make an arrest without a warrant "[w]here the peace officer has reasonable ground for believing that an indictable public offense has been committed and has reasonable ground for believing that the person to be arrested has…”
State v. Ceron, 573 N.W.2d 587 (Iowa 1997).
“” Iowa Code § 804.7 (1). Iowa Code chapter 807 does not define “public offense.”
— Iowa Code § 804.7(4) — 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.