Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 901.4 (2026)

Presentence investigation report confidential — access

✓ current as of July 2026
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The presentence investigation report is confidential and the court shall provide safeguards to ensure its confidentiality, including but not limited to sealing the report, which may be opened only by further court order. The defendant’s attorney and the attorney for the state shall have access to the presentence investigation report at least three days prior to the date set for sentencing. The defendant’s appellate attorney and the appellate attorney for the state shall have access to the presentence investigation report upon request and without the necessity of a court order. The report shall remain confidential except upon court order. However, the court may conceal the identity of the person who provided confidential\n\nTue Dec 09 21:52:34 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 901 (36, 0) 3 JUDGMENT AND SENTENCING PROCEDURES, §901.5\n\ninformation. The report of a medical examination or psychological or psychiatric evaluation shall be made available to the attorney for the state and to the defendant upon request. The reports are part of the record but shall be sealed and opened only on order of the court. If the defendant is committed to the custody of the Iowa department of corrections and is not a class “A” felon, an employee of the department, if authorized by the director of the department, an employee of a judicial district department of correctional services, if authorized by the director of the judicial district department of correctional services, and an employee of the board of parole, if authorized by the chairperson or a member of the board of parole, shall have access to the presentence investigation report. Pursuant to section 904.602, the presentence investigation report may also be released by ordinary or electronic mail by the department of corrections or a judicial district department of correctional services to another jurisdiction for the purpose of providing interstate probation and parole compact or interstate compact for adult offender supervision services or evaluations, or to a substance use disorder or mental health services provider when referring a defendant for services. The defendant or the defendant’s attorney may file with the presentence investigation report, a denial or refutation of the allegations, or both, contained in the report. The denial or refutation shall be included in the report. [C75, 77, §789A.5; C79, 81, §901.4] 83 Acts, ch 38, §3; 83 Acts, ch 96, §124, 159, 160; 89 Acts, ch 279, §7; 98 Acts, ch 1095, §1; 98 Acts, ch 1169, §17; 99 Acts, ch 112, §20; 2003 Acts, 1st Ex, ch 2, §50, 209; 2004 Acts, ch 1101, §92; 2004 Acts, ch 1106, §1; 2004 Acts, ch 1175, §465, 468; 2005 Acts, ch 171, §6; 2006 Acts, ch 1007, §1; 2010 Acts, ch 1159, §16; 2021 Acts, ch 11, §5; 2023 Acts, ch 19, §1323 Referred to in §216A.136

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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 22 cases (6 in the last 5 years), 1979–2026 · leading case: State of Iowa v. Sean David Gordon, 921 N.W.2d 19 (Iowa 2018).
State of Iowa v. Sean David Gordon, 921 N.W.2d 19 (Iowa 2018). · cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 901.4 ("The defendant or the defendant's attorney may file with the presentence investigation report, a denial or refutation of the allegations, or both, contained in the report.”
State v. Ashley, 462 N.W.2d 279 (Iowa 1990). · cites it 4× “” Under section 901.4, the court must in turn make available to defense counsel all of the presentence investigation information at least three days prior to the date set for sentencing.”
State v. Braun, 460 N.W.2d 454 (Iowa 1990). · cites it 13× “Approximately a year after sentencing, Braun requested that the district court provide him with a copy of the presentence investigation report which had been used at sentencing, pursuant to Iowa Code section 901.4 (1987). The court refused, and Braun appealed.”
State v. Dake, 545 N.W.2d 895 (Iowa Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 4× “In pertinent part, section 901.4 provides: At least three days prior to the date set for sentencing, the court shall serve all of the presentence investigation report upon the defendant’s attorney and the attorney for the state, and the report shall remain confidential except…”
State v. Parker, 992 A.2d 1103 (Conn. 2010). “§ 35-38-1-12 (a) (LexisNexis 1998); Iowa Code Ann. § 901.4 (West Cum. Sup. 2009); Kan.”
State of Iowa v. Soji Itunu Olutunde, 878 N.W.2d 264 (Iowa 2016). “504(l)(a)(6) (providing that protective orders may “be opened only by order of the court”); of. Iowa Ct. R. 8.32(1) (providing records for judicial waiver of parental notification of abortion records “shall be kept sealed and opened only as necessary for the conduct of…”
State v. Albers, 758 N.W.2d 411 (Neb. Ct. App. 2008). “§ 35-38-1-12 (a) (LexisNexis 1998); Iowa Code Ann. § 901.4 (West 2008); Kan. Stat.”
State v. Wenzel, 306 N.W.2d 769 (Iowa 1981). “§ 901.4. Defendants waived speedy trial and did not urge any loss of speedy trial rights as a ground for requiring the court to keep its promise to accept the agreements.”
State v. Ludley, 465 N.W.2d 912 (Iowa Ct. App. 1990). · cites it 2× “Both defendant’s counsel and defendant addressed the sentencing court concerning what they believed were deficiencies or weaknesses in that report.”
State v. Spence, 282 N.W.2d 131 (Iowa 1979). · cites it 2× “A similar provision can now be found at section 901.4, The Code 1979. In State v.”
State of Iowa v. Michael John Majerus (Iowa Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 18× “The State acknowledged Iowa Code section 901.4 provides that a PSI is confidential and requested a court order allowing the State to provide a copy of the PSI to Majerus as part of its required disclosure.”
State of Iowa v. Abraham Ramirez (Iowa Ct. App. 2021). · cites it 12× “Iowa Code section 901.4 affords the defense two rights: (1) access to the PSI at least three days before sentencing; and (2) an opportunity to file “a denial or refutation of the allegations, or both, contained in the report.”
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.