Being Arrested
Iowa Code § 804.20 — a call to family or a lawyer, without unnecessary delay after reaching the jail
- A peace officer may arrest for a public offense committed or attempted in the officer's presence, or on reasonable grounds to believe the person committed an indictable offense.
- The officer may also arrest on reasonable grounds to believe the person committed domestic abuse.
- The person making an arrest tells the person of the intention to arrest, the reason, and that the arrester is a peace officer, unless the person is in the act of an offense or escapes.
- An officer acting on a warrant need not have it in hand, but shows it as soon as possible on request, or says that a warrant has been issued.
A call to family or a lawyer. Whoever has custody of an arrested person permits the person, without unnecessary delay after arriving at the place of detention, to call, consult and see a family member or a lawyer, and to make a reasonable number of calls to secure a lawyer. A lawyer may see the person alone and in private. A violation is a simple misdemeanor.
A bailable defendant is released on personal recognizance or an unsecured appearance bond, unless the magistrate decides that will not reasonably assure appearance or will jeopardize someone's safety, and then the least of the listed conditions that will do.
Several rules about an arrest come from the Supreme Court of the United States rather than from this state's code. It has held that before questioning a person in custody, officers must warn that the person may remain silent, that anything said can be used against them, and that they have a right to a lawyer, appointed if they cannot afford one; that a person arrested without a warrant is entitled to a prompt decision by a judge on whether there was probable cause; and that officers generally need a warrant to search the data on a phone taken from a person they arrested. Those holdings are a floor: a state's own constitution and statutes can give more protection than they do, never less.
Sources for this section (7)
- Iowa Code § 804.7 — Arrests by peace officers
- Iowa Code § 804.14 — Manner of making arrest — warrant
- Iowa Code § 804.20 — Communications by arrested persons
- Iowa Code § 811.2 — Conditions of release — penalty for failure to appear
- Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966) — Right to remain silent and to counsel during custodial interrogation
- County of Riverside v. McLaughlin, 500 U.S. 44 (1991) — Probable cause review generally within 48 hours of a warrantless arrest
- Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014) — Police need a warrant to search a phone seized during an arrest
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Iowa attorney.