Two-Year Statute of Limitations on Municipal Infractions Under Iowa Code §614.1(10)
Iowa Code §614.1(10) imposes a two-year statute of limitations for the commencement of an action for the recovery of a forfeiture or to enforce a penalty when prosecuted by a public body — and this has been applied to municipal-infraction collection actions, including parking citations prosecuted as civil municipal infractions under §364.22. Because most Iowa parking citations are civil municipal infractions (not criminal simple misdemeanors), a city or its collection agent that fails to file the §364.22 enforcement action in district court within two years of the alleged violation is time-barred. This is particularly powerful when an old parking ticket reappears years later through a vehicle-registration hold or a collection notice.
Legal basis
Iowa Code §614.1(10) (statute of limitations on penalties/forfeitures); §364.22 (municipal infractions); §321.40 (registration holds for unpaid citations)
Sample appeal wording
[DATE] [CITY] Parking Division and/or [COLLECTION AGENT] Re: Citation #[CITATION_NUMBER] — Violation Date [VIOLATION_DATE] The above citation is barred by the two-year statute of limitations in Iowa Code §614.1(10) and may not be enforced. 1. The cited violation occurred on [VIOLATION_DATE], more than two (2) years prior to today's date. 2. Iowa Code §614.1(10) provides that '[a]ctions to recover a forfeiture or to enforce a penalty when prosecuted by a public body' must be commenced within two years. 3. Parking citations prosecuted by Iowa cities are civil municipal infractions under Iowa Code §364.22 and thus penalties subject to §614.1(10). 4. A search of the Iowa Judicial Branch online docket reveals no §364.22 enforcement action filed by the City against me within the two-year window. Records request response from [DATE] confirms no timely filing. The City's attempt to collect this citation now — whether by registration hold under §321.40, demand letter, or referral to a collection agency — exceeds its statutory authority. I demand: (1) dismissal of the citation, (2) release of any vehicle-registration hold, and (3) recall of any negative collection report. Sincerely, [NAME]
Replace [PARKING DATE], [NtK DATE] etc. with your own dates before sending.
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- Iowa Code §614.1(10), §364.22, §321.40
- Iowa Judicial Branch Online Docket