Iowa Code 331.653 – General duties of the sheriff
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The sheriff shall:
1. Execute and return all writs and other legal process issued to the sheriff by legal authority. The sheriff shall execute and return any legal process in the sheriff’s possession at the expiration of the sheriff’s term of office and if a vacancy occurs in the office of sheriff, the sheriff’s deputies shall execute and return the legal processes in their possession as if the sheriff had continued in office. The sheriff’s successor or other officer authorized to discharge the duties of the office of sheriff may execute and return the legal processes on behalf of the outgoing sheriff and the sheriff’s deputies, but the outgoing sheriff and the sheriff’s deputies remain liable for the execution and return of the legal processes in their possession when the sheriff leaves office or the vacancy occurs.
Attorney's Note
Under the Iowa Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:| Class | Prison | Fine |
|---|---|---|
| Aggravated misdemeanor | up to 2 years | between $855 and $8,540 |
Terms Used In Iowa Code 331.653
- Appellate: About appeals; an appellate court has the power to review the judgement of another lower court or tribunal.
- Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
- Auditor: means the county auditor or a deputy auditor or employee designated by the county auditor. See Iowa Code 331.101
- Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
- Bailiff: a court officer who enforces the rules of behavior in courtrooms.
- Board: means the board of supervisors of a county. See Iowa Code 331.101
- Child: includes child by adoption. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Clerk: means the clerk of the district court or the clerk's designee. See Iowa Code 331.101
- Commission: means a body of eligible electors authorized to study, review, analyze, and recommend an alternative form of county government. See Iowa Code 331.101
- County attorney: means the county attorney or a deputy county attorney or assistant county attorney designated by the county attorney. See Iowa Code 331.101
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- District: means a joint special assessment district, and a county special assessment district. See Iowa Code 331.485
- Garnishment: Generally, garnishment is a court proceeding in which a creditor asks a court to order a third party who owes money to the debtor or otherwise holds assets belonging to the debtor to turn over to the creditor any of the debtor
- Habeas corpus: A writ that is usually used to bring a prisoner before the court to determine the legality of his imprisonment. It may also be used to bring a person in custody before the court to give testimony, or to be prosecuted.
- Livestock: includes but is not limited to an animal classified as an ostrich, rhea, or emu. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Magistrate: means a judicial officer appointed under chapter 602, article 6, part 4. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Officer: means a natural person elected or appointed to a fixed term and exercising some portion of the power of a city. See Iowa Code 362.2
- Person: means an individual, firm, partnership, domestic or foreign corporation, company, association or joint stock association, trust, or other legal entity, and includes a trustee, receiver, assignee, or similar representative thereof, but does not include a governmental body. See Iowa Code 362.2
- persons with mental illness: include persons with psychosis, persons who are severely depressed, and persons with any type of mental disease or mental disorder, except that mental illness does not refer to intellectual disability, or to insanity, diminished responsibility, or mental incompetency as defined and used in the Iowa criminal code or in the rules of criminal procedure, Iowa court rules. See Iowa Code 4.1
- property: includes personal and real property. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Sheriff: means the county sheriff or a deputy sheriff designated by the sheriff. See Iowa Code 331.101
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
- Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
- Venue: The geographical location in which a case is tried.
- Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
- Writ of certiorari: An order issued by the Supreme Court directing the lower court to transmit records for a case for which it will hear on appeal.
2. Upon written order of the county attorney, make a special investigation of any alleged infraction of the law within the county and report the findings to the county attorney within a reasonable time. Upon completion of the investigation, the sheriff shall file with the auditor a detailed, sworn statement of the expenses of the investigation accompanied by the written order of the county attorney. The board shall audit and pay the reasonable and necessary expenses of the investigation.
3. Upon leaving office, deliver to the sheriff’s successor and take the successor’s receipt for all books and papers pertaining to the office except as provided in subsection 1, property attached and levied upon, and prisoners in the county jail. The receipt is sufficient indemnity to the outgoing sheriff.
4. Provide bailiff and other law enforcement service to the district judges, district associate judges, and associate juvenile judges, and judicial magistrates of the county upon request.
5. Serve as a member of the local emergency management commission as provided in section 29C.9.
6. Enforce the provisions of chapter 718A relating to the desecration of flags and insignia.
7. Carry out duties relating to election contests as provided in sections 57.6, 62.4, and 62.19.
8. Carry out duties relating to the seizure and disposition of illegal oil and gas supplies as provided in section 458A.15.
9. Serve a notice or subpoena received from a board of arbitration as provided in section 679B.10.
10. Cooperate with the division of labor services of the department of workforce development in the enforcement of child labor laws as provided in section 92.22.
11. Carry out duties relating to the seizure and forfeiture of cigarettes, vehicles, and other property used in violation of cigarette tax laws as provided in section 453A.32.
12. Observe and inspect any licensed premise for gambling devices and report findings to the license-issuing authority as provided in section 99A.4.
13. Carry out duties relating to the issuance of permits for the possession, transportation, and detonation of explosive materials as provided in sections 101A.3, 101A.5, 101A.7, and 101A.8.
14. Seize fish and game taken, possessed, or transported in violation of the state fish and game laws as provided in section 481A.12.
15. Carry out duties relating to the enforcement of state liquor and beer laws as provided in sections 123.14, 123.117, and 123.118.
16. Reserved.
17. Enforce the payment of the manufactured or mobile home tax as provided in section 435.24.
18. Carry out duties relating to the reporting of persons injured in the commission of a crime, either as perpetrators or victims, as provided in sections 147.111 and 147.112.
19. Carry out duties relating to the enforcement of livestock transportation laws as provided in chapter 172B.
20. Investigate disputes in the ownership or custody of branded animals as provided in section 169A.10.
21. Reserved.
22. Reserved.
23. Carry out duties relating to the involuntary hospitalization of persons with mental illness as provided in sections 229.7 and 229.11.
23A. Carry out duties related to service of a summons, notice, or subpoena pursuant to sections 232.35, 232.37, and 232.88.
24. Carry out duties relating to the assessment of reported child abuse cases and the protection of abused children as provided in section 232.71B.
25. Reserved.
26. Reserved.
27. Give notice of the time and place of making an appraisement of unneeded school land as provided in sections 297.17 and 297.28.
28. Cooperate with the state department of transportation, the department of public safety, and other law enforcement agencies in the enforcement of local and state traffic laws and inspections as provided in sections 321.5 and 321.6.
29. Report the theft and recovery of a registered motor vehicle as provided in section 321.72.
30. Collect unpaid motor vehicle fees and penalties as provided in sections 321.133 through 321.135.
31. Reserved.
32. Enforce sections 321.372 through 321.379 relating to school buses.
33. Carry out duties relating to the enforcement of laws prohibiting the operation of a motor vehicle while intoxicated as provided in chapter 321J.
34. Upon request, assist the department of revenue and the state department of transportation in the enforcement of motor fuel tax laws as provided in section 452A.76.
35. Have charge of the county jails in the county and custody of the prisoners committed to the jails as provided in chapter 356.
36. Reserved.
37. Reserved.
38. Notify the department of natural resources of hazardous conditions of which the sheriff is notified as provided in section 455B.386.
39. Carry out duties relating to condemnation of private property as provided under chapter 6B.
40. Carry out duties relating to the removal and disposition of abandoned motor vehicles as provided in section 556B.1.
41. Carry out duties relating to the determination of what is included in a homestead as provided in section 561.8.
42. Carry out duties relating to liens for services of animals as provided in chapter 580.
43. Reserved.
44. Reserved.
45. Designate the newspapers in which notices pertaining to the sheriff’s office are published as provided in section 618.7.
46. Carry out duties relating to the execution of judgments and orders of the court as provided in chapter 626.
47. Add the amount of an advancement made by the holder of the sheriff’s sale certificate to the execution, upon verification by the clerk as provided by section 629.3.
48. Upon appointment of the court, serve as a receiver of property of a judgment debtor as provided in sections 630.7 and 630.9.
49. Carry out duties relating to the attachment of property as provided in chapters 639, 640, and 641.
50. Carry out duties relating to garnishment under chapter 642.
51. Carry out duties relating to an action of replevin as provided in chapter 643.
52. Carry out orders of the court or a judge relating to the service or execution of a writ of habeas corpus as provided under chapter 663.
53. Carry out duties relating to the disposition of lost property as provided in chapter 556F.
54. Carry out orders of the court requiring the sheriff to take custody and deposit or deliver trust funds as provided in section 636.30.
55. Carry out legal processes directed by an appellate court as provided in section 625A.14.
56. Furnish the division of criminal investigation with the criminal identification records and other information upon direction by the commissioner of public safety as provided in section 690.1.
57. Take the fingerprints of all persons specified under section 690.2 and forward the fingerprint records to the commissioner of public safety.
58. Report information on crimes committed and delinquent acts committed, which would be a serious or aggravated misdemeanor or felony if committed by an adult, and furnish disposition reports on persons arrested and juveniles taken into custody, for a delinquent act which would be a serious or aggravated misdemeanor or felony if committed by an adult, and criminal complaints or information or juvenile delinquency petitions, alleging a delinquent act which would be a serious or aggravated misdemeanor or felony if committed by an adult, filed in any court as provided in section 692.15.
59. Carry out duties relating to firearm training and the issuance and revocation of firearm permits as provided in chapter 724.
60. Accept custody of persons handed over to the sheriff by the department of public safety as provided in section 804.28.
61. Carry out duties relating to the forfeiture and judgment of bail as provided in section 811.6.
62. Resume custody of a defendant who is recommitted after bail by order of a magistrate as provided in section 811.7.
63. Carry out duties relating to the confinement of persons who are considered dangerous persons under section 811.1A or persons with a mental disorder as provided in chapter 812.
64. Release a defendant in custody upon receipt of a certificate of release as provided in section 814.14.
65. Upon call of the governor or attorney general, render assistance in the enforcement of the law as provided in section 817.2.
65A. Carry out the duties imposed under sections 915.11 and 915.16.
66. Upon court order, take an accused person into custody from the warden of a penal institution and convey the person to the place of trial as provided in rule of criminal procedure 2.7.
67. Receive and detain a defendant transferred from another county under a change of venue as provided in rule of criminal procedure 2.11(10).
68. Carry out duties relating to the execution of a judgment for confinement or other execution as provided in rule of criminal procedure 2.26.
69. Carry out duties relating to the return of service in civil cases as provided in rule of civil procedure 1.308.
70. Serve a writ of certiorari as provided in rule of civil procedure 1.1407.
71. Carry out other duties required by law and duties assigned pursuant to section 331.323.