The Iowa Supreme Court, in a May 22, 2020 supervisory order, ordered that all jury trials shall be continued to a date no earlier than September 14, 2020. The Court outlined the priority of cases in its May 22, 2020 supervisory order: emergency matters, criminal cases, and family law matters are given priority. Proceedings not given priority include foreclosure actions, civil actions for recovery of money damages, small claims, and other law and equity cases.
The Fifth Judicial District of Iowa (encompassing Polk, Dallas, Warren, and 13 other central Iowa Counties) provided in its June 4, 2020 advisory order that all civil jury trials set before January 1, 2021 are continued. The Fifth Judicial District explained this decision was made “to accommodate the backlog of trials for both criminal and family law cases having priority over civil proceedings.”