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Iowa Code (Last Updated: December 05, 2016) |
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Title XV. JUDICIAL BRANCH AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURES |
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Chapter 610A. CIVIL LITIGATION BY INMATES AND PRISONERS |
Section 610A.1. Actions or appeals brought by inmates or prisoners.
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1. Notwithstanding section 610.1 or 822.5, if the person bringing a civil action or appeal is an inmate of an institution or facility under the control of the department of corrections or a prisoner of a county or municipal jail or detention facility, the inmate or prisoner shall pay in full all fees and costs associated with the action or appeal.
a. Upon filing of the action or appeal, the court shall order the inmate or prisoner to pay a minimum of twenty percent of the required filing fee before the court will take any further action on the inmate’s or prisoner’s action or appeal and shall also order the inmate or prisoner to make monthly payments of ten percent of all outstanding fees and costs associated with the inmate’s or prisoner’s action or appeal.
b. If the inmate has an inmate account under section 904.702, the department of corrections shall withdraw moneys maintained in the account for the payment of fees and costs associated with the inmate’s action or appeal in accordance with the court’s order until the required fees and costs are paid in full. The inmate shall file a certified copy of the inmate’s account balance with the court at the time the action or appeal is filed.
c. An inmate may authorize the department of corrections to make or the inmate may make an initial or subsequent payment beyond that required by this section.
d. The court may dismiss any civil action or appeal in which the inmate or prisoner has previously failed to pay fees and costs in accordance with this section.
e. If the inmate has unsuccessfully prosecuted three or more frivolous actions in the preceding five-year period, the court may stay the proceeding in accordance with section 617.16.
f. If the inmate has had three or more actions dismissed pursuant to section 610A.2, the inmate shall not be permitted to file an action pursuant to chapter 610.
2. The court may make the authorization provided for in section 610.1 if it finds that the inmate does not have sufficient moneys in the inmate’s account or sufficient moneys flowing into the account to make the payments required in this section or, in the case of a prisoner of a county or municipal jail or detention facility, that the prisoner otherwise meets the requirements of section 610.1.
3. In any civil case filed by a petitioner who is an inmate or prisoner, the respondent may review the petition and, if applicable, file a pre-answer motion asserting, in addition to any other defense that must be asserted in such a motion under the rules of civil procedure, that the action or any portion of the action should be dismissed pursuant to this chapter because the action or any portion of the action is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, or is otherwise subject to dismissal under section 610A.2.
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