Iowa Judicial Branch

30/08/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 30/08/2024 23:02

Supreme Court Announces 2024-2025 Adjudicative Term, Including Special Sessions

The Iowa Supreme Court today announced its 2024-2025 adjudicative term calendar. The schedule includes special evening sessions in Des Moines, special sessions at Drake and Iowa law schools, and three special sessions in communities around the state to hear oral arguments. The adjudicative term, when the supreme court hears oral argument and writes the majority of its published opinions, is from September 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.

The court will hear special evening sessions of oral arguments in Harlan, Marshalltown, and Lamoni. The supreme court schedules evening sessions for the convenience of members of the public who wish to attend. Drake Law School and the University of Iowa College of Law will also host oral arguments with limited seating for the public. Two special evening sessions are planned in Des Moines for central Iowa residents who may not be able to attend the court's regular morning and afternoon sessions. The first evening session in Des Moines will be in the Historic Supreme Court Courtroom in the Iowa State Capitol. The second will be at the Judicial Branch Building.

The court will continue its regular schedule of oral arguments in Des Moines during the adjudicative term. All supreme court oral arguments are live streamed and open to the public. The court's complete oral argument calendar for its 2024-2025 term is on the Iowa Judicial Branch website at
https://www.iowacourts.gov/static/static/media/cms/20242025_Public_calendar_7_C458C9F404A93.pdf.

The court's special sessions schedule:

September 6, 2024
University of Iowa College of Law
1:30 p.m.

September 24, 2024
Harlan High School auditorium, Harlan
7:00 p.m.

October 8, 2024
Des Moines evening at Iowa State Capitol
7:00 p.m.

November 19, 2024
Marshalltown High School auditorium, Marshalltown
7:00 p.m.

February 11 or February 17, 2025
Iowa Judicial Branch Building, Des Moines
7:00 p.m.

April 3, 2025
Drake Law School
9:30 a.m.

April 22, 2025
Shaw Center, Graceland University, Lamoni
7:00 p.m.

During the adjudicative term, opinions filed with the clerk of the supreme court will be posted Fridays at 9 a.m. on the Iowa Judicial Branch website opinions page at https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/supreme-court-opinions/. To receive email notifications of opinion filings, go to https://www.iowacourts.gov/sign-up-for-notifications/. A list of opinions expected to be filed will be posted Thursday mornings before the Friday filings at https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/supreme-court-opinions/expected-list/.

The monthly schedule with links to case briefs and summaries is at https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/supreme-court-oral-argument-schedule/. Pending cases can be found at https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/pending-cases. The 2024-2025 adjudicative term will also mark the 11th year the supreme court will live stream and archive its oral arguments on the Iowa Courts YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL6EU7W8kqDKnKPUzMdxr_g.

Between May 19, 2011, and April 2, 2024, the supreme court heard oral arguments in 36 different communities: Cedar Rapids, Mason City, Carroll, Council Bluffs, Bettendorf, Ottumwa, Waterloo, Sioux City, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Burlington, Clarinda, Toledo, Iowa City, Storm Lake, Creston, Decorah, Newton, Harlan, Ames, Clinton, Keokuk, Spencer, Charles City, Davenport, Cedar Falls, Knoxville, Red Oak, Forest City, Muscatine, Oskaloosa, Denison, Perry, Waverly, Marion, and Bondurant. Coinciding with oral arguments, justices have visited 232 different high schools, universities, and colleges. The supreme court did not hear any cases outside of the Judicial Branch Building in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.