The Iowa City Law Blog

Under Iowa law, people with OWI 1st offense test failures over 0.10, or test refusals must get an ignition interlock (“blow & go”) device installed on any vehicles they wish to drive or own, if they want to get a work or school permit.

With a first offense, a driver is always eligible for their work or school permit prior to being eligible for a full reinstatement of their license. Read more »

The Hawkeye Football season opener is this weekend. And unfortunately that often means and increase in local alcohol-related arrests.

Although it is illegal to have any open container of alcohol in public, the local law enforcement agencies traditionally grant some leniency for tailgating parties near Kinnick Stadium on game day.

There are no set terms of when they could or could not charge an individual with an open container violation, but they generally will not enforce this law in the public parking areas located within a few blocks of Kinnick. Also, officers have traditionally been lenient on the open container law for people walking on the streets and sidewalks between these areas. The pile of empty (or half-empty) beer cans in the wastebaskets surrounding the stadium are a testament to this. Read more »

Cedar County, Iowa contains the county seat of Tipton, and also a stretch of Interstate 80 to the east of Iowa City and to the west of the Quad Cities.

In Cedar County, many of the references made elsewhere on this blog regarding OWI prosecution still hold true. For example, the mandatory minimums still must be enforced and the same standards of guilt exist. However, there are a few differences that must be noted from my other posts. Read more »