Volume 0 · Volume IA-CRIM-2026
A paper map for an Iowa criminal case.
Name the stage. Ask for a lawyer. Keep the next steps, official links, clocks, and hypotheses on one page. Combines We the People and Pro Se Navigator. It is not a court filing and it is not a lawyer.
Not a lawyer. Not legal advice.
Free field guide for people who may have to appear without counsel. It does not replace a licensed Iowa attorney, file anything, or create an attorney-client relationship. Iowa courts hold you to the same rules as a lawyer. If jail is possible, ask the judge to appoint counsel. Due process is a lawyer and a hearing. It is not a way to erase a charge.
Check the box above to start the survey.
Personal checklist
Counsel, calendar, charging paper, hearing words, and the official links that match this case — including subsequent-offense, bond, and recusal patterns.
Clickable official law
Every cite is a live .gov or Constitution link. Incident date opens the Code year in force that day as well as 2026 — grandfathering and statutes of limitations included.
Plausibility lab
Create legal and physiological hypotheses at any stage. The tool denotes them to statutes, rules, and medical-fact patterns. Custom variables are first-class.
Clocks that actually run
Chapter 802 limitations, Rule 2.33 speedy trial, 40-day motions, 30-day appeal, chapter 822 postconviction. Unknown dates stay unknown — they are not invented.
Volumes
Parsed so you can open one chapter at a time. Each volume is a real URL.
Volume 0
Federal backbone
Constitution, Gideon, Miranda, Brady, and the right to appear in person or by counsel. Applies in every American criminal court. Iowa procedure implements these rights — it does not replace them.
Volume IA-CRIM
Iowa adult criminal court
Arrest, citation, appearance, appointed counsel, bail, charging, trial information, and the Iowa Code chapters that actually run a county criminal case. Not juvenile court. Not every civil court.
Volume IA-CLOCKS
Deadlines, limitations, grandfathering
Statutes of limitations (ch. 802), speedy trial (Rule 2.33), pretrial-motion clocks (Rule 2.11), appeal (ch. 814 / Rule 6.101), and postconviction (ch. 822). Always open the Code year of the incident as well as the current year.
Volume IA-PHYS
Physiological denotations
How a body, a lab, a prescription, or a disability becomes a legally denotable fact: controlled substances (ch. 124), OWI (ch. 321J), competency (ch. 812), ADA accommodations, and chain of custody of biological samples.
Volume FORMS
Official forms & filing
Financial affidavit (Rule 2.32), SPD forms, Iowa court forms, and eFile. File with the clerk — never by text, email to a prosecutor, or social media.
Volume PLAYBOOK
Hearing words & county map
What to say, what to bring, what not to do, and a directory of all 99 Iowa counties with the official court page for each.
What this will not do
- It cannot erase a charge or let someone control the verdict.
- It never coaches contacting a complaining witness or violating a no-contact order.
- Under 18 is juvenile court — get a juvenile lawyer. Other states need Volume 0 plus local counsel.
- A vault link is public if shared. Read the warning before you mint one.