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Iowa Domestic Violence Law

Iowa Domestic Violence Penalties, Iowa Code § 708.2A

What you are facing under Iowa Code § 708.2A, how the penalties scale, and the questions an attorney needs to answer — under Iowa (IA) domestic-violence law.

Iowa (IA) — Domestic Abuse Assault

Offense class: Simple Misdemeanor (first without injury); Serious Misdemeanor (bodily injury or second offense); Aggravated Misdemeanor (injury with intent or serious injury); Class D Felony (third+ or strangulation)

Incarceration

– 30 days (simple); 1 year (serious); 2 years (aggravated); 5 years (Class D)

Maximum Fine

$855 (simple); $1,875 (serious); $6,250 (aggravated); $7,500 (Class D)

Offense Class

Simple Misdemeanor (first without injury); Serious Misdemeanor (bodily injury or second offense); Aggravated Misdemeanor (injury with intent or serious injury); Class D Felony (third+ or strangulation)

What this costs

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Mandatory minimum: Minimum 2 days (second offense); minimum 30 days (third+)

What this means

Plain language

A sentence the judge cannot go below, no matter the facts. A charge reduction is the usual way out.

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Federal firearms ban (

Lautenberg Amendment

Plain language

A federal law (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9)) that bans gun possession after a misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction — separate from state penalties.

)

A misdemeanor domestic-violence conviction in Iowa triggers a federal firearms-possession ban under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). This applies on top of any state sentence, no matter how the Iowa case ends.

Iowa Domestic Violence Penalty Range

FactorDetail
StatuteIowa Code § 708.2A
OffenseDomestic Abuse Assault
ClassSimple Misdemeanor (first without injury); Serious Misdemeanor (bodily injury or second offense); Aggravated Misdemeanor (injury with intent or serious injury); Class D Felony (third+ or strangulation)
Incarceration – 30 days (simple); 1 year (serious); 2 years (aggravated); 5 years (Class D)
Maximum fine$855 (simple); $1,875 (serious); $6,250 (aggravated); $7,500 (Class D)
Mandatory minimumMinimum 2 days (second offense); minimum 30 days (third+)

Penalty Enhancements

Additional factors that can increase the sentence under Iowa law.

  • Bodily injury (Serious Misdemeanor)
  • Injury with intent to cause serious injury (Aggravated Misdemeanor)
  • Third or subsequent offense (Class D Felony)
  • Strangulation or impeding breathing (Class D Felony)

Iowa note: Iowa has a specific domestic abuse assault statute. Mandatory arrest when officer has probable cause. No-contact orders automatically issued. Batterer's education program typically required.

What you're afraid of

Iowa domestic violence defendants tell us they're afraid of four things. Here's how we address each.

Every citation in your report links back to a real CourtListener URL or a real state statute page. Your attorney can verify everything in under five minutes. We sit alongside your attorney — we don't replace them.

  • What if I take the wrong plea — or the wrong sentence?

    Most defendants take the first plea offered. We pull the comparable cases in your district and your judge's prior rulings, so you can see what the floor actually is before deciding.

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  • What if my attorney isn't actually listening — or preparing?

    Most defendants leave their attorney's office with more questions than they came in with. Not because attorneys are bad — the meeting is short and you didn't know what to ask. We hand you the questions, scored against your charge.

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  • I don't even know what I don't know.

    The hardest part of a criminal case is not knowing which questions matter. The Intelligence Brief pulls the most-cited opinions in your district + your charge, mapped to your judge's prior rulings, and surfaces the five questions that move the needle in front of this prosecutor.

    See what an Intelligence Brief covers

  • What if I bring my attorney a number they dismiss?

    If you bring your attorney a number they can't trace to a source, the conversation is over. Every number in our report is a hyperlink. Your attorney clicks, verifies, and the conversation continues.

    View a sample report

We're not here to replace your attorney. We're here to make sure you walk into their office knowing the right questions to ask.

What you're paying for is the time

Skip the 6-10 hours of reading. We already did it.

Defendants are already doing this work themselves — on r/legaladvice / r/Ask_Lawyers / Avvo Q&A, in Google searches, in the long thread of “what happens if I plead X” questions every public legal-help surface carries. The data is public. The reading is the work.

  • r/legaladvice + r/Ask_Lawyers (source): thousands of 'what happens if I plead X' threads, none of them indexed to your specific charge or your state's statute.

  • Avvo Q&A (source): per-charge plain-language threads, attorney answers gated behind per-minute meters.

  • Your state's official statute site: the actual statute text, the actual sentencing range, the actual enhancement triggers.

We hand you the synthesis — cited, hyperlinked, organized for your charge — for $127.

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Is your Iowa domestic violence case defense on track?

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Other Iowa defense topics

Facing a different charge in Iowa? Penalty ranges, enhancements, and defense questions for related crimes:

DUI in IowaDrug Possession in IowaAssault in Iowa

This page provides legal information — not legal advice — about Iowa domestic violence law as of the date of publication. Laws change. Verify current statutes with a licensed attorney in Iowa.