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602.8103 General powers.

The clerk may:

1. Administer oaths and take affirmations as provided in section 63A.1.

2. Reproduce original records of the court by any reasonably permanent legible means including, but not limited to, reproduction by photographing, photostating, microfilming, and computer cards. The reproduction shall include proper indexing. The reproduced record has the same authenticity as the original record.

3. After the original record is reproduced and after approval of a majority of the judges of the district court by court order, destroy the original records including, but not limited to, dockets, journals, scrapbooks, files, and marriage license applications. The order shall state the specific records which are to be destroyed. An original court file shall not be destroyed until after the contents have been reproduced. As used in this subsection and subsection 4, "destroy" includes the transmission of the original records which are of general historical interest to any recognized historical society or association.

4. Destroy the following original records without prior court order or reproduction except as otherwise provided in this subsection:

a. Records including, but not limited to, journals, scrapbooks, and files, forty years after final disposition of the case. However, judgments, decrees, stipulations, records in criminal proceedings, probate records, and orders of court shall not be destroyed unless they have been reproduced as provided in subsection 2.

b. Administrative records, after five years, including, but not limited to, warrants, subpoenas, clerks' certificates, statements, praecipes, and depositions.

c. Records, dockets, and court files of civil and criminal actions heard in the municipal court which were transferred to the clerk, other than juvenile and adoption proceedings, after a period of twenty years from the date of filing of the actions.

d. Original court files on dissolutions of marriage, one year after dismissal by the parties or under R.C.P. 215, Ia. Ct. Rules, 2nd ed.

e. Small claims files, one year after dismissal with or without prejudice.

f. Uniform traffic citations in the magistrate court or traffic and scheduled violations office, one year after final disposition.

g. Court reporters' notes and certified transcripts of those notes in civil cases, ten years after final disposition of the case. For purposes of this section, "final disposition" means one year after dismissal of the case, after judgment or decree without appeal, or after procedendo or dismissal of appeal is filed in cases where appeal is taken.

h. Court reporters' notes and certified transcripts of those notes in criminal cases, ten years after dismissal of all charges, or ten years after the expiration of all sentences imposed or the date probation is granted, whichever later occurs. For purposes of this subsection "sentences imposed" include all sentencing options pursuant to section 901.5.

i. Court files, as provided by rules prescribed by the supreme court, ten years after final disposition in civil cases, or ten years after expiration of all sentences in criminal cases. For purposes of this paragraph, "purging" means the removal and destruction of documents in the court file which have no legal, administrative, or historical value. Purging shall be done without reproduction of the removed documents. For purposes of this paragraph, "civil cases" does not include divorce, dissolution of marriage, child support, or paternity cases, or juvenile, mental health, probate, or adoption proceedings.

5. Invest money which is paid to the clerk to be paid to any other person in a savings account of a supervised financial organization as defined in section 537.1301, subsection 42, except a credit union operating pursuant to chapter 533. The provisions of chapter 12C relating to the deposit and investment of public funds apply to the deposit and investment of the money except that a supervised financial organization other than a credit union may be designated as a depository and the money shall be available upon demand. The interest earnings shall be paid into the general fund of the state, except as otherwise provided by law.

In addition, the money may be invested in an open-end management investment company organized in trust form registered with the federal securities and exchange commission under the federal Investment Company Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C. § 80(a), and operated in accordance with 17 C.F.R. § 270.2a-7, the portfolio of which is limited to obligations of the United States of America or agencies or instrumentalities of the United States of America and to repurchase agreements fully collateralized by obligations of the United States of America or an agency or instrumentality of the United States of America if the investment company takes delivery of the collateral either directly or through an authorized custodian.

Section History: Recent form

83 Acts, ch 186, § 9103, 10201; 88 Acts, ch 1030, §1, 2; 89 Acts, ch 160, §1; 94 Acts, ch 1070, §1


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