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Iowa Code § 804.8

Use of force by peace officer making an arrest

Applied in 7 court decisions — leading case Derek Westwater v. Kevin Church (2023)

Most recently applied in Derek Westwater v. Kevin Church (February 2023)

[C51, §2844; R60, §4553; C73, §4205; C97, §5200; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §13472; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, §755.8; C79, 81, §804.8] 2013 Acts, ch 90, §238; 2020 Acts…

How often courts cite this section

20142020202310
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

1. A peace officer, while making a lawful arrest, is justified in the use of any force which the peace officer reasonably believes to be necessary to effect the arrest or to defend any person from bodily harm while making the arrest. However, the use of deadly force or a chokehold is only justified when a person cannot be captured any other way and either of the following apply:

a. The person has used or threatened to use deadly force in committing a felony.

b. The peace officer reasonably believes the person would use deadly force against any person unless immediately apprehended.

2. A peace officer making an arrest pursuant to an invalid warrant is justified in the use of any force which the peace officer would be justified in using if the warrant were valid, unless the peace officer knows that the warrant is invalid.

3. For purposes of this section, “chokehold” means the intentional and prolonged application of force to the throat or windpipe that prevents or hinders breathing or reduces the intake of air.

Reasonable or deadly force, see chapter 704

Official source: Iowa Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Iowa statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.