Iowa § 331.652 - 331.652 General powers of the sheriff.

§ 331.652. 331.652 General powers of the sheriff.

1. The sheriff may call upon any person for assistance to: a. Keep the peace or prevent the commitment of crime. b. Arrest a person who is liable to arrest. c. Execute a process of law. 2. The sheriff, when necessary, may summon the power of the county to carry out the responsibilities of office. 3. The sheriff may use the services of the department of public safety in the apprehension of criminals and detection of crime. 4. The sheriff, with the cooperation of the commissioner of public safety, may hold an annual conference and school of instruction for all peace officers within the county, including regularly organized reserve peace officers under the sheriff’s jurisdiction, at which time instruction may be given in all matters relating to the duties of peace officers. 5. The sheriff may administer oaths and take affirmations on matters relating to the business of the office of sheriff as provided in section 63A.2. 6. The sheriff may serve a subpoena or order issued under authority of the department of revenue as provided in section 421.22. 7. Subject to the requirements of chapter 341A and section 331.903, the sheriff may appoint and remove deputies, assistants, and clerks. 8. The sheriff may appoint one or more civil process servers, subject to the provisions of section 331.903. a. A person appointed by the sheriff as a civil process server may, under the direction of the sheriff, execute and return all writs and other legal process issued to the sheriff by legal authority. b. The court shall take judicial notice of a civil process server’s signature. c. All costs for service of writs and other legal process by a civil process server shall be collected in accordance with the provisions of section 331.655. d. A civil process server shall not be considered to be a sheriff or a deputy sheriff for purposes of this chapter or chapter 97B or 341A. 9. The sheriff may dispose of personal property under section 80.39. 1 – 4. [C51, §173; R60, §386; C73, §340; C97, §502; S13, §499-a; C24, 27, §5182; C31, 35, §5182, 5182-d1; C39, §5182, 5182.1; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §337.1, 337.2; S81, §331.652(1 – 4); 81 Acts, ch 117, §651] 5, 6. [S81, §331.652(5, 6); 81 Acts, ch 117, §651] 7. [C51, §411, 415; R60, §642, 646; C73, §766, 769; C97, §510; SS15, §510-b; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §5238, 5240; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §341.1, 341.3; S81, §331.652(7); 81 Acts, ch 117, §651] 2000 Acts, ch 1203, §19; 2002 Acts, ch 1022, §1; 2003 Acts, ch 108, §68; 2003 Acts, ch 145, §286; 2012 Acts, ch 1023, §157 Referred to in §331.654 Fri Dec 12 20:00:27 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 331.652 (21, 0)