Supreme Court Announces 2025-2026 Adjudicative Term, Including Special Sessions

The Iowa Supreme Court today announced its 2025-2026 adjudicative term calendar. The schedule includes special evening sessions in Des Moines, special sessions at Drake and Iowa law schools, and three special sessions in communities around the state to hear oral arguments. The adjudicative term, when the supreme court hears oral arguments and writes the majority of its published opinions, is from September 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.

The court will hear special evening sessions of oral arguments in Bettendorf, Jefferson, and Fairfield. The supreme court schedules evening sessions for the convenience of members of the public who wish to attend. Drake Law School and the University of Iowa College of Law will also host oral arguments with limited seating for the public. Two special evening sessions are planned in Des Moines for central Iowa residents who may not be able to attend the court's regular morning and afternoon sessions. The first evening session in Des Moines will be in the Historic Supreme Court Courtroom in the Iowa State Capitol. The second will be at the Judicial Branch Building.

The court will continue its regular schedule of oral arguments in Des Moines during the adjudicative term. All supreme court oral arguments are live streamed and open to the public. The court's complete oral argument calendar for its 2025-2026 term is on the Iowa Judicial Branch website at

https://www.iowacourts.gov/static/static/media/cms/Public__202526_Court_Calendar_1_B2EEE4E86A078.pdf.

The court's special sessions schedule:

September 16, 2025
Bettendorf High School auditorium, Bettendorf
7:00 p.m.

October 7, 2025
Des Moines evening at Iowa State Capitol
7:00 p.m.

October 24, 2025
University of Iowa College of Law
1:30 p.m.

November 4, 2025
Greene County High School auditorium, Jefferson
7:00 p.m.

February 11, 2026
Iowa Judicial Branch Building, Des Moines
7:00 p.m.

March 26, 2026
Drake Law School, Des Moines
9:30 a.m.

April 21, 2026
Fairfield High School, Fairfield
7:00 p.m.

During the adjudicative term, opinions filed with the clerk of the supreme court will be posted Fridays at 9 a.m. on the Iowa Judicial Branch website opinions page at https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/supreme-court-opinions/.  To receive email notifications of opinion filings, go to https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/supreme-court-opinions/subscription/subscribe.  A list of opinions expected to be filed will be posted Thursday mornings before the Friday filings at https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/supreme-court-opinions/expected-list/.

The monthly schedule with links to case briefs and summaries is at https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/supreme-court-oral-argument-schedule/.  Pending cases can be found at https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/pending-cases. The 2025-2026 adjudicative term will also mark the 12th year the supreme court will live stream and archive its oral arguments on the Iowa Courts YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL6EU7W8kqDKnKPUzMdxr_g.

Between May 19, 2011, and April 22, 2025, the supreme court heard oral arguments in 39 different  communities: Cedar Rapids, Mason City, Carroll, Council Bluffs, Riverdale, Ottumwa, Waterloo, Sioux City, Dubuque, Fort Dodge, Burlington, Clarinda, Toledo, Iowa City, Storm Lake, Creston, Decorah, Newton, Harlan (twice), Ames, Clinton, Keokuk, Spencer, Charles City, Davenport, Cedar Falls, Knoxville, Red Oak, Forest City, Muscatine, Oskaloosa, Denison, Perry, Waverly, Marion, Bondurant, Marshalltown, and Lamoni. Coinciding with oral arguments, justices have visited 246 high schools, universities, and colleges. The supreme court did not hear any cases outside of the Judicial Branch Building in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.