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SF 639 – Business Court (LSB2452SZ)
Staff Contact: Nathan Moore (515.725.0155) nathan.moore@legis.iowa.gov
Fiscal Note Version – New
Description
Senate File 639 directs the Iowa Supreme Court to establish and maintain a specialized
business court within the Iowa Judicial Branch to handle complex commercial litigation. The
court will have concurrent jurisdiction with district courts over cases involving compensatory
damages of $500,000 or more or cases seeking primarily injunctive or declaratory relief that fall
within a defined set of commercial and corporate subject matters. These include but are not
limited to disputes involving:
• Technology or intellectual property licensing agreements.
• Internal governance of corporations, LLCs, partnerships, and other business entities.
• Business fraud, breach of contract, or statutory violations between commercial parties.
• Shareholder derivative suits and commercial class actions.
• Business torts, antitrust, securities, and trade secrets disputes.
• Commercial real estate conflicts, excluding residential landlord-tenant cases.
The Bill provides provisions for the filing, transfer, dismissal, retention, and removal of cases in
the business court and specifies that the procedure for appeals is the same as for proceedings
in a district court. The Bill creates directions for the jury practice and procedure in the business
court, including venue of jury trials.
The Bill requires business court judges to produce written opinions to create a coherent body of
law, but a judge does not have to issue a written opinion if the court has a well-developed body
of law on the issue, the court is applying precedent, or another opinion on the issue will not
significantly contribute to the development of the body of law. The Bill authorizes the court to
appoint personnel necessary for the operation of the court and creates a seal of the business
court. The Bill directs the Iowa Supreme Court to establish court rules as necessary for the
operation of the business court.
The Bill requires the Governor to appoint no fewer than two, but no more than three, full-time
judges selected from a list of nominees provided by the State Judicial Nominating Commission.
A business court judge shall receive the same salary as a district court judge. The Iowa
Supreme Court may also assign district or senior judges to serve as visiting business court
judges. Each case will be presided over by one judge, with a second assigned for settlement
conferences.
The Bill takes effect September 1, 2025, and provides for the transfer of civil actions pending
before that date to the business court by agreement of the parties.
Background
In March 2012, the Iowa Civil Justice Reform Task Force released a report proposing reforms to
Iowa’s civil justice system, which recommended implementing a business specialty court as a
pilot program. The Iowa Supreme Court initiated a three-year pilot program that began
accepting cases in May 2013 and issued a supervisory order February 2016 declaring the Iowa
Fiscal Note
Fiscal Services Division 2
business court as an ongoing part of the court system. Currently, the stated goal of the existing
business specialty court is to move business and complex commercial litigation cases through
the courts system efficiently and to lower costs for litigants and the court system.
Assumptions
• The existing specialty court staff attorney position could provide staff attorney support to the
business court established by this Bill and will not represent additional costs.
• Administrative costs, such as case management, trial scheduling, clerk of court docketing
time, jury costs, costs for courtroom space and equipment, and Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) accommodation request costs, would have been incurred by the Judicial Branch
as district court costs and will not represent additional costs.
• Any cost associated with an interpreter or translation would be paid by the Judicial Branch
but taxed to parties as court costs as is currently provided by law.
• One full-time court reporter dedicated to the business court will be necessary. If workload
were to exceed the capacity of a single court reporter, the business court could utilize a
court reporter from the existing district court reporter workforce.
• The cost of the first fiscal year under this Bill will be incurred for 10 months of FY 2026, as
the effective date of the dedicated business court is September 1, 2025.
• The Judicial Branch anticipates hiring two to three new judges.
Fiscal Impact
The total annual cost of Senate File 639 shown in Figure 1 is estimated to be between
approximately $430,000 and $611,000 in FY 2026 and approximately $515,000 and $733,000 in
subsequent fiscal years. This cost estimate accounts for the hiring of one dedicated court
reporter and the appointment of either two or three business court judges.
Figure 1 — Estimated Cost of SF 639 — FY 2026 and Subsequent Fiscal Years
Job ClassificationBase Salary Benefits
Combined
Cost
First Year
Cost (FY 26)
Subsequent
Years Cost
Court Reporter 59,550$ 20,881$ 80,431$ 67,023$ 80,431$
District Court Judge 166,597 50,873 217,470 362,436 434,941
Total 429,460$ 515,372$
Court Reporter 59,550$ 20,881$ 80,431$ 67,023$ 80,431$
District Court Judge 166,597 50,873 217,470 543,654 652,411
Total 610,678$ 732,842$
Estimated Cost with 2 Judges – 1 Court Reporter
Estimated Cost with 3 Judges – 1 Court Reporter 3
Source
Iowa Judicial Branch
/s/ Jennifer Acton
April 28, 2025
Doc ID 1526584
The fiscal note for this Bill was prepared pursuant to Joint Rule 17 and the Iowa Code. Data used in developing this
fiscal note is available from the Fiscal Services Division of the Legislative Services Agency upon request.
www.legis.iowa.gov