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SF 570IOWASession 2025-2026State BillSigned into law
Enacted

Iowa creates a specialty business court with jurisdiction over major commercial disputes and corporate governance

Original title: A bill for an act creating a specialty business court, providing fees, and including effective date and applicability provisions.(Formerly SSB 1203 ; See SF 639 .)

Last action · June 2, 2026: Fiscal note.

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓
Introduced
Committee
Floor Vote
Passed
Law

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What This Bill Does

Senate File 570 creates a statewide specialty business court in Iowa to handle complex commercial litigation, corporate governance disputes, and s exceeding $10 million, contingent upon a specific legislative . The measure establishes judicial qualifications, two-year appointment terms by the governor subject to senate confirmation, and procedural rules for case removal and transfer, taking effect September 1, 2025, and applying to civil actions on or after January 1, 2027.

Why it matters

Establishes a dedicated judicial venue for complex corporate and commercial disputes in Iowa, altering where businesses and individuals litigate high-value claims exceeding ten million dollars.

Background
  • Specialty business courts have been established in numerous U.S. states to streamline commercial litigation and develop consistent corporate jurisprudence. context

Who It Affects

Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Iowa business organizations

Organizations and their governing persons are subject to the jurisdiction of the new business court for internal affairs, governance disputes, and high-value commercial transactions.

Directly affected

Commercial litigants

Parties involved in qualified commercial transactions or disputes exceeding ten million dollars may file actions in or remove cases to the business court.

Key Facts

  • The business court judicial district is created and composed of all counties in the state.
  • The business court has concurrent civil jurisdiction with district courts over derivative actions, qualified transactions exceeding ten million dollars, governance or internal affairs of an organization, and securities or trade regulation law claims.
  • The governor shall appoint three judges to the business court for two-year terms, subject to senate confirmation and specific qualifications including at least ten years of experience in complex civil business litigation or business transactions law.
  • The business court will not be created unless the general assembly makes a specific appropriation of moneys for that purpose.
Show all 5 facts
  • The business court shall begin conducting its business on January 1, 2027, with the Act taking effect on September 1, 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of cases will the new business court handle?
The business court has jurisdiction over s, actions arising from s exceeding ten million dollars, disputes regarding the governance or internal affairs of organizations, securities or trade regulation claims against organizations or governing persons, and certain business-related contract actions exceeding ten million dollars.
What are the qualifications required to be a business court judge?
A judge must be at least 35 years of age, a United States citizen, a resident of Iowa for at least two years before appointment, and a licensed attorney with ten or more years of experience in complex civil business litigation, business transactions law, teaching related courses at an Iowa law school, or serving as an Iowa judge with civil jurisdiction.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

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Where This Stands

Current status: Signed into law.

Procedural history

43 actions
  1. Jun 2, 2026Iowa Legislature
    Fiscal note.
  2. Jun 1, 2026SenateEnrolled
    Signed by Governor . S.J. 1029 .
  3. May 18, 2026Senate
    Reported correctly enrolled, signed by President and Speaker, and sent to Governor. S.J. 1028 .
  4. May 2, 2026House
    Message from Senate. H.J. 1128 .
  5. May 2, 2026Senate
    Immediate message. S.J. 987 .
  6. May 2, 2026SenateFloor
    Passed Senate , yeas 38, nays 8. S.J. 986 .
Show 37 earlier actions
  1. May 2, 2026SenateFloor
    Senate concurred with S-5255 . S.J. 986 .
  2. May 2, 2026House
    Message from House, with amendment S-5255 . S.J. 985 .
  3. May 2, 2026House
    Immediate message. H.J. 1119 .
  4. May 2, 2026House
    Explanation of vote. H.J. 1159 .
  5. May 2, 2026HouseFloor
    Passed House , yeas 79, nays 6. H.J. 1102 .
  6. May 2, 2026HouseFloor
    Amendment H-8447 adopted. H.J. 1102 .
  7. May 2, 2026House
    Explanation of vote. H.J. 1159 .
  8. May 2, 2026House
    Amendment H-8456 , yeas 8, nays 77, lost. H.J. 1101 .
  9. May 2, 2026HouseFloor
    Amendment H-8440 adopted. H.J. 1101 .
  10. May 1, 2026House
    Amendment H-8456 filed. H.J. 1085 .
  11. Apr 30, 2026House
    Amendments H-8440 and H-8447 filed. H.J. 1068 .
  12. Apr 22, 2026House
    Placed on Ways and Means calendar. H.J. 987 .
  13. Apr 21, 2026House
    Committee vote: Yeas, 18. Nays, 6. Excused, 1. H.J. 987 .
  14. Apr 21, 2026House
    Committee report, recommending passage. H.J. 987 .
  15. Feb 4, 2026Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends passage.
  16. Feb 2, 2026Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee Meeting: 02/04/2026 12:15PM RM 102.
  17. Jan 29, 2026House
    Subcommittee: Nordman, Lundgren and Wilson. H.J. 178 .
  18. Dec 31, 2025Iowa Legislature
    * * * * * END OF 2025 ACTIONS * * * * *
  19. Apr 30, 2025HouseIntroduced
    Read first time, referred to Ways and Means. H.J. 1080 .
  20. Apr 29, 2025House
    Message from Senate. H.J. 1076 .
  21. Apr 28, 2025Senate
    Immediate message. S.J. 904 .
  22. Apr 28, 2025SenateFloor
    Passed Senate , yeas 50, nays 0. S.J. 903 .
  23. Apr 28, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Fiscal note.
  24. Apr 22, 2025Senate
    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 860 .
  25. Apr 22, 2025SenateIntroduced
    Introduced, placed on Ways and Means calendar. S.J. 858 .
  26. Apr 22, 2025Senate
    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 639 . S.J. 860 .
  27. Apr 1, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends amendment and passage.
  28. Mar 31, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee Meeting: 04/01/2025 11:00AM Room 217 Conference Room.
  29. Mar 17, 2025Senate
    Subcommittee: Bousselot, Bisignano, and Green. S.J. 552 .
  30. Mar 11, 2025SenateCommittee
    Referred to Ways and Means. S.J. 480 .
  31. Mar 10, 2025Senate
    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 468 .
  32. Mar 10, 2025SenateIntroduced
    Introduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 460 .
  33. Mar 6, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Committee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 570 .
  34. Mar 5, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee recommends passage.
  35. Mar 4, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee Meeting: 03/05/2025 2:30PM Room 217 Conference Room.
  36. Mar 4, 2025Iowa Legislature
    Subcommittee: Bousselot, Knox, and Webster.
  37. Mar 4, 2025Iowa LegislatureIntroduced
    Introduced, referred to Commerce.

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

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Lobbying Activity

No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift95% confidence

Creation of Specialized Commercial Judiciary

The bill shifts handling of high-value business litigation and corporate governance away from general district courts into a dedicated statewide business court.

State of Iowa

Connected Entities

State of Iowa
locationState of Iowa“Jurisdiction where the business court is created”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.legis.iowa.gov

Analysis Score

0–100
  • Significance80
    How much this matters to a regular citizen
  • Controversy25
    Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
  • Entertainment5
    Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
  • Buzz35
    Current news / social attention level

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