Legal Question in Traffic Law in Iowa

Officer ran plates, arrested, dismissed

I was stopped by an officer while getting out of my car in a grocery store parking lot. He had just run the plates. No reason-he just did. But he said that I had a warrant for arrest. He didn't know why. I protested. He wasn't nice. I was arrested, spent night in jail, no bond. Informed then it was for non-payment of court costs. I'm still protesting. Then at hearing the next a.m., the judge listened to my protests and checked further in to the case and found there were court costs. Looking even further, those court costs were zero! $0. Judge upset and apologizes to me after 13 hours in jail. But now my car has been towed. I have over $100 in tow fees. I'm trying to recover from someone. They should have seen what that judge saw and then they'd know I didn't owe anything. I would not have been arrested. Someone should be held responsible. Is that even a possibility. Thanks for your consideration.


Asked on 9/14/06, 3:35 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Robert Luedeman solo practitioner

Re: Officer ran plates, arrested, dismissed

You can ask them to waive the tow fees but beyond that I'd say there's little that can be done unless you're willing to pay an attorney to make trouble. Even then, all you'd recover is the towing fees.

I can tell you that the arresting officer does not have access to the information that says what court fees are.

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Answered on 9/14/06, 4:25 pm


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