Scott County officials violated the Iowa Open Records Act when they made an appointment to fill a mid-term vacancy on the Board of Supervisors without publicly revealing the identities of any of the applicants, the Iowa Supreme Court held in a 4-3 decision handed down Feb. 14.

Bert and Donna Millers’ desire to conceive children in the 1950s was realized with the assistance of Dr. John Randall, a physician and head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Iowa Hospitals, and Donna gave birth to two children via artificial insemination.

A roofing contractor who granted its customer a 30-day grace period to pay for a roofing job along with 1.5% a month in interest for tardy payment did not grant credit and is not subject to the Iowa Consumer Credit Code, the Iowa Supreme Court held in a unanimous Jan. 24 decision.

The Iowa Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in five cases Jan. 21, and two cases will be submitted to the Court without oral argument. Following are brief summaries of those cases.

A northwestern Iowa city’s ordinance that requires landlords and tenants to allow city officials into apartments to inspect for building code violations is not unconstitutional, at least on its face, because the ordinance may be applied in ways that would not offend the Iowa Constitution, the Iowa Supreme Court said in a decision handed down Dec. 20.

The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in 10 cases Dec. 17 and 18, and three other cases will be submitted to the Court without oral argument. Following are brief summaries of the December cases.

The Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure was not violated when a drug detection dog inserted its nose into the open window of a suspect’s vehicle, the Iowa Supreme Court held in a divided Dec. 6 decision.