One year after the final determination of a case, the clerk may destroy all exhibits filed provided that counsel of record are notified in writing that the exhibits will be destroyed unless receipted for within 60 days thereafter. The clerk may destroy all trial exhibits without notice two years after final determination of the case.
Rule 1.1014.Disposition of exhibits
Division X: Proceedings After Judgment · Last amended February 15, 2002 · Last verified July 15, 2026
In one sentenceRule 1.1014 lets the clerk destroy trial exhibits one year after a case's final determination if counsel are given written notice and 60 days to claim them, or destroy them without notice after two years.
Full Text of Rule 1.1014
Plain-English Summary
Trial exhibits pile up, and courthouses eventually need to clear them out. Rule 1.1014 gives the clerk a clear path to do that once a case is truly over. One year after the final determination of a case, the clerk may destroy all filed exhibits, but only after notifying counsel of record in writing that the exhibits will be destroyed unless someone comes to claim them within 60 days of that notice.
If nobody claims the exhibits and enough time passes, the notice requirement itself falls away. The rule allows the clerk to destroy all trial exhibits without any notice at all once two years have passed since the case's final determination. In practice, this means counsel who want to keep an exhibit — an original document, a physical item, a demonstrative piece important to the client — need to act on that 60-day notice rather than assume the file will sit untouched indefinitely.
Frequently Asked Questions
How soon after my case ends can the clerk destroy the trial exhibits?
Rule 1.1014 allows destruction as early as one year after the final determination of the case, but only if counsel of record are notified in writing first and given 60 days to claim the exhibits.
Do I get any warning before my exhibits are destroyed?
Within the first two years, yes — the clerk must notify counsel of record in writing that the exhibits will be destroyed unless receipted for within 60 days. After two years from final determination, the rule allows destruction without any notice.
What counts as “final determination” for starting this clock?
Rule 1.1014 does not define the term further; it uses the final determination of the case as the trigger date for both the one-year notice-based destruction and the two-year no-notice destruction.
How do I claim my exhibits before they're destroyed?
The rule requires that exhibits be “receipted for” within the 60-day period stated in the clerk's written notice, which means counsel needs to retrieve them from the clerk's office and sign for them within that window.
Does this rule apply to every exhibit filed in the case?
Rule 1.1014 refers broadly to “all exhibits filed” for the one-year notice-based provision and “all trial exhibits” for the two-year no-notice provision, without carving out exceptions by type of exhibit.
Source & verification. Rule text and the Comment are
reproduced verbatim from the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure, adopted by the
Iowa Supreme Court. Last verified July 15, 2026.
· Official source
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