1.1306(1) Judgment against any defendant or intervenor shall include judgment for the costs of the action. Judgment against a pretended corporation shall assess the costs against the person or persons acting as such.
Rule 1.1306.Costs
Division XIII: Quo Warranto · Last amended February 15, 2002 · Last verified July 15, 2026
In one sentenceRule 1.1306 puts costs on a losing defendant or, for a pretended corporation, on the person acting as it, lets the court assess costs against a private citizen whose quo warranto action fails, and otherwise routes costs according to the statutes governing costs in criminal cases.
Full Text of Rule 1.1306
(2) If the action fails, the court may assess the costs against any private individual who brought it; otherwise they shall be paid as provided by the statutes governing costs in criminal cases.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 1.1306(1) makes cost-shifting automatic on one side: a judgment against any defendant or intervenor in a quo warranto action includes judgment for the costs of the action. When the defendant was just an individual pretending to act as a corporation, the rule directs those costs to be assessed against the person or persons who acted as such, rather than against a corporate entity that never lawfully existed.
Rule 1.1306(2) handles the other direction — what happens to costs when the action itself fails. If a private individual brought the action, under the citizen-suit path in rule 1.1302(2), and the action fails, the court may assess the costs against that individual. Outside of that situation, the rule directs that costs be paid according to the statutes governing costs in criminal cases, reflecting quo warranto's origin as a proceeding closer to the state's law-enforcement power than an ordinary private civil suit.
Frequently Asked Questions
If I lose a quo warranto action brought against me, do I have to pay the costs?
Yes. Rule 1.1306(1) states that judgment against any defendant or intervenor includes judgment for the costs of the action.
What if the defendant was never a real corporation at all?
Rule 1.1306(1) directs that judgment against a pretended corporation assess the costs against the person or persons who were acting as such.
I brought a quo warranto action as a private citizen and lost. Am I on the hook for costs?
The court may assess the costs against you. Rule 1.1306(2) gives the court discretion to assess costs against a private individual who brought the action if it fails.
Who pays costs if the state, rather than a private citizen, brought the action and it fails?
Rule 1.1306(2) directs that in situations other than a failed action brought by a private individual, costs are paid as provided by the statutes governing costs in criminal cases.
Does the private citizen's bond for costs under rule 1.1302 relate to this cost provision?
The bond required under rule 1.1302(2) secures costs before the citizen is allowed to bring the action, and rule 1.1306(2) is what governs how those costs are assessed if the action later fails.
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
Also known as: iowa quo warranto costspretended corporation costs iowacitizen quo warranto costs assessedrule 1.1306 iowa civil procedurecriminal cost statutes quo warranto iowa