Rule 1.1603.Contested case proceedings; intervention; schedule

Rule 1.1603 addresses judicial review proceedings that grow out of an agency's contested case — the administrative equivalent of a trial, where the agency itself has already heard evidence and made findings. The rule gives an intervenor in that judicial review flexibility about how to align itself: it may join with the petitioner, join with the respondent, or take a position adverse to both.

The rule also gives the reviewing court a tool for keeping the case moving. Upon request of any party, the court shall establish a schedule for conducting the proceeding, and even without a request, the court may set that schedule on its own motion. Requiring the court to act on a party's request, while leaving it discretionary when no party asks, strikes a balance between giving parties control over case management and letting the court step in when nobody has raised the issue.

This rule's short scope reflects how much of contested-case judicial review already runs through Iowa Code section 17A.19 itself; Rule 1.1603 fills two specific gaps — intervenor alignment and scheduling — rather than duplicating the statute's broader framework.