The court may provide for a pretrial calendar in any county, which may extend to all actions, or be limited either to jury or nonjury actions.
Rule 1.601.Pretrial calendar
Division VI: Pretrial Procedure · Last amended February 15, 2002 · Last verified July 15, 2026
In one sentenceRule 1.601 authorizes, but does not require, a court to maintain a pretrial calendar in any county, covering every civil action or narrowed to jury-only or nonjury-only cases.
Full Text of Rule 1.601
Plain-English Summary
Rule 1.601 is a short administrative rule that gives a court discretion, not an obligation, to keep a separate pretrial calendar in any county. Where a court chooses to use one, the calendar can extend to every civil action filed there, or the court can limit it to jury actions only or nonjury actions only.
The rule is the quiet enabling authority behind the pretrial-conference machinery that follows in Rules 1.602 through 1.604. It does not set any deadlines or procedures itself; it supplies the option for a county to organize its civil docket around a dedicated pretrial track if local practice calls for one. Whether a given county runs a separate pretrial calendar, and how it is structured, is left to that court's own discretion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every Iowa county have to keep a separate pretrial calendar?
No. Rule 1.601 makes maintaining a pretrial calendar discretionary with the court in each county, not mandatory.
Can a pretrial calendar be limited to certain kinds of cases?
Yes. Rule 1.601 allows a court to extend its pretrial calendar to all actions or to limit it to either jury actions or nonjury actions.
How does Rule 1.601 relate to pretrial conferences and orders?
It is the enabling rule behind the conference, scheduling, and order provisions in Rules 1.602 through 1.604, which supply the actual deadlines and procedures once a pretrial calendar is in use.
Does Rule 1.601 itself set any deadlines for my case?
No. It only authorizes the existence of a pretrial calendar; the substantive scheduling rules come from Rule 1.602 and the rules that follow it.
If my case is a jury action, does that automatically put it on a separate pretrial calendar?
Not automatically. Rule 1.601 only lets a court limit its pretrial calendar to jury actions or nonjury actions if the court chooses to keep one at all; whether a particular case is calendared that way depends on that court's own practice.
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 pretrial calendar ruleiowa county pretrial docketrule 1.601 iowa civil procedurejury nonjury pretrial calendar iowa