On the request of any interested counsel or the court, the reporter must record the entire conference, or any designated part thereof.
Rule 1.603.Pretrial conference; record
Division VI: Pretrial Procedure · Last amended February 15, 2002 · Last verified July 15, 2026
In one sentenceRule 1.603 lets any interested counsel, or the court on its own, require the court reporter to record all or a designated part of a pretrial conference.
Full Text of Rule 1.603
Plain-English Summary
Rule 1.603 is brief but useful: on the request of any interested counsel, or on the court's own initiative, the reporter must record the entire pretrial conference or any designated part of it. Nothing in the rule requires agreement from every side before a recording is made — one interested attorney's request is enough, and the court can order it independent of any request.
Making a record of a pretrial conference matters because so much gets decided or discussed there — stipulations, evidentiary rulings, scheduling commitments — outside the formal trial record. A recorded conference preserves exactly what was said and agreed to, which can matter later if a dispute arises over what happened at the conference or what the resulting order was meant to capture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I ask for a pretrial conference to be recorded?
Yes. Rule 1.603 lets any interested counsel request that the reporter record the conference, and the court can also order it on its own initiative.
Does the whole conference have to be recorded, or just part of it?
The rule allows recording the entire conference or any designated part of it.
Why would I want a pretrial conference recorded?
It preserves exactly what was said, stipulated, or ruled on at the conference, which can matter if a later dispute arises over what happened there or what the resulting order was meant to reflect.
Do all parties need to agree before the conference can be recorded?
No. A request from one interested counsel is enough, and the court may also order recording on its own initiative without any party's request.
Can any attorney in the case request the recording, or only the attorney for the party who filed suit?
Rule 1.603 refers broadly to any interested counsel, so any attorney representing a party at the conference can request that it be recorded, not only the attorney for the party who started the case.
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 conference recorded rulecourt reporter pretrial conference iowarule 1.603 iowa civil procedurerecord of pretrial conference iowa