Chad Michael Vice v. State of Iowa and Jana Hacker

• Court: Court of Appeals of Iowa
• Decided: January 23, 2025
• Docket: 22-2072
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

No. 22-2072 Filed January 23, 2025

CHAD MICHAEL VICE, Plaintiff-Appellant,

vs.

STATE OF IOWA and JANA HACKER, Defendants-Appellees. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Webster County, Adria Kester,

Judge.

The plaintiff appeals the dismissal of his civil suit for lack of service.

APPEAL DISMISSED.

Chad Michael Vice, Fort Madison, self-represented appellant.

Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and H. Loraine Wallace, Assistant Attorney

General, for appellees.

Considered by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ. 2

GREER, Presiding Judge.

Chad Vice, an inmate committed to the custody of the Iowa Department of

Corrections, filed pleadings against the State and Jana Hacker seeking a

declaratory judgment. The defendants were never served. In July 2022—about

four months after Vice’s initial filing—the district court issued an order noting “that

there [were] no returns of service or acceptances of service on file.” It warned that

if neither proof of service nor a request for an extension of time were filed within

thirty days, the action would be dismissed. Then, in November, the district court

dismissed without prejudice for lack of service. See Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.302(5). Vice

filed a notice of appeal in the district court to challenge the dismissal, but not until

January 9, 2023.

“A notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days after the filing of the final

order or judgment.” Iowa R. App. P. 6.101(1)(b) (2022). “[A] failure to file a timely

notice of appeal leaves us without subject matter jurisdiction to hear the appeal.”

Baur v. Baur Farms, Inc., 832 N.W.2d 663, 668 (Iowa 2013). “An appeal taken

after the deadline must normally be dismissed.” Concerned Citizens of Se. Polk

Sch. Dist. v. City Dev. Bd., 872 N.W.2d 399, 402 (Iowa 2015) (noting the rules

“governing the time for appeal are mandatory and jurisdictional” (cleaned up)). “It

is our duty to refuse to entertain an appeal not authorized by our rules.” Id. at 405.

Because Vice’s late appeal deprives us of jurisdiction, we dismiss.1

1 The State asks us to impose a penalty against Vice under Iowa Code section 610A.3 (2022). As the district court’s dismissal of Vice’s action was not predicated on section 610A.2 and we lack jurisdiction over this attempted appeal, we do not impose sanctions.