Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement v. Kimberly Reynolds

── Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement v. Kimberly Reynolds ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Date: April 23, 2026 Category: General United States Court of Appeals For the Eighth Circuit ___________________________ No. 25-1750 ___________________________ People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Inc. Plaintiff Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Plaintiff - Appellant v. Kimberly Reynolds, in her official capacity as Governor of Iowa; Brenna Bird, in her official capacity as Attorney General of Iowa; Vanessa Strazdas, in her official capacity as Cass County Attorney; Jeannine Ritchie, in her official capacity as Dallas County Attorney; Nathan Repp, in his official capacity as Washington County Attorney Defendants - Appellees ------------------------------ Iowa Pork Producers Association; Iowa Farm Bureau Federation Amici on Behalf of Appellee(s) ____________ Appeal from United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa - Central ____________ Submitted: January 14, 2026 Filed: April 23, 2026 ____________ Before LOKEN, GRUENDER, and GRASZ, Circuit Judges. ____________ GRASZ, Circuit Judge. Five animal-welfare groups sued several Iowa officials, alleging Iowa Code § 727.8A violates their members’ First Amendment rights on its face and as applied. The district court initially decided the statute was facially unconstitutional and permanently enjoined enforcement. But we reversed and remanded because § 727.8A may be applied in at least some instances without violating the Constitution. See Animal Legal Def. Fund v. Reynolds, 89 F.4th 1071, 1082 (8th Cir. 2024). On remand, two groups pursued as-applied challenges, arguing the statute violates their members’ First Amendment rights when applied to prevent them from recording on property that is otherwise open to the public when the owner asks them to leave but does not ask them to stop recording. The district court1 dismissed these challenges, and one group, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (ICCI), appeals. Applying § 727.8A to proscribe ICCI’s members’ alleged conduct does not violate the First Amendment, so we affirm. I. Background Iowa criminalized trespassing long ago. See Act effective Jan. 1, 1978, ch. 1245, § 1607, 1976 Iowa Acts 567. Its general trespass statute defines “trespass” to include “[e]ntering or remaining upon or in property . . . after being notified or requested to abstain from entering or to remove or vacate therefrom by the owner . . . .” Iowa Code § 716.7(2)(a)(2). “A person has been notified or requested to abstain from entering or remaining upon or in the property . . . if . . . [t]he person has been notified to abstain from entering or remaining upon or in property personally, either orally or in writing . . . .” Id. § 716.7(2)(a)(2)(a). When an ordinary trespass does not result in bodily injury or property damage exceeding $300, the offense is a 1 The Honorable Stephanie M. Rose, Chief United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa. -2- “simple misdemeanor” and is punished by a fine between $105 and $855 and up to 30 days of imprisonment. See id. §§ 716.8(1)–(2), 903.1(1)(a). In 2021, Iowa decided its general trespass statute was not deterring trespassers from unlawfully entering private property to record their trespasses. See 2021 Iowa Acts, ch. 83, § 2. So it enacted § 727.8A to create a new