2023 Iowa Code › Title XV - JUDICIAL BRANCH AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURES › Chapter 617 - COMMENCING ACTIONS › Section 617.3 - Foreign corporations or nonresidents contracting or committing torts in Iowa.

617.3 Foreign corporations or nonresidents contracting or committing torts in Iowa.
1. If the action is against any corporation or person owning or operating any railway or canal, steamboat or other rivercraft, or any telegraph, telephone, stage, coach, or carline, or against any express company, or against any foreign corporation, service may be made upon any general agent of such corporation, company, or person, wherever found, or upon any station, ticket, or other agent, or person transacting the business thereof or selling tickets therefor in the county where the action is brought; if there is no such agent in said county, then service may be had upon any such agent or person transacting said business in any other county.
2. If a foreign corporation makes a contract with a resident of Iowa to be performed in whole or in part by either party in Iowa, or if such foreign corporation commits a tort in whole or in part in Iowa against a resident of Iowa, such acts shall be deemed to be doing business in Iowa by such foreign corporation for the purpose of service of process or original notice on such foreign corporation under this section, and, if the corporation does not have a registered agent or agents in the state of Iowa, shall be deemed to constitute the appointment of the secretary of state of the state of Iowa to be its true and lawful attorney upon whom may be served all lawful process or original notice in actions or proceedings arising from or growing out of such contract or tort. If a nonresident person makes a contract with a resident of Iowa to be performed in whole or in part by either party in Iowa, or if such person commits a tort in whole or in part in Iowa against a resident of Iowa, such acts shall be deemed to be doing business in Iowa by such person for the purpose of service of process or original notice on such person under this section, and shall be deemed to constitute the appointment of the secretary of state of the state of Iowa to be the true and lawful attorney of such person upon whom may be served all lawful process or original notice in actions or proceedings arising from or growing out of such contract or tort. The term “nonresident person” shall include any person who was, at the time of the contract or tort, a resident of the state of Iowa but who removed from the state before the commencement of such action or proceedings and ceased to be a resident of Iowa or, a resident who has remained continuously absent from the state for at least a period of six months following commission of the tort. The making of the contract or the committing of the tort shall be deemed to be the agreement of such corporation or such person that any process or original notice so served shall be of the same legal force and effect as if served personally upon such defendant within the state of Iowa. The term “resident of Iowa” shall include any Iowa corporation, any foreign corporation holding a certificate of authority to transact business in Iowa, any individual residing in Iowa, and any partnership or association one or more of whose members is a resident of Iowa.
3. Service of such process or original notice shall be made by filing duplicate copies of said process or original notice with said secretary of state, together with a fee of ten dollars, and by mailing to the defendant and to each of them if more than one, by registered or certified mail, a notification of said filing with the secretary of state, the same to be so mailed within ten days after such filing with the secretary of state. Such notification shall be mailed to each foreign corporation at the address of its principal office in the state or country under the laws of which it is incorporated and to each such nonresident person at an address in the state of residence. The defendant shall have sixty days from the date of such filing with the secretary of state within which to appear. Proof of service shall be made by filing in court the duplicate copy of the process or original notice with the secretary of state’s certificate of filing, and the affidavit of the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney of compliance herewith.
4. The secretary of state shall keep a record of all processes or original notices so served upon the secretary of state, recording therein the time of service and the secretary of state’s actions with reference thereto, and the secretary of state shall promptly return one of said duplicate copies to the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney, with a certificate showing the time of filing thereof in the secretary of state’s office.
5. The original notice of suit filed with the secretary of state shall be in form and substance the same as provided in
rule of civil procedure 1.1901
, form 3, Iowa court rules.
6. The notification of filing shall be in substantially the following form, to wit:
To ........................ (Here insert the name of each defendant with proper address.) You will take notice that an original notice of suit or process against you, a copy of which is hereto attached, was duly served upon you at Des Moines, Iowa by filing a copy of said notice or process on the ............ day of ........................ (month), ............ (year), with the secretary of state of the state of Iowa.
Dated at ........................, Iowa, this ............ day of ........................ (month), ............ (year)
....................................
Plaintiff
By
....................................
Attorney for Plaintiff
7. Actions against foreign corporations or nonresident persons as contemplated by this law may be brought in the county of which plaintiff is a resident, or in the county in which any part of the contract is or was to be performed or in which any part of the tort was committed.
[C51, §1727; R60, §2825; C73, §2611; C97, §3529; S13, §3529; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §11072; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §617.3; 81 Acts, ch 21, §20]
83 Acts, ch 101, §123; 2000 Acts, ch 1058, §56; 2002 Acts, ch 1119, §106; 2007 Acts, ch 126, §101; 2011 Acts, ch 25, §70
Referred to in §85.3, 489.116, 533A.2, 537.1203, 548.115, 631.4, 631.6