Rule 1.1801 Computing time; holidays

When you need to count days for a court deadline, this rule tells you to follow the counting method already set out in Iowa Code section 4.1(34). Instead of creating a new set of counting rules just for court cases, the courts use the same method that applies to other legal deadlines across the state.

In practice, this means you don't count the first day of the time period, but you do count the last day. If that last day happens to fall on a weekend, a legal holiday, or another day when the courthouse is closed, your deadline moves to the next day the courthouse is open. This keeps you from missing a deadline just because it lands on a day when you can't file anything anyway.

This rule matters because missing a deadline can hurt your case, even if the mistake was just a counting error. Knowing the correct method for counting days helps you file documents on time and avoid unnecessary problems in your case.