Iowa Supreme Court · No. 24-0353
State of Iowa v. Ronald Richard Pagliai
Decided January 9, 2026 · appeal from Polk County · Criminal
What the court decided
AI summary The defendant challenged a court order that required him to pay court costs for criminal charges that were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. The Iowa Supreme Court vacated the existing orders and sent the case back to the lower court for further action. This means the lower court must reconsider whether it had the legal authority to impose those costs.1
Result: Convictions, Sentences, and Dispositional Orders Conditionally Vacated and Remanded with Instructions
The court’s own summary
The State filed trial informations in three separate cases charging aggravated misdemeanors, and in a fourth case charged a simple misdemeanor, against Richard Pagliai. Pagliai agreed to enter an Alford plea to two of the aggravated misdemeanor counts as charged, while the State would recommend dismissal of the other aggravated misdemeanor and the simple misdemeanor. The agreement required Pagliai to pay court costs in the dismissed cases, and the district court ordered Pagliai to pay court costs in the dismissed cases pursuant to the agreement. The supreme court treated Pagliai’s notice of appeal as an application for discretionary review and granted it. Pagliai argues: (1) the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to order him to pay costs in dismissed cases because the applicable statutes and caselaw did not allow it; (2) the court’s order violated his rights to due process; and (3) the challenged provision was an illegal sentence.
Holding: Defendant seeks discretionary review of dispositional orders assessing costs in dismissed cases. Convictions, Sentences, and Dispositional Orders Conditionally Vacated and Remanded with Instructions.
Judges
- Written by Justice Christopher McDonald
Iowa Code it cites
§321.406§602.6101§815.9§822.2§904.702§910.1§910.2§910.7
Each links to the bills that change that chapter.