Okoboji, Iowa — After having just visited northwest Iowa at the beginning of this month, the Iowa Court of Appeals is coming back to our area.
The court was in Orange City on Thursday, May 4th. Now court officials tell us the court will hear oral arguments in three cases at Arrowwood Resort, 1405 Highway 71, Okoboji, on June 1st, 2023, at 1:00 p.m. The hearings are open to the public and the court encourages people to attend.
The court will hear attorneys argue the cases of Timely Mission Nursing Home v. Kathy Arends, a Winnebago County case; Beth Avery v. Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, a Polk County case; and Jerry Vreeman v. Carl Jansma, a Sioux County case.
The background information released by the court on the Sioux County Case says that Iowa Code provides immunity from liability to the owner of a domesticated animal for injuries to a “participant or spectator resulting from the inherent risks of a domesticated animal activity,” unless one of the listed exceptions is applicable. The court tells us that Jerry Vreeman sued Carl Jansma for damages after Vreeman’s leg was injured attempting to assist Jansma to upright a downed heifer at Jansma’s cattle feedlot. The district court granted Jansma summary judgment on the ground he was immune from liability under Iowa code. Vreeman claims Jansma is not entitled to immunity because the activity was not a “domesticated animal activity,” an exception applies, and the required notice was not posted.
