French v. Iowa District Court for Jones County

McGIVERIN, Chief Justice.

The controlling issue in this original certio-rari action concerns whether the district court in a contempt case acted illegally when it entered judgment against plaintiff Lumyr French to reimburse the city of Wyoming for costs incurred while abating a nuisance on French’s property. Because we believe the court acted illegally in entering such a judgment, we sustain plaintiff’s writ of certiorari.

I. Background facts and proceedings.

A. The nuisance action. In May 1989, the city of Wyoming filed a petition in district court alleging one of its residents, Lu-myr French,…