State of Iowa v. Larry Gross, 935 N.W.2d 695

Larry Gross was arrested for deliberately setting his house on fire; he pled guilty to second-degree arson and was incarcerated pretrial and post-conviction.
Gross spent 197 days in the Polk County Jail; the sheriff filed a section 356.7 claim for $11,415 (room and board) with the district court.
The sheriff did not request that the claim be included within the court’s restitution order under section 356.7(2)(i).
The district court approved the sheriff’s claim (entered it with the criminal docket); Gross appealed the approval and claimed the court should have assessed his reasonable ability to pay before awarding the fees.
The Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed; the Iowa Supreme Court granted further review to decide whether a reasonable-ability-to-pay determination is required when jail fees are awarded under §356.7 but not made part of restitution.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the district court must determine the defendant's reasonable ability to pay before ordering jail room-and-board under Iowa Code §356.7 when the sheriff did not request inclusion in restitution	Gross: court must conduct a reasonable-ability-to-pay inquiry before imposing fees	State/Sheriff: reasonable-ability-to-pay requirement applies only when fees are part of restitution under chapter 910	Held: No. If the sheriff does not elect restitution under §356.7(2)(i), the approved claim operates as a civil judgment and is not subject to chapter 910’s reasonable-ability-to-pay limitation
Whether Gross preserved error by not moving for reconsideration/enlargement in district court after entry of the §356.7 approval	Gross: either he was not properly served or the objection to lack of ability-to-pay can be raised on direct appeal as a sentencing issue	State: Gross should have sought reconsideration or enlargement under civil rules because §356.7 awards are civil judgments	Held: Preservation tied to characterization of the award; the court proceeded to the merits and resolved the statutory question (treating the award as a civil judgment when §356.7(2)(i) was not invoked)

State v. Albright, 925 N.W.2d 144 (Iowa 2019) (explains restitution procedure and requires a post-sentencing reasonable-ability-to-pay determination before imposing ‘second-category’ restitution items)
State v. Abrahamson, 696 N.W.2d 589 (Iowa 2005) (interprets §356.7 as offering two enforcement options: restitution under chapter 910 or civil-judgment enforcement under chapter 626)
State v. Van Hoff, 415 N.W.2d 647 (Iowa 1987) (holds reasonable ability to pay is a constitutional prerequisite for criminal restitution)
Bonilla v. Iowa Bd. of Parole, 930 N.W.2d 751 (Iowa 2019) (recites basic due-process requirement of notice and opportunity to be heard)
Kelly v. Robinson, 479 U.S. 36 (U.S. 1986) (criminal restitution obligations are not dischargeable in bankruptcy)