Judicial notice is a court’s acceptance of a well-known and indisputable fact without requiring the party relying on the fact to prove it. The doctrine of judicial notice is one of common sense, and is based on the theory that where a fact is well-known in the community—or its existence is easily determined from sources that cannot be reasonably questioned—it would not be a good use of judicial time and resources to require formal proof of the fact in court. A court may take judicial notice of both facts and laws.

In Iowa, the concept of judicial notice aligns with the general principles found in both state statutes and federal law. Iowa Rule of Evidence 201 allows courts to take judicial notice of certain facts that are not subject to reasonable dispute because they are either generally known within the territorial jurisdiction of the trial court or can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned. This includes both adjudicative facts and matters of law. For example, a court in Iowa may take judicial notice of the fact that the state capital is Des Moines without requiring evidence to prove it. Additionally, Iowa courts may take judicial notice of laws, including Iowa statutes, administrative rules, and ordinances, as well as federal statutes, regulations, and case law. The rule is designed to expedite proceedings by avoiding the need to prove facts that are already commonly known or easily verifiable.