Second lawsuit filed against City of Red Oak

A second lawsuit was recently filed against the City of Red Oak.
On Feb. 12, Montgomery County resident Randy Cooper filed a petition for declaratory and injunctive relief against the city.
According to the petition, the property at issue is a municipal airport, owned by the City and governed under Iowa Code Chapter 330. The city has established an airport commission or similar administrative body to oversee airport operations. For multiple years, petitioner accessed and maintained portions of the airport property with the knowledge and consent of the city officials and/or the airport commission. The petitioner also expended personal funds and labor for seeding, mowing and maintenance that benefitted the airport property. No written lease, license, or revocation agreement governing Petitioner’s access was ever executed or approved by City Council.
Per Cooper’s lawsuit, on or about Jan. 14, 2026, the City of Red Oak, through administrative action, issued a no trespassing order barring Cooper from the municipal airport property. According to Cooper’s suit, the no-trespassing order was issued without written notice, a hearing, a city council vote or resolution, or a citation to authority under Iowa Chapter 330. The petition further alleges that no criminal charge under Iowa Code 716.7 (Trespass) has been filed or adjudicated against Cooper; no court order exists restricting Cooper’s access to the airport property. Cooper requested clarification, records, and recission of the order; and the city failed or refused to rescind the order.
Cooper’s lawsuit further states that Iowa Code Chapter 330 governs the ownership, management, and operation of municipal airports. Under Iowa Code 330.6 and 330.15 airport commissions may supervise and manage airport facilities subject to the authority of the city.
• Iowa Code Chapter 330 does not grant airport commissions or city administrator authority to permanently exclude a citizen from municipal airport property absent: a criminal trespass determination under 716.7; a court order; or lawfully approved lease, license, or revocation action.
• Any restriction on public access to a municipal airport must be exercised: within statutory authority; through proper municipal action; or with due process protections.
Cooper’s lawsuit thus claims the no-trespassing order was issued without authority granted by Iowa Code Chapter 330 and is therefore ultra vires, and Cooper is seeking a declaration that the order is void and unenforceable.
As for injunctive relief, the petition states that the city continues to enforce or threaten enforcement of the no-trespassing order, Cooper has no adequate remedy at law; continued enforcement causes irreparable harm by unlawfully restricting access to public airport property and exposing Petitioner to arrest or citation; and injunctive relief is necessary to prevent continued unlawful enforcement.
The lawsuit alleges a due process violation. Cooper has a liberty interest in access to public municipal property, including a city-owned airport. The petitioner also holds a protectable interest in improvements made to the property at personal expense, and the suit alleges that the city deprived Petitioner of these interests without notice, hearing, or opportunity to be heard. Such action violates procedural due process, under the Iowa Constitution.
• Neither Iowa Code Chapter 330 nor Chapter 364 authorizes city staff or an airport commission to issue a permanent no-trespassing order absent lawful process, no city council action authorized issuance of the order, and acts taken without statutory authority are void under Iowa law.
Cooper’s suit states that Cooper sought administrative clarification and relief, no adequate remedy remains, and judicial intervention is appropriate.
Cooper is requesting the court declare the no-trespassing order void and unenforceable; order the city to immediately rescind the order; enjoin the city from enforcing or reissuing such order absent lawful authority under Iowa Code 330, and grant such other relief as the court deems just and equitable.