Scott Glenn Campbell v. City Development Board of the State of Iowa

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

No. 23-1690
Filed March 19, 2025

SCOTT GLENN CAMPBELL,
Plaintiff-Appellant,

vs.

CITY DEVELOPMENT BOARD OF THE STATE OF IOWA,
Defendant-Appellee.
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Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.

Scott Campbell appeals the district court’s dismissal of his judicial review

action. APPEAL DISMISSED.

Scott Campbell, Ankeny, self-represented appellant.

Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Eric Dirth, Assistant Attorney General,

for appellee State.

Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ.
2

CHICCHELLY, Judge.

Scott Campbell appeals the district court’s dismissal of his judicial review

action. Because we have no issues to review, we dismiss the appeal.

Campbell petitioned for judicial review after the City Development Board of

the State of Iowa approved an application for voluntary annexation of 77.75 acres,

including 5.73 acres owned by Campbell and his wife. But Campbell, representing

himself, neither filed a brief nor attended the judicial review hearing, and no

counsel appeared on his behalf. Because Campbell made no argument, the

district court deemed this waiver of any issues and dismissed the petition. See

Aluminum Co. of Am. v. Musal, 622 N.W.2d 476, 479–80 (Iowa 2001) (“[I]f the

parties fail to raise any issues by not filing any briefs, the reviewing court has

nothing to consider.”). While Campbell appeals, we are similarly left with nothing

to review. See Meier v. Senecaut, 641 N.W.2d 532, 537 (Iowa 2002) (“It is a

fundamental doctrine of appellate review that issues must ordinarily be both raised

and decided by the district court before we will decide them on appeal.”). Because

it would not be “a sensible exercise of appellate review” to determine a case

without any arguments or ruling, we decline to decide this appeal and dismiss. See

id.

APPEAL DISMISSED.