Iowa Supreme Court rules that an officer did not have probable cause or reasonable suspicion to stop a motorist’s vehicle when it was on a county access road after hours. Iowa Code Section 461A.46, requiring all persons to vacate state parks and preserves before 10:30 p.m., only applies to state parks and preserves, not county conservation property. Iowa Code section 350.5 is applicable to county parks, but it requires that any regulations be posted near each gate or principal entrance. In this case, the required posting was not done, or was not proven. Hence, without the conservation board properly posting the closing time, the officer did not have probable cause or reasonable suspicion to stop the Defendant, and therefore all evidence discovered as a result of the stop had to be suppressed. Further, mistake of law is an insufficient basis to justify a stop.

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