Service of process upon or arrest of any person charged with provisions of this chapter for which damages may be assessed pursuant to section 481A.130, shall serve as notice of the pendency of the liquidated damage claim. Trial on the criminal charge may be separated from the determination of the liquidated damage claim in the discretion of the court or by the request of the defendant, but upon conviction of the defendant in the criminal case, the only issue to be determined by the court on the liquidated damage claim is the fact of such conviction.
Iowa Code § 481A.132