SF 2051 – Life Insurance Proceeds and Felonies Committed Against the Insured
SF 2199- Court Interpreters
SF 2200 – Business Corporation Act amendments
SF 2201 – Kidnapping
SF 2207 – Adoption Records
SF 2211- Sexually Violent Predators
SSB 3040 – Consumer Privacy Breaches
SSB 3134 – Multi-housing Covenants
SSB 3169 – Human Trafficking
SSB 3170 – Nonsubstantive Code Editor’s Bill
SSB 3189 – Image Transmission (sexting bill)
COMMITTEE ACTION:
SF 2051 relates to receipt of life insurance proceeds by felons who commit a violent crime against the insured. A beneficiary of a life insurance policy or other similar contract who is convicted of a felonious assault (708), felonious sex abuse (709), attempted murder or a related offense (707), or a felony under Chapter 710( the kidnapping Chapter) committed against the insured within the six months prior to the death of the insured is not entitled to the proceeds of the life insurance policy or other contractual arrangement.
The felony is not required to be related to the death of the insured. That is already covered by state law.
The insured individual or obligee may affirm in a notarized statement that the beneficiary should receive any benefit under the life insurance policy or contractual arrangement despite the felony conviction. [2/18: short form]
SF 2199 is intended to bring Iowa into compliance with the U.S. Department of Justice guidance regarding the application of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (1964) relating to the provision of interpretation and translation services in state courts. The bill ensures that all limited English proficient individuals who are participating in legal proceedings are provided with interpreters and translators. In addition, the bill says the costs of interpreters and translators will not be charged back to the participants as court costs. The bill authorizes the Supreme Court to adopt rules relating to interpreters and translators, and the bill clarifies and streamlines the payment process for interpreters and translators. [2/13: short form (Whitver absent)]
SF 2200 is a proposal from the Bar Association to amend the Business Corporation Act. The bill removes the 10-year limit on the duration of voting trust agreements and shareholder agreements. A voting trust is a device by which one or more shareholders retain ownership of the shares, but transfer voting rights to one or more trustees. The bill also permits non-publicly traded corporations to comply with the reporting requirements to shareholders by filing annual financial statements containing the balance sheet, income statement and changes in shareholders’ equity that comply with the applicable state or federal law and regulations and are publicly accessible or available by Internet for review. The division of the bill relating to the reporting requirements came from the Banking Association. [2/13: short form (Whitver absent)]
SF 2201 changes the definition of kidnapping in the second degree to include any kidnapping where the victim is 16 years old or younger. Kidnapping in the second degree is a class “B” felony, punishable by confinement for no more than 25 years and has a mandatory minimum of 70 percent. In addition, the bill enhances the penalty for kidnapping in the third degree if the person has a previous conviction for kidnapping and makes it a “B” felony rather than a “C” felony when there is a prior kidnapping conviction. [2/13: short form (Whitver absent)]
SF 2207, as amended in committee, requests that the Legislative Council establish an interim committee on adoption records. The interim committee is to review and make recommendations relating to access to adoption records. [2/13: short form (Whitver absent)]
SF 2211 relates to the determination of whether someone fits the criteria of a sexually violent predator for civil commitment purposes. The bill permits the use of juvenile delinquency adjudications for sexually violent offenses when determining whether someone should be designated a sexually violent predator. The Committee adopted an amendment that allows the Department of Human Services 60 days (rather than 30 days) to develop a plan for a person who has been ordered to be released from the civil commitment as a sexually violent predator. [2/13: short form (Whitver absent)]
SSB 3040 relates to breaches of personal information. Under current law, when an entity owns or leases consumer personal data and there is a security breach, the entity is required to notify the consumers whose data has been compromised. This bill amends the definition of “breach of security” to include personal information transferred from a computer to any medium, including paper. The definition of “personal information” is amended to include encrypted or redacted information if the keys to unencrypt, unredact or otherwise read the data elements have also been obtained. In addition, the bill as amended requires a person who owns or licenses computerized data that includes consumers’ personal information that has been subject to a breach, to notify the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney General’s Office within three business days after giving notice of the breach of security to any consumer if the breach impacts more than 500 persons. [2/18: short form]
SSB 3134 clarifies that all the terms, conditions, covenants and provisions of documents creating and regulating a multiple housing cooperative (Chapter 499A) or a horizontal property regime (condominiums (499B)) will continue and remain in full force and effect for as long as it exists, unless the terms, conditions, covenants and any provisions of the documents creating and regulating the cooperative or horizontal property regime are amended pursuant to the respective Code Chapters. [2/18: short form]
SSB 3169 imposes a new criminal surcharge of $1,000 upon those convicted of purchasing or offering to purchase the services of a prostitute (725.1(2)), human trafficking (710A.2), pimping (725.2) and pandering (725.3). Pandering is the persuasion or coercion of someone to become a prostitute or return to prostitution. Money from the surcharge will be used to create the Human Trafficking Victim Fund, which will be administered by the Attorney General’s office. The fund will be used for grants to programs that provide services and support to victims of human trafficking, as well as public outreach and human trafficking awareness programs. The sections of the bill dealing with the surcharge take effect on January 1, 2015. In addition, the bill:
•Clarifies that methods of enticing a minor can include almost any method of communication, including mail, telephone, Internet, social media and text messages.
•Specifies that if a person under the age of 18 offers to sell or sells his/her services as a partner in a sex act, the county attorney may refer the child to the Department of Human Services for the possible filing of a child in need of assistance petition rather than filing prostitution charges against the child.
•Extends the statute of limitations for sexual exploitation of a minor from three to 10 years.
•Requires the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy to include in its annual report to the Legislature information regarding resources devoted to the training, staffing and investigating of human trafficking cases.
•Allows the Attorney General to authorize an application for an order to intercept communications relating to felony human trafficking. Current law only allows communications interception for investigations of specific crimes, not including human trafficking. [2/18: short form]
SSB 3170 is the nonsubstantive Code Editor’s bill. This bill is submitted each year by the Iowa Code editor to the Judiciary Committees for the purpose of making Code changes that generally exceed the Code Editor’s authority to make editorially but that are considered to be nonsubstantive and noncontroversial in nature. In some cases, the changes are within the Code Editor’s authority but are significant enough that public notice of the changes by means of this bill is considered important. The changes include things such as correcting clerical errors, grammatical changes and numerical updates. [2/18: short form]
SSB 3189 creates a new offense for dissemination by a young person (ages 14 to 18) of material depicting a sex act or nudity. If a person 14 to 18 knowingly disseminates to another person (ages 14 to 18) any material depicting either or both of them engaged in a sex act or in a state of full or partial nudity, that person commits a simple misdemeanor if either is a minor. The bill is intended to address “sexting” between teenagers and reduce the charging options and punishments provided in current law. A person convicted under this new section will not be required to register as a sex offender. In addition, the bill specifies that a charge of “sexual exploitation of a minor” will not apply if the person receiving the material was 14 to 18 years of age; the material depicts the sender, recipient or both, one of whom is a minor; the material was knowingly created with the consent of the persons depicted; the sender knows or reasonably believes the material would not be offensive to the recipient; and the person does not further disseminate the material or exhibit it if it depicts another person. [2/18: short form]