SF 20 -Access to the Iowa Communications Network by Local Law Enforcement
SF 178 – Life Insurance Proceeds – Restrictions on Receipt by Certain Felons
SF 179 – Penalty Enhancement for Kidnapping
SF 180 – Refusal to Submit to a Blood Test in Operating While Intoxicated Cases
SF 181 – Law Enforcement Teaching Driver’s Education Classes
SSB 1007 – Deletion of Obsolete Language Relating to “Support of the Poor”
SSB 1010 – Disposition of Seized Firearms and Ammunition
SSB 1079 – Expert Witness Fees
SSB 1121 – Possession of Marijuana
COMMITTEE ACTION:
SF 20 allows access to the Iowa Communications Network (ICN) by local law enforcement agencies, public safety answering points and facilities that receive E911 dispatches for the purpose of establishing and operating a secure statewide network to facilitate more effective emergency responses. The bill also provides access to the ICN by the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Local agencies will be responsible for the costs of connecting to and use of the network. [2/10: short form]
SF 178 relates to receipt of life insurance proceeds by felons who have committed a violent crime against the insured. Under the bill, a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, or other similar contract, who is convicted of a felonious assault, felonious sex abuse, attempted murder or kidnapping 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. The felony is not required to be related to the death of the insured. That is already covered by state law. Under the bill, the insured individual may affirm in a notarized writing that the beneficiary should receive any benefit under the life insurance policy despite the felony conviction. [2/5: short form (Zaun absent)]
SF 179, as amended in committee, changes the definition of kidnapping in the second degree to include any kidnapping in which the victim is 17 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 70 percent mandatory minimum sentence. The bill specifies that it isn’t second degree kidnapping if a child is taken by a relative whose sole intent is to obtain custody of the child. In addition, the bill enhances the penalty for kidnapping in the third degree if the person has a previous conviction for kidnapping by making it a “B” felony rather than a “C” felony. [2/5: short form (Zaun absent)]
SF 180 relates to the refusal to submit to a chemical test of blood in operating-while-intoxicated cases. Under current law, if a person refuses to submit to a chemical test of breath or urine in an OWI case, it is grounds for the Department of Transportation to administratively revoke the person’s driver’s license under implied consent law. SF 180 expands the grounds for revocation to include a refusal to submit to a blood test. [2/5: 9-3 (Garrett, Hogg, Kinney, Petersen, Sodders, Schneider, Shipley, Taylor, Whitver “yes”; Bisignano, Horn, Quirmbach “no”; Zaun absent)]
SF 181 permits a peace officer or a retired peace officer to be qualified as a classroom driver education instructor if the person also meets the Board of Educational Examiner’s requirements for a classroom driver education instructor. Currently, only those holding a teaching license with an endorsement to teach driver education may qualify to be a classroom driver education instructor. [2/5: short form (Horn “no”; Quirmbach “pass”)]
SSB 1007 updates Iowa law relating to who is responsible for support of the “poor.” Under the bill, only the poor person is liable for repayment of money expended by the county on their behalf. The county may recover money expended for the assistance or support of a poor person from them if they become able to pay and the action to recover is filed within two years after the person becomes able. Monies could also be recovered from a person’s estate upon death, if there is money available. Under current law, counties have been permitted to seek support from parents, children, grandparents and grandchildren of a poor person. Because of Medicaid and Medicare laws, family members are no longer responsible for the care and maintenance of the poor. [2/10: short form]
SSB 1010 requires that all firearms and ammunition seized by law enforcement pursuant to Code Chapter 809 relating to disposition of seized property and deemed abandoned or for which the owner is unable to be located shall be deposited with the Department of Public Safety, regardless of fair market value. Current law says that only firearms or ammunition with an aggregate fair market value equal to or less than $500 is to be deposited with the Department of Public Safety. [2/10: short form]
SSB 1079 allows the winning party in a court case to make application to the court for the award of expert witness fees when an expert has testified at trial on behalf of the prevailing party. Under the bill, the court could authorize an award of up to $2,500 to the winning party for expert witness fees which would be paid for by the losing party. Current law only allows the court to award up to $150, but the cost of an expert witness for testifying in a case can be thousands of dollars. [2/10: short form]
SSB 1121 provides that a person who possesses five grams or less of marijuana commits a simple misdemeanor for a first offense. A simple misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than 30 days or a fine of at least $65 but not more than $620 or both. Current law punishes first offense possession of marijuana as a serious misdemeanor punishable by confinement for not more than six months or by a fine of not more than $1,000 or both. [2/10: short form (Kinney “no”)]