Judiciary – Week of April 21, 2011

STAFF CONTACT:  Cathy Engel

SF 236 – Department of Public Safety Bill

FLOOR ACTION:

SF 236 is a Department of Public Safety bill that the Senate passed previously in the session.  It came back to the Senate from the House with an amendment.   The bill makes a number of Code changes intended to strike unnecessary requirements, clarify language and delete redundancies. The bill:

** Adjusts the membership of the State Fire Service and Emergency Response Council to reflect the fact that the organizations representing firefighters have changed. The makeup of the Council remains substantially the same.

** Strikes the requirement that the State Building Code Commissioner adopt rules to enforce the Minimum Plumbing Facilities Chapter. This requirement is unnecessary and redundant because the Plumbing and Mechanical Systems Board is authorized to establish these rules.

** Deletes language requiring local law enforcement agencies to forward fingerprint records to the FBI and deletes language that requires the Department of Corrections to forward fingerprint and photograph records to the FBI. This information is already sent to the Department of Public Safety, which forwards this information to the FBI.

** Allows local law enforcement agencies to send reports to the Department of Public Safety electronically.

** Clarifies procedures and authority for making determinations of sexual motivation in the case of stalking involving an adult victim.

** Adds the Department of Public Safety in the list of entities that have access to the deferred judgment docket.

** The House amendment expands the membership of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy from 7 members to 13 members.  The Senate concurred in the House amendment. [4/19: 49-0 (Kapucian excused)]