Judiciary Committee Report – Week 9, 2018

SF 2101 – Purple paint as notice of trespass;
SF 2165 – Payments from the Victim Compensation Fund;
SF 2176 – Lascivious Acts with children;
SF 2197 – Enhanced penalty for theft of motor vehicles;
SF 2282 – Constitutionality of statutes;
SF 2303 – Inheritance tax deferments for persons with remainder interests;
SF 2314 – Business law technical changes;
SF 2343 – Eluding law enforcement;
SF 2371 – Human Trafficking of children enhanced penalties;
SF 2377 – Locking juvenile facilities;
HF 2199 – Illegal use of a scanning device;
HF 2457 – Substantive Code Editor’s bill. 

 

FLOOR ACTION:

Senate File 2101 makes changes to Iowa’s trespassing law. If a property owner living in an unincorporated area places purple paint around their property on trees or fence posts, entering the property is forbidden and constitutes trespassing, effective July 1, 2019. The departments of Agriculture and Natural Resources must conduct an information campaign to educate the public and property owners about this change.
[3/7: 38-11 (No: Bolkcom, Boulton, Dotzler, Dvorsky, Hogg, Jochum, Mathis, McCoy, Petersen, Quirmbach, Taylor; Absent: Bertrand)]

 

Senate File 2165 relates to the Victim Compensation Fund. Payments are made from the fund to victims of certain crimes for expenses incurred because of the crime. The fund is made up of criminal surcharge monies and other sources and has no impact on the General Fund. The bill:

  • Adds a definition of “survivor of a deceased victim” so that there is a consistent definition throughout the Code for providing compensation to survivors of deceased victims.
  • Adds the ability to receive compensation for loss of income incurred by a survivor of a deceased victim due to a funeral, memorial or burial service.
  • Allows compensation for cleaning a crime scene. Current law limits compensation to cleaning a residence.
  • Provides for compensation for dependent care expenses when a survivor attends a funeral, burial or memorial service.
  • Provides for replacing or installing new locks and other residential security items.
  • Provides for additional compensation to a victim, a secondary victim or survivor for charges, expenses or loss of income if the expenses were not authorized at the time of the initial application for benefits.
  • Says a “new event” (such as a retrial, a change in offender custody status or a new appellate court decision) will allow for additional compensation.
    [3/6: 50-0]

 

Senate File 2176 creates the crime of lascivious acts with a person age 14 or 15 and requires any person convicted under this law to register as a sex offender. Iowa law currently penalizes lascivious acts with a child but the definition of “child” is anyone under age 14. There is a gap in the law when a person 18 or older has authority over anyone age 14 or 15 and engages in certain types of behavior (lascivious acts) with them. These include behaviors such as touching certain body parts of the 14 or 15 year old or soliciting the 14 or 15 year old to touch the person. Under current law, according to the Iowa County Attorneys Association, the only charge that can be brought is an assault charge.
[3/6: 50-0]

 

Senate File 2197 enhances the penalties for theft of a motor vehicle when the stolen vehicle is subsequently used in the commission of a forcible felony or felony. In addition, the bill enhances the penalty for operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent if the vehicle is subsequently used in the commission of a forcible felony or felony.
[3/6: 37-13 (No: Bisignano, Bolkcom, Boulton, Dotzler, Dvorsky, Hogg, Jochum, Kinney, Mathis, McCoy, Petersen, Quirmbach, Taylor)]

 

SF 2282 provides that no Iowa statute can be held unconstitutional unless at least five justices of the Iowa Supreme Court concur.
[3/6: 26-24 (No: Allen, Bertrand, Bisignano, Bolkcom, Boulton, Bowman, Danielson, Dotzler, Dvorsky, Greene, Hart, Hogg, Horn, Jochum, D. Johnson, Kinney, Lykam, Mathis, McCoy, Petersen, Quirmbach, Ragan, Schneider, Taylor)]

 

Senate File 2303 relates to deferred inheritance taxes when a person is given a life estate in a decedent’s property. At times when people die, they will leave what is called a life estate to a survivor to use the decedent’s property while the survivor is alive. An example would be the use of a home until the person’s death or for a number of years. After the survivor dies, the property is inherited by another person than the decedent named, generally in the decedent’s will. As a result, inheritance taxes are deferred until the death of the survivor with the life estate. This bill provides several methods for securing the inheritance taxes upon the death of the survivor with a life estate. According to the Bar Association, bonds to secure payment of the inheritance taxes are difficult to obtain. This bill is intended to help solve that issue. It adds that inheritance tax payment can be secured through an irrevocable payable on death or transfer on death account, payable to the Department of Revenue and approved by the Department of Revenue; or through an escrow agreement with the Department of Revenue with a private attorney acting as escrow agent holding the funds in the attorney’s trust account.
[3/5: 49-0 (Absent: Hart)]

 

Senate File 2314 makes technical changes to several Code Chapters relating to corporations. Some references were inadvertently omitted from previous legislation relating to corporate entities.
[3/5: 50-0]

 

Senate File 2343 allows law enforcement to retain a vehicle used to elude law enforcement until the final disposition of any criminal proceeding if the vehicle is owned by the suspected perpetrator.
[3/6: 41-9 (No: Bolkcom, Dvorsky, Horn, Hogg, Jochum, McCoy, Petersen, Quirmbach, Taylor)]

 

Senate File 2371 increases the penalty for any human trafficking crime to a “B” felony when the victim is under 18.
[3/7: 50-0]

 

Senate File 2377 allows authorities to lock  doors within a juvenile detention facility if no juvenile residing there was placed in the facility pursuant to a child in need of assistance proceeding.
[3/6: 50-0]

 

House File 2199 updates criminal law relating to unauthorized use of scanning devices or encoding machines to obtain information encoded on a payment card. The update is intended to keep abreast of the technology being used to steal information from payment cards. Under the bill, if someone directly or indirectly uses a scanning device to access, read, obtain, memorize or store information encoded on a payment card without authorization, it is a “D” felony. In addition, it is a “D” felony if someone directly or indirectly uses an encoding machine to place information from a payment card onto a different payment card without authorization.

It will be an aggravated misdemeanor if a person possesses a scanning device with the intent to use it to obtain information encoded on a payment card without authorization, or possesses a scanning device with knowledge that a person other than an authorized user intends to use the scanning device to obtain information encoded on a payment card without authorization.
[3/1: 49-0 (Absent: Bertrand)]

 

House File 2457 is the substantive Code Editor’s Bill, which adjusts language reflecting current practices or changes made through past legislation; corrects manifest errors; clarifies ambiguities; eliminates conflicts; and deletes obsolete or temporary provisions.
[3/6: 50-0]