Judiciary Committee – Week 5, 2020

FLOOR ACTION:

SF 2095 – County Attorneys obtaining professional permits to carry weapons

SF 2095 adds county attorneys and assistant county attorneys to the individuals who may apply for a professional permit to carry a weapon. Current law says that certain individuals “…when the person’s employment in a private investigation business or private security business licensed under Chapter 80A, or a person’s employment as a peace officer, correctional officer, security guard, or bank messenger, or other person transporting property of value requiring security…” may apply for a professional permit to carry. The bill allows county attorneys with professional permits to go armed anywhere in the state at all times except while on the grounds of a school or a security screening station at a courthouse that is subject to rules, directives, and procedures of the judicial branch and the judicial district. The bill requires a county attorney or assistant county attorney who wants a professional permit to carry to complete a law enforcement agency firearm safety training course that qualifies a peace officer to carry a firearm in the normal course of the peace officer’s duties. The county attorney or assistant county attorney must not otherwise be disqualified from possessing a firearm.
[2/6: 47-1 (No: Bolkcom; Absent: Whiting, Zaun)]

SF 2096 – Emergency Medical Care providers obtaining professional permits to carry weapons

SF 2096 allows emergency medical care providers, referred to as EMCs, who accompany police tactical teams into potentially high-casualty situations where a threat is still present, to be issued a professional permit to carry weapons. Professional permits allow the holder to carry the weapon only when engaged in their employment and when going to and from their employment. To obtain a professional permit to carry, EMCs must train with the tactical team and  complete a law enforcement agency firearm safety training course, which is required of peace officers. An EMC must not otherwise be disqualified from possessing a weapon.
[2/10: 48-0 (Absent: Nunn, T. Taylor)]

SF 2097 – Expanding the definition of indecent exposure

SF 2097 expands the definition of the crime of indecent exposure. It will constitute indecent exposure if a person masturbates underneath or outside of the person’s clothing in the presence of another if the person does so to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of either party and the person knows or reasonably should know that the act is offensive to the viewer. If the viewer was a child at the time of the act, there is no requirement to prove that the act is offensive to the child. Indecent exposure is a serious misdemeanor, subject to up to a year in jail and a fine of at least $315 but not more than $1,875.
[2/10: 48-0 (Absent: Nunn, T. Taylor)]

COMMITTEE ACTION:

SF 2073 – Personal Information Security Breaches

SF 2073 adds a new section to Chapter 715C relating to Personal Information Security Breach Protection.  Under the bill, it will be an affirmative defense to a claim that a person failed to implement reasonable security measures that resulted in a breach of security if the person “established, maintained, and complied with a written cyber security program that conforms to current and accepted industry standards regarding cyber security and personal information security breach protection, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s framework for improving critical infrastructure cyber security.”
[2/12: 10-5, party line]

SF 2179 – Liability protections relating to equipment donations

SF 2179 provides that a fire department, emergency medical services provider, or a law enforcement agency may donate used vehicles or equipment to an organization that provides fire response or emergency medical services, or to a law enforcement agency. Any entity making good-faith donations of vehicles or equipment is immune from civil liability for any claim arising from damages that may have been related to the donated vehicles or equipment. The bill provides immunity to the state and governmental subdivisions that donate vehicles and equipment.
[2/12: short form]

SF 2224 – Carrying a weapon on school parking lots and driveways

SF 2224 authorizes a person who has a valid permit to carry weapons to carry a concealed pistol or revolver on school district driveways and parking lots. There is no requirement that the person remain in a vehicle. Schools are immune from any claim, cause of action or lawsuit by a person seeking damages because a concealed pistol or revolver was brought onto school property. The Board of Regents institutions are exempted from this bill.
[2/10: 10-3 (No: Bisignano, Hogg, Petersen; Absent: Nunn, Sinclair)]

SF 2225 – Technical fixes for the 2019 criminal omnibus bill

SF 2225 has two fixes for inadvertent errors in Senate File 589, the criminal omnibus bill that passed during the 2019 session. One was a change in the amount stolen to qualify as theft in the third degree. The other was an error in the implementation date for reduction of the mandatory minimum sentence for robbery in the first degree.
[2/10: 12-0 (Absent:  Chapman, Nunn, Sinclair)]

SF 2232 – Trust Code amendments

SF 2232 comes from the Iowa Academy of Trust and Estate Counsel (ITEC) and proposes amendments to Iowa’s Trust Code, which, according the members of ITEC, would provide more flexibility for Iowans creating trusts and would reduce the flow of trust business to South Dakota, which has more liberal trust laws. The bill:

  • Allows a trustee to create a new trust and place the first trust assets into a second trust to increase trust flexibility. This is intended to codify a practice called “decanting,” which is currently allowed per common law.
  • Changes the age at which beneficiaries must receive notices regarding the existence of a trust benefitting them along with copies of the trust and an annual accounting. Current law requires that any beneficiary 18 or older receive notices and accountings related to the trust. The bill changes the requirement to provide notices directly to the beneficiary at age 25. Those between 18 and 25 who are trust beneficiaries will have a designated surrogate to receive the notices if the trust instrument or trust protector so directs.
  • Allows for something called “unbundling of trustee functions.” Thus, there would be the potential for a trust to have multiple trustees with different functions, such as “an administrative trustee” who would be responsible for the accounting and tax compliance, a “distribution director” who would make distribution decisions, and an “investment director” to make investment decisions. In addition, the bill allows for a non-fiduciary “trust protector” to make other decisions “that are not fiduciary in nature.”
    [2/10: 12-0 (Absent: Chapman, Nunn, Sinclair)]

SSB 3035 – Eluding

SSB 3035 relates to the crime of eluding and enhances penalties when a defendant is convicted of or pleads guilty to eluding a second or subsequent time. The bill adds language enhancing penalties under the following circumstances: A person who eludes or attempts to elude a marked law enforcement vehicle driven by a uniformed peace officer who has given the stop signal will be guilty of an aggravated misdemeanor if it is a second or subsequent eluding violation. A first violation is a serious misdemeanor.

If a defendant is found guilty a second or subsequent time for eluding or attempting to elude a marked law enforcement vehicle while driving in excess of the speed limit by 25 miles per hour or has previously been found guilty under subsection 3, it is a “D” felony. It is currently an aggravated misdemeanor.

Subsection 3: If a defendant is eluding or attempting to elude a marked law enforcement vehicle after being given the stop signal and is exceeding the speed limit by at least 25 miles per hour under the following circumstances, it is a “D” felony if:

  • The driver is participating in a felony
  • The driver is operating while intoxicated
  • Another person experiences bodily injury
  • The driver is in possession of drugs

A second or subsequent violation of this subsection is a “C” felony.

The bill adds language to prohibit any deferred sentence if a driver is eluding by 25 miles per hour or more over the speed limit and is operating while intoxicated. Under the bill, if a person is convicted of or pleads guilty to eluding at a speed of 25 miles per hour or more over the speed limit while driving drunk, then the defendant is not eligible for a deferred judgment.
[2/12: 13-2 (No: Bisignano, Hogg)]

SSB 3040 – Blood draws for deceased drivers pursuant to a vehicle crash

SSB 3040, as amended, requires the Department of Public Safety to convene and provide administrative support to a work group to study the issue of obtaining blood draws from drivers who have died as a result of a vehicle accident. Membership in the group includes:

  • Iowa Association of County Medical Examiners representative
  • Three county medical examiners from different sized counties
  • Representative from the State Medical Examiner’s Office
  • Representative from the Iowa Funeral Directors’ Association
  • Representative from the Iowa State Sheriffs’ and Deputies’ Association
  • Member of the Iowa Peace Officers Association
  • Representative from the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy
  • Representative from the Department of Transportation
  • Representative from the Department of Public Safety
  • Representative from the Department of Public Health, who will serve as Chairpersons

The work group must submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature by December 16, 2020.
[2/12: short form]