Relating to the peace officer and public safety and emergency personnel bill of rights, providing for employee assessments of supervisors of certain state officers, and including effective date provisions

The investigation is to be completed within 180 days from the date of the complaint, unless the officer signs a written waiver tolling the period of time for a specific period. After initiating a formal administrative investigation of an officer, the investigating agency must promptly serve the officer under investigation with written notice of the complaint, inform the officer of the officer’s right to counsel, and provide the officer with a copy of the peace officer bill of rights. The notice must include the names of all of the complainants, the alleged date of the occurrence giving rise to the complaint, a summary of the allegations against the officer, and the name and rank or title of the investigator in charge of the formal administrative investigation. The investigator must not preside over any hearing or make the decision in any punitive or disciplinary action taken against the officer. The division provides that the officer and the officer’s legal counsel, designated union representative, and designated employee representative are to be immediately notified in writing of the results of the investigation when the investigation is completed unless otherwise specified by the officer. If the act, omission, or other allegation is also the subject of a criminal investigation or criminal proceeding, the 180-day period for completing the investigation is tolled while the criminal investigation or criminal proceeding is pending. The division provides that an officer who is the subject of a complaint and the officer’s legal counsel are to be provided with a copy of the complaint and a copy of any policy, procedure, guideline, or order that the officer is alleged to have violated not less than hours in advance of any interview. Upon written request, the employing agency is also required to provide to the officer or the officer’s legal counsel a complete copy of any statements, documents, incident reports, video or audio recordings, and photographs from the incident. If, however, the complaint alleges domestic abuse, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment, an officer, officer’s legal counsel, designated union representative, or designated employee representative will not receive a copy of the complaint but will receive a written summary of the complaint. The division provides that an officer being interviewed can only be asked questions which are within the scope of the complaint. The officer is to be advised by the interviewer to answer the questions and that the answers cannot be used against the officer in any subsequent criminal proceeding or investigation. An interview of an officer who is the subject of the complaint and of any witness is required to be audio recorded. However, the officer shall not be video recorded without the officer’s written consent. The employing agency must provide the officer or the officer’s legal counsel or employee representative a complete copy of any audio recording and any transcript made of any interview without charge and without undue delay. The division provides that an officer has the right to have legal counsel present, at the officer’s expense, during the interview of the officer, hearings, or during other disciplinary proceedings related to the complaint, and the officer may request legal counsel at any time before or during an interview, hearing, or disciplinary proceeding. When an officer makes a request for legal counsel, no questioning, interview, or hearing can proceed until a reasonable amount of time and opportunity are provided to the officer to obtain legal counsel. In addition, the officer has the right, at the officer’s expense, to have a designated union representative, designated employee representative, or designee present during the interview, hearings, or other disciplinary proceedings. The union representative or employee representative shall not be required to disclose, nor be subject to any adverse employment action for refusing to disclose, any information received from the officer under investigation, and shall not be compelled to disclose in any judicial proceeding, nor be subject to any investigation or punitive action for refusing to disclose, any information received from the officer under investigation or from an agent of the officer. Communications between the officer, the officer’s legal counsel, and the officer’s designated union representative or designated employee representative are not subject to discovery. The division provides that if a formal administrative investigation may result in the removal, discharge, suspension, or other disciplinary action against an officer, copies of any witness statements and the complete investigative agency’s report must be provided at no charge, upon request, to the officer or the officer’s legal counsel. If an interview, hearing, or other disciplinary proceeding involving the officer who is the subject of a formal administrative investigation, an officer who is a witness in the investigation or other proceeding, or an employee representative of the accused officer, is conducted while the officer is off duty, or at a time which is outside of the officer’s regularly scheduled shift, the officer is to be compensated. Volunteer officers are to be compensated by the employing agency for actual lost time from other work as a result of an interview or any proceeding related to an investigation. The division provides that an officer has the right to bring a private cause of action and pursue civil remedies against a citizen arising from the filing of a false complaint against the officer. An officer must bring an expedited action in district court to seek equitable relief within days after the officer knew or should have known of a violation of Code chapter 80F. The district court may grant any equitable relief, including a temporary or permanent injunction, or an order staying investigatory or disciplinary proceedings. Additionally, an officer may seek, within 180 days of a final agency decision, judicial review of the final actions of the employing agency in accordance with the terms of the administrative procedures governing the employing agency. The district court may award money damages, including front pay and back pay, and equitable relief to an officer upon a showing of a violation of the officer’s substantive or procedural rights. The division requires that an officer’s personal information, including home address, personal telephone number, personal email address, date of birth, social security number, and driver’s license number be held confidential and be redacted from any record prior to the record’s release to the public by the employing agency. The division requires the employing agency to provide an officer and the officer’s legal counsel with a formal written statement of the administrative charges and specifications of alleged fact from the formal administrative investigation and to provide an opportunity to be heard before imposing any punitive or disciplinary action against the officer. The burden of proof to sustain administrative charges and specifications against an officer at hearing is by a preponderance of the evidence.1 cannot be used or considered in any disciplinary proceeding or civil action against the officer, and cannot form the basis for adverse employment action against the officer. The employing agency must keep an officer’s statement, recordings, or transcripts of any interviews or disciplinary proceedings, and any complaints made against an officer confidential unless otherwise provided. The division requires that a written reprimand be removed from an officer’s personnel file within one year from the date of the reprimand unless the officer is disciplined during the one-year period for substantially similar conduct. Except for actions brought pursuant to Code chapter 216 (Iowa civil rights commission), a written reprimand that has been removed from an officer’s personnel file cannot be used to form the basis for or to enhance any disciplinary action against the officer. An employing agency must provide an officer a written copy of any document that recommends removal, discharge, suspension, or other disciplinary action be taken against the officer, excluding a training report or an evaluation, prior to placing it in the officer’s personnel file. An officer has days from the date that the officer is provided a copy of the documents to submit a written response to the officer’s employing agency. The written response will be attached to and accompany the adverse document. A complaint against an officer that is pending, withdrawn, or determined to be unfounded or not sustained, records of a formal administrative investigation, and a written reprimand removed from an officer’s personnel file, are not subject to discovery in any civil action against the officer except for actions brought pursuant to Code chapter 216. If at least days have passed since the final disposition, upon written request by an officer, the record of a complaint made against the officer will be expunged from any file held by the employing agency if the investigation exonerated the officer of allegations in the complaint, the investigation determined that the allegations were withdrawn, not sustained or unfounded, or if the officer is exonerated in any administrative proceeding, appeal, other disciplinary proceeding, or judicial review.1, and maintain documentation of such training. An employing agency cannot prohibit secondary employment by an officer, but may adopt reasonable regulations related to secondary employment. A locker, or other space for storage that may be assigned to an officer, cannot be searched without the officer being present, or without the officer’s consent, unless a valid search warrant has been obtained or the officer has been notified in advance that a search will be conducted. The division requires that, on request, the employing agency must provide to the officer or the officer’s legal counsel a copy of the officer’s personnel file and training records regardless of whether the officer is subject to a formal administrative investigation at the time of the request. The division takes effect upon enactment. DIVISION II —— OFFICER SUPERVISOR ASSESSMENTS. This division provides for employee assessments of supervisors of certain officers employed by the department of corrections, the department of natural resources, or the department of public safety. The division defines “officer” as a sworn, nonsupervisory peace officer, a nonsupervisory corrections officer, or security staff employed by a department. “Supervisor” does not include an individual whose position is subject to confirmation by the senate or a division head, a division director in the department of public safety, or the chief executive of a facility operated by the department of corrections. The division requires department employees who are officers to appoint a supervisor assessment board of up to five members comprised of such employees for each facility, bureau, and division of the departments by majority vote using a secret ballot annually by January 1. The division requires each supervisor assessment board to establish uniform assessment procedures for implementing, completing, collecting results, and preparing final reports of assessments conducted in accordance with the division. Each supervisor assessment board shall use the same procedures for all supervisors that the assessment board assesses each calendar year. Assessments shall use objective criteria as determined by a majority vote of the supervisor assessment board to assess the ability, performance, and safety record of a supervisor. At least a portion of the assessment shall include numerical scoring, which shall be averaged for all supervisor assessment board members evaluating a supervisor. Assessment procedures shall ensure anonymity of each supervisor assessment board member completing an assessment. The division provides procedures for assessment boards within a department to exchange one or more board members for a calendar year if such exchange will, in the judgment of the boards, improve the fairness of all boards involved. The division requires a supervisor assessment board to complete an assessment of each department employee who is a supervisor of one or more officers who appointed the assessment board annually by July 1. Upon completion and scoring of an assessment of a supervisor, the division requires each supervisor assessment board to prepare a report consisting of the complete results of each supervisor assessment board member’s assessment and a summary of the results of all of the assessments. Each supervisor assessment board member shall be given the opportunity to review the report, which shall not become final until it is agreed to by a majority vote of the assessment board. The final report shall be provided to the director of the department. The report shall be confidential. The division permits a supervisor assessment board, by majority vote, to opt not to conduct any assessments in a calendar year. If the supervisor assessment board does so, the director of the department shall designate one or more employees to conduct an assessment of each supervisor in the calendar year as provided in the division. If a supervisor is determined by a majority of members of the supervisor assessment board in a final report to be in serious need of improvement in any criterion used in the report or to have compromised employee safety, the division requires the director of the department to discuss the matter with the supervisor assessment board and attempt to determine an effective solution to improve the supervisor’s job performance going forward.