Relating to certain boards and councils in the department of human rights including the establishment of the justice advisory board and the elimination of the criminal and juvenile justice planning advisory council, the public safety advisory board, and the sex offender research council. Effective 7-1-19

The justice advisory board will assume many of the responsibilities, duties, and objectives of the three entities eliminated in the bill. Nine voting members shall be appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate, for a four-year term. Other voting members of the board serving four-year terms shall include representatives from the Iowa coalition against sexual assault; the American civil liberties union of Iowa; the Iowa county attorneys association; the departments of human services, corrections, public safety, public health, and justice; a judicial district department of correctional services; the office of the status of African Americans; the board of parole; the state public defender; and the governor’s office of drug control policy. The chief justice of the supreme court shall designate a district judge and a district associate judge or associate juvenile judge to serve as ex officio, nonvoting members of the board for four-year terms, unless the member ceases to serve as a judge. The chairperson and ranking member of the senate committee on judiciary shall be ex officio, nonvoting members. In alternating two-year terms, the chairperson and ranking member of the house committee on judiciary or of the house committee on public safety shall be ex officio, nonvoting members. The bill provides that the purpose of the justice advisory board is to: develop short-term and long-term goals to improve the criminal and juvenile justice systems; identify and analyze justice system issues; develop and assist others in implementing recommendations and plans for system improvement; provide the general assembly with an analysis of current and proposed criminal code provisions; and provide for a clearinghouse of justice system information to coordinate with data resource agencies and assist others in the use of justice system data. The board shall advise the division of criminal and juvenile justice planning of the department of human rights (division) on its administration of state and federal grants and appropriations and shall carry out other functions consistent with the subchapter, which includes the responsibilities and duties of the division. The duties of the justice advisory board include identifying issues and analyzing the operation and impact of present criminal and juvenile justice policy and making recommendations for policy changes; coordinating with data resource agencies to provide data and analytical information to federal, state, and local governments, and assisting agencies in the use of criminal and juvenile justice data; reporting criminal justice and juvenile justice system needs to the governor, the general assembly, and other decision makers to improve the criminal justice system; providing technical assistance upon request to state and local agencies; administering federal funds and funds appropriated by the state or that are otherwise available for purposes of study, research, investigation, planning, and implementation in the areas of criminal and juvenile justice; making grants to cities, counties, and other entities pursuant to applicable law; maintaining an Iowa correctional policy; providing input to the director of the department of human services in the development of budget recommendations; recommending rules pursuant to Code chapter 17A as necessary for the board and division; recommending legislative and executive action to the governor and general assembly; establishing advisory committees, work groups, or other coalitions as appropriate; providing the general assembly with an analysis and recommendations of current criminal code provisions and proposed legislation; studying and making recommendations for treating and supervising adult and juvenile sex offenders in institutions, community-based programs, and in the community; providing expertise and advice to the legislative services agency, the department of corrections, the judicial branch, and others charged with formulating fiscal, correctional, or minority impact statements; and reviewing data supplied by the division, the department of management, the legislative services agency, the Iowa supreme court, and other departments. The bill provides that the justice advisory board shall submit a three-year criminal and juvenile justice plan for the state, beginning December 1, 2020, and every three years thereafter, by December 1. The three-year plan shall be updated annually. The three-year plan and annual updates shall include short-term and long-term goals for the criminal and juvenile justice systems; the identification of issues and studies on the effective treatment and supervision of adult and juvenile sex offenders in institutions, community-based programs, and in the community; analysis and recommendations of current criminal code provisions; the effectiveness and efficiencies of current criminal and juvenile justice policies, practices, and services; the collection of criminal and juvenile justice data; and recommendations to improve the criminal and juvenile justice systems. The bill provides that the justice advisory board shall identify and prioritize the issues and studies to be addressed by the division. The division will maintain an Iowa correctional policy project for the purpose of conducting analyses of major correctional issues affecting the criminal and juvenile justice system. Issues and studies to be considered by the justice advisory board include a review of the information systems available to assess corrections trends and program effectiveness, the development of an evaluation plan for assessing the impact of corrections expenditures, and a study of the desirability and feasibility of changing the state’s sentencing practices, which includes a prison population forecast. The bill provides that a member of the justice advisory board shall be a voting member of the human rights board replacing the member representative from the criminal law and juvenile justice planning and advisory council.140, concerning the Iowa collaboration for youth development council and the state of Iowa youth advisory council, to the responsibilities of the division of criminal and juvenile justice planning. Those duties shall include but are not limited to all of the following: to study, explore, and plan for the best approach to structure and formalize the functions and activities of the youth development council to meet its purpose, and make formal recommendations for improvement to the governor and general assembly; to review indicator data and identify barriers to youth success and develop strategies to address the barriers; to coordinate across agencies the state policy priorities for youth; to strengthen partnerships with the nonprofit and private sectors to gather input, build consensus, and maximize the use of existing resources and leverage new resources to improve the lives of youth and their families; to oversee the activities of the youth advisory council; to seek input from and engage the youth advisory council in the development of more effective policies, practices, and programs to improve the lives and futures of youth; and to report annually by February to the governor and general assembly.139 (sex offender research council), and makes conforming Code changes.