Bills › 88th General Assembly
HSB 623
Topics:State governmentPublic safety & emergencies
Same legislation: SSB 3043
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedFebruary 4, 2020
- Done: SubcommitteeFebruary 4, 2020
- Stopped: House committeeDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: Passes the House
- Next: Senate committee
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Died when the session ended The 2020 session adjourned on June 14, 2020, the General Assembly’s last regular session. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
AI summary Law enforcement agencies would change how they keep investigation records private from the public. While many active and inactive investigation files would remain confidential to protect people and legal processes, certain details like the time, date, and location of a crime must be shared. This new rule also ensures that specific information about people who are arrested, such as their name and address, is not kept secret.1
Read the official explanation
_____ enforcement reports, records, and information under Iowa’s open records law.7(5) provides that peace officers’ investigative reports, certain law enforcement officer privileged records or information, and specific portions of electronic mail and telephone billing records of law enforcement agencies if part of an ongoing investigation are confidential, except where disclosure is authorized elsewhere in the Code. However, the date, time, specific location, and immediate facts and circumstances surrounding a crime or incident shall not be kept confidential, except in those unusual circumstances where disclosure would plainly and seriously jeopardize an investigation or pose a clear and present danger to the safety of an individual. Specific portions of electronic mail and telephone billing records may only be kept confidential if the length of time prescribed to begin a prosecution or the finding of an indictment or information applicable to the crime investigated has not expired. _____ techniques, procedures, and guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law; (6) endanger the life or physical safety of any individual; or (7) disclose the identity of a reporting party maintained by any law enforcement agency or the department of human services relating to the investigation of child abuse, neglect, or abandonment, unless the reporting party consents in writing to the disclosure or the disclosure of the reporting party’s identity is required in any administrative or judicial proceeding. The bill provides that the following information contained in an inactive investigatory record shall not be confidential: (1) the time, date, location, and nature and description of a reported crime, accident, incident, or arrest; (2) the name, sex, age, and address of a person arrested, except as otherwise provided by law; (3) the crime charged; (4) documents given or required by law to be given to the person arrested; and (5) information and indictments except as otherwise provided by law.2 (law enforcement officer privilege) and specific portions of electronic mail and telephone billing records of law enforcement agencies if that information is part of an ongoing investigation, shall be confidential. Specific portions of electronic mail and telephone billing records of law enforcement agencies are subject to the same confidentiality restrictions as provided in current law. The bill defines “investigatory record” as information with respect to an identifiable person or group of persons compiled by a law enforcement agency in the course of conducting an investigation. _____ statute of limitations applicable to the crime that is under investigation has not expired, and an “inactive investigatory record” means the length of time prescribed for commencement of prosecution or the finding of an indictment or information under the statute of limitations applicable to the crime has expired. The bill defines “law enforcement agency” as including the office of the attorney general, the Iowa state patrol, or the office of any prosecuting attorney, sheriff, or municipal police department.
House subcommittee
Named February 4, 2020. Meeting: Wednesday, February 12 · 8:00 AM · House Lounge.
Three legislators hear a bill first and recommend what the committee should do; it’s the best time to weigh in. How to take part
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88th General Assembly