Relating to an assault of a pregnant person, and providing penalties

Description

House File 2447 provides that a person who commits an assault, as defined in Iowa Code section 708.1, against another person who the person knows or reasonably should know is a pregnant person, commits a Class D felony.

Background

A Class D felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of at least $1,025 but not more than $10,245.

For assaults under Iowa Code section 708.2, penalties are currently based on the injury caused and whether a weapon was involved, ranging from a simple misdemeanor to a Class C felony.

Assumptions

• The following will not change over the projection period: charge, conviction, and sentencing patterns and trends; prisoner length of stay (LOS); revocation rates; plea bargaining; and other criminal justice system policies and practices.
• A lag effect of six months is assumed from the effective date of this Bill to the date of first entry of affected offenders into the correctional system.
• Marginal costs for county jails cannot be estimated due to a lack of data. For purposes of this analysis, the marginal cost for county jails is assumed to be $50 per day.

Correctional Impact

House File 2447 creates a new criminal penalty, and the correctional impact cannot be determined for this Bill because it is not known how many past convictions for assaults were specific to pregnant persons.

Table 1 below shows estimates for sentencing to State prison, parole, probation, or Community-Based Corrections (CBC) residential facilities; LOS in months under those supervisions; and supervision marginal costs per day for all convictions of Class D felonies against persons. Refer to the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) memo addressed to the General Assembly, Cost Estimates Used for Correctional Impact Statements, dated January 18, 2022, for information related to the correctional system.

Table 1 – Sentencing Estimates and Length of Stay (LOS)

Minority Impact

House File 2447 creates a new criminal penalty. As a result, the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning Division of the Department of Human Rights cannot use prior existing data to estimate the minority impact of HF 2447. However, in FY 2021, for all types of assaults under Iowa Code section 708.2 (excluding domestic abuse), there were a total of 4,696 convictions. Of these convictions, 22.0% involved African Americans, while African Americans make up 3.9% of the Iowa population, so this Bill could have a disproportionate impact on the African American community.

Refer to the LSA memo addressed to the General Assembly, Minority Impact Statement, dated January 18, 2022, for information related to minorities in the criminal justice system.

Fiscal Impact

House File 2447 creates a new criminal penalty, and the fiscal impact cannot be determined because it is not known how many past convictions for assaults were specific to pregnant persons. The average State cost per offense for a Class D felony ranges from $9,100 to $16,600. The estimated impact to the State General Fund includes operating costs incurred by the Judicial Branch, the Indigent Defense Fund, and the Department of Corrections. The cost would be incurred across multiple fiscal years for prison and parole supervision.

Sources

• Department of Corrections
• Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning Division, Department of Human Rights