Relating to the criminal offense of accessory after the fact if the public offense involves a murder, and providing penalties

Description

House File 2422 increases the penalty for accessory after the fact from an aggravated misdemeanor to a Class D felony if the public offense committed was murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, or solicitation to commit murder.

Background

Under Iowa Code section 703.3, any person with knowledge of a public offense and who committed it, and who is not married to the person who committed the offense, who harbors, aids, or conceals the person who committed the offense, with the intent to prevent the apprehension of the person who committed the offense, commits accessory after the fact. The penalty is as follows:

• An aggravated misdemeanor if the public offense committed was a felony.
• A simple misdemeanor if the public offense committed was a misdemeanor. An aggravated misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for up to two years and a fine of at least $855 but not more than $8,540. A Class D felony is punishable by confinement for up to five years and a fine of at least $1,025 but not more than $10,245.

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.
• The marginal cost per day in prison is $24.94.
• In FY 2023, there was one individual admitted to prison for accessory after the fact for which the public offense was murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, or solicitation to commit murder.
• Admissions include only individuals admitted to prison whose most serious offense is accessory after the fact.

Correctional Impact

House File 2422 increases the penalty for some individuals convicted of accessory after the fact and is estimated to increase the LOS in prison for those individuals. The average LOS in prison would increase from 10.6 months to 20.5 months. Refer to the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) memo addressed to the General Assembly, Cost Estimates Used for Correctional Impact Statements, dated January 16, 2024, for information related to the correctional system.

Minority Impact

The minority impact of House File 2422 cannot be estimated because of the low number of individuals admitted to prison in FY 2023 for this offense. Refer to the LSA memo addressed to the General Assembly, Minority Impact Statement, dated January 16, 2024, for information related to minorities in the criminal justice system.

Fiscal Impact

House File 2422 is estimated to increase costs to the Department of Corrections (DOC) by approximately $8,000 per group of individuals admitted to prison each year for this offense, as shown in Figure 1. This cost is incurred across the entire LOS. Figure 1 represents the cost of all individuals admitted to prison for this offense in one year. This cost would recur for each annual group of admissions.

Figure 1 — Increase in Costs to the DOC Under House File 2422

Sources

• Department of Corrections
• Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning, Department of Management
• Legislative Services Agency