Bills › 91st General Assembly
Establishing a cause of action for murder in the first degree by causing the death of another by delivering, dispensing, or providing fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance, and making penalties applicable
Topics:Crime & correctionsPublic safety & emergenciesFentanyl & drug crimes
Same legislation: HF 792
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedFebruary 12, 2025
- Done: SubcommitteeFebruary 12, 2025
- Done: House committeeFebruary 26, 2025
- Done: Passes the HouseMarch 26, 202569–27
- Next: Senate committeeFunnel: by March 20, 2026
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Became HF 792 → Its progress continues under the new number. Go to HF 792 What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
This bill establishes a cause of action for murder in the first degree by causing the death of another by delivering, dispensing, or providing fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance. The bill provides that a person who unlawfully delivers, dispenses, or otherwise provides fentanyl or a fentanyl-related substance to another person that results in the death of the other person, and the proximate cause of the death of the other person is the injection, inhalation, absorption, or ingestion of any amount of the fentanyl or fentanyl-related substance, commits murder in the first degree.
Read the full explanation
Murder in the first degree is a class “A” felony. A class “A” felony is punishable by confinement for life without possibility of parole. The bill provides that it is not a defense that the other person contributed to the person’s own death by the purposeful, knowing, reckless, or negligent injection, inhalation, absorption, or ingestion of the controlled substance or by consenting to the administration of the controlled substance by another person.
From the explanation printed with the bill as introduced, written by the Legislative Services Agency. Amendments adopted later aren’t reflected. Full bill text
House subcommittee
Named February 12, 2025. On February 20, 2025 it recommended passage.
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
Fiscal note
House File 792 creates a new criminal offense and the fiscal impact cannot be determined. The average State cost for a Class A felony ranges between $199,400 and $203,600. This includes operating costs incurred by the Judicial Branch, the Indigent Defense Fund, and the DOC. Prison supervision costs will be incurred across multiple fiscal years.
- Fentanyl-Related Deaths, Murder · March 19, 2025
Nonpartisan cost estimates from the Legislative Services Agency’s Fiscal Services Division. The newest is first. Reading a fiscal note
Iowa Code it changes
Amends§707.2
Read from the bill as introduced. Each links to every bill touching that chapter of the Iowa Code. How the Code works
Lobbying
0 for · 0 against · 4 undecided · Who →
Family tree
Where this legislation came from and where it went: earlier tries, the versions it moved through this Assembly, and later bills built on it.
Tried before
91st General Assembly
Earlier and later bills are matched by wording or an identical title; check the text to be sure it’s the same idea.
Tried before
This idea has been filed in an earlier General Assembly. None became law, though one got through a chamber.
- HF 2576 Establishing a cause of action for murder in the first degree by causing the death of anot…90th General Assembly · Passed House · same titlePassed a chamber
Matched by the wording of each bill’s explanation, or an identical title. Companion bills and renumbered versions of this bill aren’t listed; they’re the same bill.