Bills › 91st General Assembly
Establishing the criminal offense of the smuggling of persons, and providing penalties
Sponsored by the House Judiciary Committee
Topics:Courts & civil lawCrime & corrections
Same legislation: HSB 15
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedJanuary 15, 2025
- Done: SubcommitteeJanuary 15, 2025
- Done: House committeeFebruary 20, 2025
- Done: Passes the HouseMarch 20, 202575–14
- Done: Senate committeeApril 3, 2025
- Stopped: Passes the SenateDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Died when the session ended The General Assembly adjourned on October 2, 2026. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
This bill establishes the criminal offense of smuggling of persons. The bill provides that a person commits the offense of smuggling of persons when the person knowingly, for payment or anything of value, does any of the following involving a noncitizen individual: uses a motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, or other means of conveyance to transport an individual with the intent to conceal the individual from a peace officer or flees from a person the actor knows is a peace officer attempting to lawfully arrest or detain the actor; encourages or induces a person to enter or remain in the United States in violation of federal law by concealing, harboring, or shielding that person from detection; or assists, guides, or directs two or more individuals to enter or remain on agricultural land without the effective consent of the owner.
Read the full explanation
The bill provides that smuggling of persons is a class “C” felony, except that the offense is a class “B” felony if the person or other party specified in the bill does any of the following: the person commits the offense in a manner that creates a substantial likelihood that the smuggled individual will suffer serious bodily injury or death; the person smuggled an individual who is a child younger than years of age at the time of the offense; the person committed the offense with the intent to obtain a pecuniary benefit; or during the commission of the offense, the actor, another party to the offense, or another individual assisted, guided, or directed by the actor knowingly possessed a firearm.3; or if the smuggled individual suffered serious bodily injury or death. The bill provides an affirmative defense to prosecution of the offense of smuggling persons, other than an offense committed in a manner that creates a substantial likelihood that the smuggled individual will suffer serious bodily injury or death, or violations resulting in a class “A” felony charge, when the actor is related to the smuggled individual within the second degree of consanguinity or, at the time of the offense, within the second degree of affinity.
From the explanation printed with the bill as introduced, written by the Legislative Services Agency. Changed since by amendment H-1134; see Amendments. Full bill text
Senate subcommittee
Named March 26, 2025. On April 1, 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
47 written public comments to its subcommittee: April 1, 2025 (47) · on the Legislature’s site
Fiscal note
Can’t be estimated Compare with other bills
House File 572 creates new criminal offenses, and the fiscal impact cannot be determined.
- Smuggling of Persons, Criminal Offense · March 24, 2025
- Smuggling of Persons, Criminal Offense · 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
Creates§710.12
Read from the bill as introduced. Each links to every bill touching that chapter of the Iowa Code. How the Code works
Lobbying
4 for · 12 against · 8 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.
Study bill
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 2608 Relating to unlawful activities, including those related to state residency and citizenshi…90th General Assembly · Passed House · similarPassed 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.