Relating to government bodies for purposes of open records, and making penalties applicable

Description

Senate File 503 expands the definition of “government body” in Iowa Code chapter 22 (Open Records) to include an instrumentality of a county, city, or township, and establishes a definition of “instrumentality.”

Background

The definition of “government body” is used by reference in Iowa Code chapter 23 (Public Access to Government Information), Iowa Code section 543E.5 (Real Estate Appraisal Management Companies — Exemptions), Iowa Code chapter 618 (Publication and Posting of Notices), and Iowa Code section 721.1 (Official Misconduct — Felonious Misconduct in Office). Pursuant to Iowa Code section 721.1, any public officer or employee who knowingly does any of the following commits a Class D felony:

• Makes or gives any false entry, false return, false certificate, or false receipt, where such entries, returns, certificates, or receipts are authorized by law.
• Falsifies any public record or issues any document falsely purporting to be a public document.
• Falsifies a writing, or knowingly delivers a falsified writing, with the knowledge that the writing is falsified and that the writing will become a public record of a government body. A Class D felony is punishable by confinement for not more than five years and a fine of at least $1,025 but not more than $10,245.

In FY 2025, there were two convictions involving two offenders under Iowa Code section 721.1.

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.
• County jail data is unavailable. For purposes of this analysis, the marginal cost for county jails is assumed to be $50 per day.
• Conviction data reflects the total number of convictions in adult court, which may include multiple convictions per individual. Not all convictions lead to incarceration, and there may be a delay between conviction and prison admission, which can contribute to differences in totals.
• A six-month delay is assumed from the effective date of the Bill to the date the first offender will enter the correctional system.
• Offender-based convictions are a count of individuals convicted of the same offense. Each offender is counted only once per Iowa Code section, regardless of the number of individual convictions.
• Admissions are a count of individuals newly admitted to the Department of Corrections (DOC) for supervision during a selected time period, based on the most serious offense committed.

Correctional Impact

Senate File 503 increases the scope of an existing felony by expanding the definition of “government body,” and the correctional impact cannot be determined because the number of additional convictions cannot be estimated. Figure 1 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 a Class D felony. Figure 1 — Sentencing Estimates and LOS in Months

Conviction Offense Class

Percent

Ordered to

State

Prison

FY 2025 Avg

LOS in

Prison (All Releases)

Marginal

Cost Per

Day

Prison

Percent

Ordered to

Probation

FY 2025

Field Avg

LOS on

Probation

Avg Cost

Per Day

Probation

Marginal

Cost Per

Day CBC

Marginal

Cost Per

Day Jail

FY 2025

Field Avg

LOS on

Parole

Marginal

Cost Per

Day Parole

D Felony Non-Persons 84.2% 12.5 $23.07 69.4% 41.4 $8.00 $16.35 $50.00 15.5 $8.00 Refer to the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) memo addressed to the General Assembly, Cost Estimates Used for Correctional Impact Statements, dated January 12, 2026, for information related to the correctional system.

Minority Impact

The minority impact cannot be determined since it is not known how many additional convictions would result from the changes under Senate File 503. Refer to the LSA memo addressed to the General Assembly, Minority Impact Statements, dated January 12, 2026, for information related to minorities in the criminal justice system.

Fiscal Impact

The fiscal impact of Senate File 503 cannot be determined but is anticipated to be minimal. The average State cost for a Class D felony is between $13,000 and $18,100. The estimated impact to the General Fund includes operating costs incurred by the Judicial Branch, the Indigent Defense Fund, and the DOC. The costs would be incurred across multiple fiscal years for prison and parole supervision.

Sources

• Division of Data, Planning, and Improvement (DPI), Department of Management (DOM)
• Department of Corrections