Related to eluding, including aggravated eluding and fresh pursuit, and providing penalties

Description

Senate File 2035 relates to eluding, including aggravated eluding and fresh pursuit. Under the Bill, a driver commits aggravated eluding if the driver, while being pursued by a peace officer within the State, knowingly crosses the state border into another state without yielding to the pursuing peace officer. Aggravated eluding is a Class D felony.

The Bill allows an Iowa peace officer in fresh pursuit of a driver believed to be committing, or having committed, eluding or aggravated eluding to continue the pursuit of the driver into another state and to arrest the driver in that state, subject to the laws of the state in which the arrest occurs. The driver arrested shall be subject to extradition under Iowa Code chapter 820.

Background

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.
• 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

The correctional impact of the Bill cannot be determined because the number of new convictions cannot be estimated. Figure 1 shows sentencing estimates 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. 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.

Figure 1 — Sentencing Estimates and Length of Stay (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

Minority Impact

The minority impact cannot be determined since it is not known how many new convictions would result from the changes under the Bill. 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 cannot be determined because the number of new convictions cannot be estimated. The average State cost per offense 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

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