Bills › 91st General Assembly
Relating to harassment by the dissemination, publication, distribution, or posting of personal information, and making penalties applicable
Sponsored by Rep. Samantha Fett (R)
Topics:Crime & corrections
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedJanuary 14, 2025
- Done: SubcommitteeFebruary 5, 2025
- Done: House committeeMarch 5, 2025
- Skipped: Passes the HouseContinued as HF 849
- Next: Senate committee
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Became HF 849 → Its progress continues under the new number. Go to HF 849 What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
AI summary Sharing someone's private details like their home address, phone number, or photos without permission to scare or annoy them would be considered a crime. This new law applies to anyone who posts this information to threaten a person or to get other people to harass them. People convicted of this crime could face jail time and expensive fines.1
Read the official explanation
This bill relates to harassment by the dissemination, publication, distribution, or posting of personal information. The bill provides that a person commits harassment when the person purposefully and without legitimate purpose disseminates, publishes, distributes, or posts personal information about another person, without the other person’s consent, with the intent to threaten, intimidate, annoy, or alarm the other person, or with the intent to encourage or entice third parties to threaten, intimidate, annoy, or alarm the other person. A violation of this provision of the bill is harassment in the first degree, which is an aggravated misdemeanor. An aggravated misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than two years and a fine of at least $855 but not more than $8,540. The bill defines “personal information” as a person’s contact information or the contact information of the person’s family, including but not limited to the person’s or family’s home address, phone number, email address, social media profile, place of employment, photographic or film depictions of the person or the person’s family, or any other information designed to allow other persons to threaten, intimidate, annoy, or alarm the person.
House subcommittee
Named February 5, 2025. On February 12, 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
4 written public comments to its subcommittee: February 12, 2025 (3), January 27, 2025 (1) · on the Legislature’s site
Fiscal note
AI summary This bill expands the definition of harassment to include the intentional posting of a person's private information without their consent. While the bill is expected to increase the number of convictions, the exact increase in costs to the Department of Corrections is unknown. The estimated impact to the General Fund includes operating costs for the Judicial Branch, the Indigent Defense Fund, and the Department of Corrections, with an average state cost per offense ranging from $6,800 to $11,800.3
Read the fiscal note
Description
House File 849 expands the definition of harassment by adding provisions relating to the dissemination, publication, distribution, or posting of personal information. Under the Bill, a person commits harassment when they purposefully and without legitimate purpose disseminates, publishes, distributes, or posts personal information about another person, without the other person’s consent, with the intent to threaten, intimidate, annoy, or alarm the other person, or with the intent to encourage or entice third parties to threaten, intimidate, annoy, or alarm the other person. A violation is harassment in the first degree under Iowa Code section 708.7(2)(a), which is an aggravated misdemeanor.
Background
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.
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 delay 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.
Correctional Impact
House File 849 expands the definition of harassment. The correctional impact cannot be estimated but is expected to increase the number of convictions under Iowa Code section 708.7. 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 an aggravated misdemeanor. Refer to the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) memo addressed to the General Assembly, Cost Estimates Used for Correctional Impact Statements, dated January 13, 2025, for information related to the correctional system.
Figure 1 — Sentencing Estimates and Length of Stay (LOS) in MonthsConviction Offense Class
Percent
Ordered to
State Prison
FY 2024 Avg
LOS in
Prison (All Releases)
Marginal
Cost Per
Day
Percent
Ordered to
Probation
FY24 Field
Avg LOS on
Probation
Avg Cost
Per Day on
Probation
Marginal
Cost CBC
Per Day
Marginal
Cost Per
Day Jail
FY24 Field
Avg LOS on
Parole
Marginal
Cost Per
Day Parole
Aggravated Misdemeanor
(Persons) 48.9% 9.5 $24.51 58.9% 26.0 $7.68 $18.37 $50.00 22.5 $7.68
Minority Impact
House File 849 creates a new criminal offense by expanding the definition of harassment. As a result, the Department of Management (DOM) Criminal Justice Planning cannot use existing data to estimate the minority impact of the Bill. Refer to the LSA memo addressed to the General Assembly, Minority Impact Statements, dated January 13, 2025, for information related to minorities in the criminal justice system.
Fiscal Impact
House File 849 is expected to increase the number of convictions under Iowa Code section 708.7, but the extent of the increase in costs to the Department of Corrections (DOC) is unknown. Figure 2 shows the average State cost per offense for an aggravated misdemeanor. The estimated impact to the General Fund includes operating costs incurred by the Judicial Branch, the Indigent Defense Fund, and the DOC. The cost would be incurred across multiple fiscal years for prison and parole supervision.
Figure 2 — Average State Cost Per Offense
Sources
- Department of Corrections
- Department of Management (DOM) Criminal Justice Planning
- Criminal Harassment, Doxxing · March 28, 2025
- Criminal Harassment, Doxxing · March 11, 2025