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Bills › 91st General Assembly

Relating to habitual offenders, and providing penalties

Topics:Crime & corrections

Same legislation: HF 2542

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Also covers HF 2542.

What changed before it passed
Official bill pageLobbyist declarationsOne-pager to print

Where it is now

  1. Done: IntroducedFebruary 4, 2026
  2. Done: SubcommitteeFebruary 4, 2026
  3. Done: House committeeFebruary 12, 2026
  4. Skipped: Passes the HouseContinued as HF 2542
  5. Next: Senate committee
  6. Next: Passes the Senate
  7. Next: To the Governor
  8. Next: Signed into law

Became HF 2542 → Its progress continues under the new number. Go to HF 2542 What’s a funnel?

What’s in it

AI summary Under this new rule, a person becomes a habitual offender if they earn three or more points from certain serious crimes. These points are given for specific felonies and misdemeanors committed in any state or in the United States. People labeled as habitual offenders would not be allowed to get parole or work release until they serve a specific minimum amount of time in prison.1

Read the official explanation

This bill relates to habitual offenders. The bill strikes the current law regarding habitual offenders and provides that a habitual offender is a person who has been convicted, in a court of this state or any other state, or of the United States, of any combination of level one or level two offenses resulting in the accumulation of three or more points.2B(3)(c), theft, and possession of a controlled substance. Each conviction of a level one offense is worth one point.4. Each conviction of a level two offense is worth one-half point. The bill provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a person sentenced as a habitual offender shall not be eligible for parole or work release until the person has served a minimum term of commitment of years unless the current level one offense the person is convicted of carries a higher minimum sentence, which shall be considered the minimum sentence under the bill.

Changed since by amendments H-8470, S-5252, H-8116; see Amendments.

Full bill text · What changed before it passed2

House subcommittee

Named February 4, 2026. On February 5, 2026 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

3 written public comments to its subcommittee: March 12, 2026 (1), February 5, 2026 (2) · on the Legislature’s site

Fiscal note

AI summary This bill requires people convicted of a third qualifying felony to serve a minimum seven-year prison sentence and increases the maximum sentence for habitual offenders from 15 to 20 years. The estimated cost increase to the state's General Fund is approximately $12.3 million over the entire length of stay for each annual cohort of admitted individuals. These costs would be spread across multiple fiscal years for the Judicial Branch, the Indigent Defense Fund, and the Department of Corrections.3

From the note: The cost increase per individual is approximately $43,000 for prison admissions based on the increased LOS. In FY 2025, there was a total of 121 new prison admissions with an average LOS of 675 days. Under the Bill, the new LOS would be approximately 2,555 days. 2 million over the entire LOS. 8 with an average LOS of 1,314 days.

Reading a fiscal note4

Iowa Code it changes

Amends§902.8§902.9

How the Code works5

Lobbying

5 for · 17 against · 7 undecided · Who →

Family tree

Study bill

HSB 666Renumbered

91st General Assembly

HF 2542Became lawfrom HSB 666