House File 2041 - Introduced



                                       HOUSE FILE       
                                       BY  R. OLSON


    Passed House,  Date               Passed Senate, Date             
    Vote:  Ayes        Nays           Vote:  Ayes        Nays         
                 Approved                            

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to the reconsideration of a misdemeanor sentence.
  2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  3 TLSB 5581YH 82
  4 jm/rj/8

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 903.2, Code 2007, is amended to read as
  1  2 follows:
  1  3    903.2  RECONSIDERATION OF MISDEMEANANT'S SENTENCE.
  1  4    For a period of thirty ninety days from the date when a
  1  5 person convicted of a misdemeanor begins to serve a sentence
  1  6 of confinement, the court may order the person to be returned
  1  7 to the court, at which time the court may review its previous
  1  8 action and reaffirm it or substitute for it any sentence
  1  9 permitted by law.  The sentencing court retains jurisdiction
  1 10 for the limited purposes of conducting such review and
  1 11 entering an appropriate order notwithstanding the timely
  1 12 filing of a notice of appeal or an application for
  1 13 discretionary review.  The court's final order in the
  1 14 proceeding shall be delivered to the defendant personally or
  1 15 by regular mail.  Such action is discretionary with the court
  1 16 and its decision to take the action or not to take the action
  1 17 is not subject to appeal.  The other provisions of this
  1 18 section notwithstanding, for the purposes of appeal a judgment
  1 19 of conviction is a final judgment when pronounced.
  1 20                           EXPLANATION
  1 21    This bill relates to the reconsideration of a misdemeanor
  1 22 sentence.
  1 23    The bill provides that a person's sentence to a term of
  1 24 confinement for a misdemeanor may be reconsidered by the court
  1 25 within 90 days from the date the person begins to serve the
  1 26 sentence.  Current law provides that a person serving a
  1 27 misdemeanor sentence may be reconsidered within 30 days of the
  1 28 date the person begins to serve the sentence.
  1 29    Reconsideration of sentence occurs when the court sentences
  1 30 a person to a term of confinement and then orders the person
  1 31 returned to court, at which time the court reviews its
  1 32 previous sentence and may substitute for the previous sentence
  1 33 any other sentence permitted by law.
  1 34 LSB 5581YH 82
  1 35 jm/rj/8