HF 2363 (LSB 5313HV (2) 85)

HOUSE FILE 2363

BY  COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 547)

A BILL FOR

An Act concerning the employment of motor vehicle enforcement officers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 8A.412, Code 2014, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  25.  Peace officers employed by the department of transportation pursuant to section 321.477. The director of the department of transportation shall adopt rules not inconsistent with the objectives of this subchapter for the persons described in this subsection.
    Sec. 2.  Section 10A.601, subsections 1 and 7, Code 2014, are amended to read as follows:
   1.  A full-time employment appeal board is created within the department of inspections and appeals to hear and decide contested cases under section 321.477, chapter 8A, subchapter IV, and chapters 80, 88, 91C, 96, and 97B.
   7.  An application for rehearing before the appeal board shall be filed pursuant to section 17A.16, unless otherwise provided in section 321.477, chapter 8A, subchapter IV, or chapter 80, 88, 91C, 96, or 97B. A petition for judicial review of a decision of the appeal board shall be filed pursuant to section 17A.19. The appeal board may be represented in any such judicial review by an attorney who is a regular salaried employee of the appeal board or who has been designated by the appeal board for that purpose, or at the appeal board’s request, by the attorney general. Notwithstanding the petitioner’s residency requirement in section 17A.19, subsection 2, a petition for judicial review may be filed in the district court of the county in which the petitioner was last employed or resides, provided that if the petitioner does not reside in this state, the action shall be brought in the district court of Polk county, Iowa, and any other party to the proceeding before the appeal board shall be named in the petition. Notwithstanding the thirty-day requirement in section 17A.19, subsection 6, the appeal board shall, within sixty days after filing of the petition for judicial review or within a longer period of time allowed by the court, transmit to the reviewing court the original or a certified copy of the entire records of a contested case. The appeal board may also certify to the court, questions of law involved in any decision by the appeal board. Petitions for judicial review and the questions so certified shall be given precedence over all other civil cases except cases arising under the workers’ compensation law of this state. No bond shall be required for entering an appeal from any final order, judgment, or decree of the district court to the supreme court.
    Sec. 3.  Section 321.477, Code 2014, is amended to read as follows:
   321.477  Employees as peace officers —— maximum age terms of employment —— discipline.
   1.  The department may designate by resolution certain of its employees upon each of whom there is hereby conferred the authority of a peace officer to control and direct traffic and weigh vehicles, and to make arrests for violations of the motor vehicle laws relating to the operating authority, registration, size, weight, and load of motor vehicles and trailers and registration of a motor carrier’s interstate transportation service with the department.
   2.  An applicant to be a peace officer in the department pursuant to this section shall not be appointed as a peace officer until the applicant has passed a satisfactory physical and mental examination. In addition, the applicant must be a citizen of the United States and be not less than eighteen years of age. The mental examination shall be conducted under the direction or supervision of the director and may be oral or written or both. An applicant shall take an oath on becoming a peace officer of the department, to uphold the laws and Constitution of the United States and Constitution of the State of Iowa. During the period of six months after employment, a peace officer of the department or a peace officer candidate employed by the department and attending a course of instruction conducted by, or comparable to the course of instruction required by, the Iowa law enforcement academy pursuant to chapter 80B is subject to dismissal at the will of the director. After the six months’ service, a peace officer of the department who was appointed after having passed the examinations is not subject to dismissal, suspension, disciplinary demotion, or other disciplinary action resulting in the loss of pay unless charges have been filed with the department of inspections and appeals and a hearing held by the employment appeal board created by section 10A.601, if requested by the peace officer, at which the peace officer has an opportunity to present a defense to the charges. The decision of the appeal board is final, subject to the right of judicial review in accordance with the terms of the Iowa administrative procedure Act, chapter 17A. However, the procedures as to dismissal, suspension, demotion, or other discipline do not apply to a peace officer who is covered by a collective bargaining agreement which provides otherwise, and do not apply to the demotion of an office or bureau head to the rank which the office or bureau head held at the time of appointment as office or bureau head, if any. An office or bureau head who is demoted has the right to return to the rank which the office or bureau head held at the time of appointment as office or bureau head, if any. All rules, except employment provisions negotiated pursuant to chapter 20, regarding the enlistment, appointment, and employment affecting peace officers of the department shall be established by the director in consultation with the director of the department of administrative services, subject to approval by the governor.
   3.  The maximum age for a person employed as a peace officer pursuant to this section is sixty-five years of age.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill concerns motor vehicle enforcement officers employed by and designated as peace officers by the department of transportation.
   Code section 8A.412, concerning the applicability of the merit system to state employees, is amended to exclude from the merit system motor vehicle enforcement officers employed by and designated as peace officers by the department of transportation. The bill requires the director of the department of transportation to adopt rules not inconsistent with the objectives of the merit system for these employees.
   Code section 10A.601, concerning the employment appeal board, is amended to specifically provide that the board will hear contested case appeals concerning motor vehicle enforcement officers.
   Code section 321.477, which authorizes the department to designate motor vehicle enforcement officers as peace officers, is amended. The bill provides for the examination of applicants to be motor vehicle enforcement officers, a probation period for new officers, and requirements relative to the discipline and dismissal of motor vehicle enforcement officers. The provisions are similar to those applicable to department of public safety officers and described in Code section 80.15.