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Senate File 2038

Partial Bill History

Bill Text

PAG LIN
  1  1                                             SENATE FILE 2038
  1  2 
  1  3                             AN ACT
  1  4 RELATING TO DISQUALIFICATION FROM VOTING OR REGISTERING TO VOTE
  1  5    FOR REASONS OF MENTAL INCOMPETENCE.
  1  6 
  1  7 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 
  1  8 
  1  9    Section 1.  Section 48A.2, subsection 3, Code 1997, is
  1 10 amended to read as follows:
  1 11    3.  "Person who is mentally incompetent to vote" means a
  1 12 person who has been legally determined to be severely or
  1 13 profoundly mentally retarded, or has been found incompetent to
  1 14 lack the mental capacity to vote in a proceeding held pursuant
  1 15 to section 229.27 222.31 or 633.556.
  1 16    Sec. 2.  Section 48A.6, subsection 2, Code 1997, is amended
  1 17 to read as follows:
  1 18    2.  A person who has been legally determined to be is
  1 19 mentally incompetent to vote.  Certification by the clerk of
  1 20 the district court that any such person has been found no
  1 21 longer incompetent by a court shall qualify such person to
  1 22 again be an elector, subject to the other provisions of this
  1 23 chapter.
  1 24    Sec. 3.  Section 48A.10, Code 1997, is amended to read as
  1 25 follows:
  1 26    48A.10  REGISTRATION REQUIRED.
  1 27    If a registered voter moves to a different county, the
  1 28 person shall submit a completed voter registration form to the
  1 29 commissioner in order to be qualified to vote in that county.
  1 30 An otherwise eligible elector whose right to vote has been
  1 31 restored pursuant to chapter 914 or who has been found not to
  1 32 be a person who is mentally incompetent to vote may register
  1 33 to vote.
  1 34    Sec. 4.  Section 48A.14, subsection 1, paragraph f, Code
  1 35 1997, is amended to read as follows:
  2  1    f.  The challenged registrant has been adjudged by a court
  2  2 of law to be a person who is mentally incompetent by a court
  2  3 of law to vote and no subsequent proceeding has reversed that
  2  4 finding.
  2  5    Sec. 5.  Section 48A.30, subsection 1, paragraph e, Code
  2  6 1997, is amended to read as follows:
  2  7    e.  The clerk of the district court or the state registrar
  2  8 sends notice that the registered voter has been declared a
  2  9 person who is mentally incompetent to vote under state law.
  2 10    Sec. 6.  Section 222.16, Code 1997, is amended by adding
  2 11 the following new unnumbered paragraph:
  2 12    NEW UNNUMBERED PARAGRAPH.  Commitment of a person pursuant
  2 13 to section 222.31 does not constitute a finding or raise a
  2 14 presumption that the person is incompetent to vote.  The court
  2 15 shall make a separate determination as to the person's
  2 16 competency to vote.  The court shall find a person incompetent
  2 17 to vote only upon determining that the person lacks sufficient
  2 18 mental capacity to comprehend and exercise the right to vote.
  2 19    Sec. 7.  Section 222.31, Code 1997, is amended by adding
  2 20 the following new subsection:
  2 21    NEW SUBSECTION.  3.  In its order, the court shall include
  2 22 a finding as to whether the person has sufficient mental
  2 23 capacity to comprehend and exercise the right to vote.
  2 24    Sec. 8.  Section 222.45, Code 1997, is amended to read as
  2 25 follows:
  2 26    222.45  POWER OF COURT.
  2 27    On the hearing, the court may discharge the person with
  2 28 mental retardation from all supervision, control, and care, or
  2 29 may transfer the person from a public institution to a private
  2 30 institution, or vice versa, or transfer the person from a
  2 31 special unit to a hospital-school, or vice versa, as the court
  2 32 deems appropriate under all the circumstances.  If the person
  2 33 has been determined to lack the mental capacity to vote, the
  2 34 court shall include in its order a finding that this
  2 35 determination remains in force or is revoked.
  3  1    Sec. 9.  Section 602.8102, subsection 15, Code Supplement
  3  2 1997, is amended to read as follows:
  3  3    15.  Notify Monthly notify the county commissioner of
  3  4 registration and the state registrar of voters of persons
  3  5 seventeen and one-half years of age and older who have been
  3  6 convicted of a felony during the preceding calendar month or
  3  7 persons who at any time during the preceding calendar month
  3  8 have been legally declared to be mentally incompetent to vote.
  3  9    Sec. 10.  Section 633.556, subsection 1, Code Supplement
  3 10 1997, is amended to read as follows:
  3 11    1.  If the allegations of the petition as to the status of
  3 12 the proposed ward and the necessity for the appointment of a
  3 13 guardian are proved by clear and convincing evidence, the
  3 14 court may appoint a guardian.  If the court appoints a
  3 15 guardian based upon mental incapacity of the proposed ward,
  3 16 the court shall make a separate determination as to the ward's
  3 17 competency to vote.  The court shall find a ward incompetent
  3 18 to vote only upon determining that the person lacks sufficient
  3 19 mental capacity to comprehend and exercise the right to vote.
  3 20    Sec. 11.  Section 633.679, Code 1997, is amended to read as
  3 21 follows:
  3 22    633.679  PETITION TO TERMINATE.
  3 23    At any time after the appointment of a guardian or
  3 24 conservator, the person under guardianship or conservatorship
  3 25 may apply to the court by petition, alleging that the person
  3 26 is no longer a proper subject thereof, and asking that the
  3 27 guardianship or conservatorship be terminated.  A person under
  3 28 an order appointing a guardian which order found the person
  3 29 incompetent to vote may include a request for reinstatement of
  3 30 the person's voting rights in a petition to terminate the
  3 31 guardianship or by filing a separate petition for modification
  3 32 of this determination.  
  3 33 
  3 34 
  3 35                                                             
  4  1                               MARY E. KRAMER
  4  2                               President of the Senate
  4  3 
  4  4 
  4  5                                                             
  4  6                               RON J. CORBETT
  4  7                               Speaker of the House
  4  8 
  4  9    I hereby certify that this bill originated in the Senate and
  4 10 is known as Senate File 2038, Seventy-seventh General Assembly.
  4 11 
  4 12 
  4 13                                                             
  4 14                               MARY PAT GUNDERSON
  4 15                               Secretary of the Senate
  4 16 Approved                , 1998
  4 17 
  4 18 
  4 19                         
  4 20 TERRY E. BRANSTAD
  4 21 Governor
     

Text: SF02037                           Text: SF02039
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