Senate Study Bill 1007 SENATE/HOUSE FILE BY (PROPOSED ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL) Passed Senate, Date Passed House, Date Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays Approved A BILL FOR 1 An Act relating to a criminal defendant filing an application for 2 postconviction relief. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1103DP 82 5 jm/je/5 PAG LIN 1 1 Section 1. Section 822.2, subsection 1, unnumbered 1 2 paragraph 1, Code 2007, is amended to read as follows: 1 3 Any person who has been convicted of, or sentenced for,a 1 4 publican indictable offense as defined in section 801.4 and 1 5 who claims any of the following may institute, without paying 1 6 a filing fee, a proceeding under this chapter to secure 1 7 relief: 1 8 Sec. 2. Section 822.3, Code 2007, is amended to read as 1 9 follows: 1 10 822.3 HOW TO COMMENCE PROCEEDING == LIMITATION. 1 11 A proceeding is commenced by filing an application verified 1 12 by the applicant with the clerk of the district court in which 1 13 the conviction or sentence took place. However, if the 1 14 applicant is seeking relief under section 822.2, subsection 1, 1 15 paragraph "f", the application shall be filed with the clerk 1 16 of the district court of the county in which the applicant is 1 17 being confined within ninety days from the date the 1 18 disciplinary decision is final. All other applications must 1 19 be filed withinthree yearseighteen months from the date the 1 20 conviction or decision is final or, in the event of an appeal, 1 21 from the date the writ of procedendo is issued. However, this 1 22 limitation does not apply to a ground of fact or law that 1 23 could not have been raised within the applicable time period. 1 24 Facts within the personal knowledge of the applicant and the 1 25 authenticity of all documents and exhibits included in or 1 26 attached to the application must be sworn to affirmatively as 1 27 true and correct. The supreme court may prescribe the form of 1 28 the application and verification. The clerk shall docket the 1 29 application upon its receipt and promptly bring it to the 1 30 attention of the court and deliver a copy to the county 1 31 attorney and the attorney general. 1 32 EXPLANATION 1 33 This bill relates to a criminal defendant filing an 1 34 application for postconviction relief. 1 35 The bill prohibits a person convicted of a simple 2 1 misdemeanor from filing an application for relief. The bill 2 2 does not prohibit any other criminal defendant from filing an 2 3 application for postconviction relief. 2 4 The bill also condenses the time period to file most 2 5 applications for postconviction relief. The bill provides 2 6 that applications for postconviction relief must be filed 2 7 within 18 months from the date of the final decision at the 2 8 trial court level or, if the case is appealed, then within 18 2 9 months of the date the appeal becomes final and a writ of 2 10 procedendo is issued. Under current law, a person is granted 2 11 three years from the date the case becomes final to file an 2 12 application for postconviction relief. 2 13 Under the bill and in current law, a person is not time 2 14 barred from filing an application for postconviction relief if 2 15 an issue arises that could not have been raised during the 2 16 time period granted to file an application for postconviction 2 17 relief. 2 18 An application for postconviction relief generally is an 2 19 application to the court, after an unsuccessful appeal, by a 2 20 criminal defendant attacking the constitutionality or validity 2 21 of the sentence of the criminal defendant. 2 22 LSB 1103DP 82 2 23 jm:nh/je/5