House Study Bill 81 



                                       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 the protection of a minor victim's identity in
  2    a criminal proceeding.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
  4 TLSB 1417DP 83
  5 jm/rj/14

PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 915.36, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2009,
  1  2 are amended to read as follows:
  1  3    1.  Prior to an arrest or the filing of an information or,
  1  4 indictment, or criminal complaint, whichever occurs first,
  1  5 against a person charged with a violation of chapter 709,
  1  6 section 726.2, or section 728.12, relating to or alleging the
  1  7 commission of an offense committed with or on a child, as
  1  8 defined in section 702.5 minor, the identity of the child
  1  9 minor or any information reasonably likely to disclose the
  1 10 identity of the child minor shall not be released to the
  1 11 public by any public employee except as authorized by the
  1 12 court of jurisdiction.
  1 13    2.  In order to protect the welfare of the child minor, the
  1 14 name of the child minor and identifying biographical
  1 15 information shall not appear on the information or,
  1 16 indictment, criminal complaint, or any other public record.
  1 17 Instead, a nondescriptive designation shall appear on all
  1 18 public records.  The nonpublic records containing the child's
  1 19 minor's name and identifying biographical information shall be
  1 20 kept by the court.  This subsection does not apply to the
  1 21 release of information to an accused or accused's counsel;
  1 22 however, the use or release of this information by the accused
  1 23 or accused's counsel for purposes other than the preparation
  1 24 of defense constitutes contempt.
  1 25                           EXPLANATION
  1 26    This bill relates to the protection of a minor victim's
  1 27 identity in a criminal proceeding.
  1 28    The bill provides that prior to an arrest or the filing of
  1 29 an information, indictment, or criminal complaint, whichever
  1 30 occurs first, against a person for a criminal offense against
  1 31 a minor, the identity of the minor shall not be released to
  1 32 the public by any public employee except as authorized by the
  1 33 court.
  1 34    Current law provides that the identity of a child under age
  1 35 14 shall not be released prior to the arrest or the filing of
  2  1 the trial information or indictment, whichever occurs first,
  2  2 except if authorized by the court.  Current law restricts the
  2  3 disclosure of the identity of a child in only certain
  2  4 sexual=related criminal offenses.
  2  5    Under current law and not affected by the bill, Code
  2  6 section 22.7(5) may be used under certain circumstances to
  2  7 keep confidential the identity of a crime victim.
  2  8    A person who violates the bill commits contempt under Code
  2  9 section 915.36.  The punishment for contempt is provided in
  2 10 Code section 665.4.
  2 11 LSB 1417DP 83
  2 12 jm/rj/14.1