House File 2059 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2059 BY MURPHY A BILL FOR An Act relating to failure to make contact with or verify the 1 whereabouts and safety of a child and the reporting of the 2 death of a child to a law enforcement agency, and providing 3 penalties. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 5010YH (5) 84 jm/rj

H.F. 2059 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 726.9 Failure to make contact with 1 or verify whereabouts and safety of a child —— penalty. 2 1. As used in this section, “caregiver” means the following: 3 a. A parent, guardian, adult household member, or other 4 person responsible for a child’s welfare. 5 b. A person who has accepted, undertaken, or assumed 6 supervision of a child from the parent or guardian of the 7 child. 8 c. A person who has undertaken or assumed temporary 9 supervision of a child without explicit consent from the parent 10 or guardian of the child. 11 2. The caregiver of a child eight years of age or younger 12 who knowingly or recklessly fails to make contact with or 13 verify the whereabouts and safety of the child within a 14 twenty-four-hour period commits an aggravated misdemeanor. 15 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 726.9A Reporting the death of a child. 16 1. As used in this section, “caregiver” means the same as 17 defined in section 726.9, and “health care provider” means the 18 same as defined in section 708.3A. 19 2. The caregiver of a child shall report the death of the 20 child to a law enforcement agency within two hours of learning 21 of the death of the child. 22 3. The caregiver of a child shall report the location of the 23 corpse of the child within one hour of learning the location 24 of the corpse if the death of the child appears to be a death 25 under circumstances described in section 331.802, subsection 26 3, except for the circumstances described in section 331.802, 27 subsection 3, paragraph “f” , “g” , “h” , or “k” . 28 4. This section does not apply if a health care provider has 29 been contacted about the death of the child within two hours of 30 the caregiver learning of the death or a health care provider 31 has been contacted within one hour of the caregiver learning 32 about the location of the corpse of the child. 33 5. A person who violates this section commits an aggravated 34 misdemeanor. 35 -1- LSB 5010YH (5) 84 jm/rj 1/ 3

H.F. 2059 EXPLANATION 1 This bill relates to reporting a missing child or the death 2 of a child to a law enforcement agency. 3 The bill creates a new criminal offense for failing to make 4 contact with or verify the whereabouts and safety of a child. 5 Under the bill, a caregiver of a child eight years of age or 6 younger who knowingly or recklessly fails to make contact with 7 or verify the whereabouts and safety of the child within a 8 24-hour period commits an aggravated misdemeanor. 9 The bill defines “caregiver” to mean a parent, guardian, 10 adult household member, or other person responsible for a 11 child’s welfare, or a person who has accepted, undertaken, or 12 assumed supervision of a child from the parent or guardian of 13 the child, or a person who has undertaken or assumed temporary 14 supervision of a child without explicit consent from the parent 15 or guardian of the child. 16 The bill also creates the new criminal offense of failure 17 to report the death of a child. Under the bill, a caregiver 18 of a child is required to report the death of the child to a 19 law enforcement agency within two hours of the learning of the 20 death of the child. The bill also requires the caregiver of a 21 child to report the location of the corpse of the child within 22 one hour of learning the location of the corpse if the death of 23 the child appears to be a death under circumstances described 24 in Code section 331.802(3), except for the circumstances 25 described in Code section 331.802(3)(f), (g), (h), or (k). 26 The bill does not apply if a health care provider has been 27 contacted about the death of the child within two hours of the 28 caregiver learning of the death or a health care provider has 29 been contacted within one hour of the caregiver learning about 30 the location of the corpse of the child. A caregiver who fails 31 to report the death of a child or the location of the corpse of 32 a child commits an aggravated misdemeanor. 33 A person convicted under this bill may be required to 34 register as a sex offender, if the offense was committed 35 -2- LSB 5010YH (5) 84 jm/rj 2/ 3

H.F. 2059 against a minor and the fact finder makes a determination that 1 the offense was sexually motivated, in accordance with Code 2 section 726.10. 3 An aggravated misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for 4 no more than two years and a fine of at least $625 but not more 5 than $6,250. 6 -3- LSB 5010YH (5) 84 jm/rj 3/ 3