HF 2262 (LSB 5949HH (3) 85)

HOUSE FILE 2262

BY  WOLFE

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the removal of charge records from the Iowa court information system and the expungement of such records.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  901C.1  Not guilty verdicts and dismissals —— expungement.
   1.  When a person is found not guilty of a charge or when a charge is dismissed against a person, except if the charge is subject to section 907.4, the state court administrator shall cause the records of the charge to be removed from the Iowa court information system so that the charge records are not available to the general public.
   2.  Within one year of the person being found not guilty of a charge or when a charge is dismissed against the person, except as provided in section 907.9, the charge shall be expunged by the clerk of the district court. For purposes of this section, “expunged” means the same as provided in section 907.1.
    Sec. 2.  Section 907.9, subsection 4, paragraph c, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2014, is amended to read as follows:

   A Except as provided in section 901C.1, a dismissed count or related charge shall be expunged pursuant to the provisions of paragraph “b” in the following manner:
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the removal of charge records from the Iowa court information system and the expungement of such records.
   The bill directs the state court administrator to remove charge records from the Iowa court information system that is available to the general public if a person is found not guilty of that charge or that charge is dismissed, unless the charge is subject to the expungement provisions of Code section 907.9.
   The bill specifies that within one year of a person being found not guilty of a charge or when a charge is dismissed against the person, the charge shall be expunged by the clerk of the district court, unless the charge is subject to the expungement provisions of Code section 907.9.
   Code section 907.1 defines “expunged” to mean the court’s criminal record with reference to a deferred judgment or any other criminal record that has been segregated in a secure area or database which is exempted from public access.