HF 2386 (LSB 5085HV (1) 85)

HOUSE FILE 2386

BY  COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 505)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the criminal sentencing of juveniles in district court.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 901.5, subsection 14, Code 2014, is amended to read as follows:
   14.  Notwithstanding any provision in section 907.3 or any other provision of law prescribing a mandatory minimum sentence for the offense, if the defendant, other than a child being prosecuted as a youthful offender, is guilty of a public offense other than a class “A” felony, and was under the age of eighteen at the time the offense was committed, the court may suspend the sentence, suspend any mandatory minimum sentence in whole or in part, including any mandatory minimum sentence, or with the consent of the defendant, defer judgment or sentence, and place the defendant on probation upon such conditions as the court may require.
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 criminal sentencing of juveniles.
   The bill specifies that the court may suspend the sentence of a juvenile in district court, and suspend any mandatory minimum sentence in whole or in part, if the juvenile did not commit a class “A” felony and is not being prosecuted as a youthful offender.
   Current law specifies that the court may suspend the sentence of a juvenile in whole or in part, including any mandatory minimum sentence, if the juvenile did not commit a class “A” felony and is not being prosecuted as a youthful offender. 
   The bill amends newly codified language enacted in SF 288 during the 2013 legislative session.