House File 519 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 519 BY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 112) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the assessment of an agricultural theft 1 surcharge on criminal offenses involving the theft of crops 2 or livestock, and making an appropriation. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1784HV (2) 86 da/rj

H.F. 519 Section 1. Section 602.8102, subsection 135A, Code 2015, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 135A. Assess the surcharges provided by sections 911.1 , 3 911.2 , 911.2A , 911.3 , and 911.4 , and 911.5 . 4 Sec. 2. Section 602.8108, subsection 2, Code 2015, is 5 amended to read as follows: 6 2. Except as otherwise provided, the clerk of the district 7 court shall report and submit to the state court administrator, 8 not later than the fifteenth day of each month, the fines and 9 fees received during the preceding calendar month. Except as 10 provided in subsections 3, 4, 5, 5A, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11 , the 11 state court administrator shall deposit the amounts received 12 with the treasurer of state for deposit in the general fund of 13 the state. The state court administrator shall report to the 14 legislative services agency within thirty days of the beginning 15 of each fiscal quarter the amount received during the previous 16 quarter in the account established under this section . 17 Sec. 3. Section 602.8108, Code 2015, is amended by adding 18 the following new subsection: 19 NEW SUBSECTION . 5A. The clerk of the district court 20 shall remit all moneys collected from the agricultural theft 21 surcharge as provided in section 911.5 to the department of 22 agriculture and land stewardship. The moneys are appropriated 23 to the department for purposes of supporting the department’s 24 administrative, regulatory, and programmatic activities. 25 Sec. 4. Section 902.9, subsection 2, Code 2015, is amended 26 to read as follows: 27 2. The surcharges required by sections 911.1 , 911.2 , 28 911.2A , and 911.3 , and 911.5 shall be added to a fine imposed 29 on a class “C” or class “D” felon, as provided by those 30 sections, and are not a part of or subject to the maximums set 31 in this section . 32 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 911.5 Agricultural theft surcharge. 33 1. In addition to any other surcharge, the court or clerk of 34 the district court shall assess an agricultural theft surcharge 35 -1- LSB 1784HV (2) 86 da/rj 1/ 2

H.F. 519 of two thousand five hundred dollars if an adjudication of 1 guilt or a deferred judgment has been entered for a criminal 2 violation under section 714.2, subsection 1 or 2, for theft of 3 any of the following: 4 a. A crop as defined in section 717A.1. 5 b. Livestock as defined in section 717.1. 6 2. The surcharge shall be remitted by the clerk of court as 7 provided in section 602.8108, subsection 5A. 8 EXPLANATION 9 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 10 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 11 GENERAL. This bill requires that a person convicted of a 12 class “C” or class “D” felony for theft of livestock or a crop 13 be assessed an agricultural theft surcharge of $2,500 which is 14 remitted to the department of agriculture and land stewardship. 15 The moneys are appropriated to the department for purposes of 16 supporting its administrative, regulatory, and programmatic 17 activities. 18 CROP OR LIVESTOCK. A crop is any plant maintained for its 19 parts or products having commercial value, including a plant 20 produced from an agricultural seed (Code section 199.1), or a 21 plant which is a tree, shrub, vine, berry plant, greenhouse 22 plant, or flower. Livestock is an animal belonging to the 23 bovine, caprine, equine, ovine, or porcine species, or an 24 ostrich, rhea, emus, farm deer, or poultry. 25 DEGREES OF THEFT. Generally, the theft of property 26 exceeding $10,000 in value is a class “C” felony (Code section 27 714.2(1)) and punishable by confinement for no more than 10 28 years and a fine of at least $1,000 but not more than $10,000 29 and the theft of property exceeding $1,000 but not exceeding 30 $10,000 in value is a class “D” felony and punishable by 31 confinement for no more than five years and a fine of at least 32 $750 but not more than $7,500 (Code section 902.9(9)(1)). 33 -2- LSB 1784HV (2) 86 da/rj 2/ 2