SSB 1273 (LSB 2622XC (2) 86)

SENATE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS BILL BY CHAIRPERSON BOLKCOM)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to certain fees collected by the county sheriff.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 331.655, subsection 1, paragraphs a, b, c, e, f, g, h, k, l, and n, Code 2015, are amended to read as follows:
   a.  For serving a notice and returning it, for the first person served, fifteen twenty-five dollars, and each additional person, fifteen twenty-five dollars except the fee for serving additional persons in the same household shall be ten fifteen dollars for each additional service, or if the service of notice cannot be made or several attempts are necessary, the repayment of all necessary expenses actually incurred by the sheriff while attempting in good faith to serve the notice.
   b.  For each warrant served, twenty twenty-five dollars, and the repayment of necessary expenses incurred in executing the warrant, as sworn to by the sheriff, or if service of the warrant cannot be made, the repayment of all necessary expenses actually incurred by the sheriff while attempting in good faith to serve the warrant.
   c.  For serving and returning a subpoena, for each person served, twenty thirty dollars, and the necessary expenses incurred while serving subpoenas in criminal cases or cases relating to hospitalization of persons with mental illness.
   e.  For summoning a jury to assess the damages to the owners of lands taken for works of internal improvement, one hundred dollars, and attending them, one hundred dollars per day, and necessary expenses incurred. This subsection does not allow a sheriff to make separate charges for different assessments which can be made by the same jury and completed in one day of ten hours.
   f.  For serving an execution, attachment, order for the delivery of personal property, injunction, or any order of court, and returning it, fifteen twenty-five dollars.
   g.  For making and executing a certificate or deed for lands sold on execution, or a bill of sale for personal property sold, thirty forty dollars.
   h.  For the time necessarily employed in making an inventory of personal property attached or levied upon, ten fifteen dollars per hour.
   k.  For attending setting a sale of property, fifty dollars.
   l.  For conveying one or more persons to a state, county, or private institution by order of court or commission, necessary expenses for the sheriff and the person conveyed and fifteen twenty-five dollars per hour for the time necessarily employed in going to and from the institution, the expenses and hourly rate to be charged and accounted for as fees. If the sheriff needs assistance in taking a person to an institution, the assistance shall be furnished at the expense of the county.
   n.  For posting a notice or advertisement, five including courtesy notices for writs of possession, ten dollars.
    Sec. 2.  Section 331.655, subsection 1, Code 2015, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  p.  For serving a writ, twenty-five dollars per hour, unless a lower fee for serving an order of the court is specified in this subsection.
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 certain fees collected by the county sheriff.
   The bill raises fees for the serving and returning of notice for each person from $15 to $25, and a fee for serving additional persons in the same household is raised from $10 to $15. The bill raises the fee for warrants served from $20 to $25. The bill raises the fee for each person served a subpoena from $20 to $30. The bill creates a separate fee for summoning a jury (compensation commission) to assess damages in a condemnation proceeding and sets the fee at $100. Under current law, the sheriff is also allowed to charge a fee of $100 per day for summoning and attending the jury (compensation commission).
   The bill raises the fee for serving an execution, attachment, order for delivery of personal property, injunction, or any other order of court from $15 to $25. The bill also raises the fee for execution of a certificate or deed for lands sold, or a bill of sale for personal property sold, from $30 to $40. The bill raises the fee charged for the time necessary to inventory personal property attached or levied upon from $10 to $15 per hour. The bill provides that the current $50 fee regarding a sale of property is for setting, rather than attending, the sale. 
   The bill raises the hourly fee charged for the conveyance of certain persons by order of a court or commission to a public or private institution from $15 to $25 per hour. This hourly fee change also applies to fees charged for delivering defendants under change of venue provisions or the transferring of arrested persons pursuant to the provisions of Code section 815.8. The bill also raises the fee for posting a notice or advertisement from $5 to $10, and specifies that this fee shall also be collected for courtesy notices for writs of possession.
   The bill creates a fee of $25 per hour for serving a writ, unless a lower fee for the sheriff’s serving of an order of the court is otherwise specified.