House Study Bill 113 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON HOLT) A BILL FOR An Act relating to sex offender registration requirements, 1 sexually violent predators, and the commission of the 2 offense of child endangerment by a sex offender, and 3 providing penalties. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 2161YC (1) 88 as/rh

H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 692A.101, subsection 14, Code 2019, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 14. “Incarcerated” means to be imprisoned by placing a 3 person in a jail, prison, penitentiary, juvenile facility, 4 or other correctional institution or facility or a place or 5 condition of confinement or forcible restraint regardless 6 of the nature of the institution in which the person serves 7 a sentence for a conviction. “Incarcerated” does not mean 8 placement in an adult residential correctional or treatment 9 facility that allows a resident to leave the facility for a 10 portion of a day or days. 11 Sec. 2. Section 692A.101, subsection 31, Code 2019, is 12 amended by striking the subsection and inserting in lieu 13 thereof the following: 14 31. “Sexually violent predator” means a person who has 15 been determined to be a sexually violent predator pursuant to 16 section 229A.7. 17 Sec. 3. Section 692A.128, Code 2019, is amended to read as 18 follows: 19 692A.128 Modification. 20 1. A sex offender who is on probation, parole, work release, 21 special sentence, or any other type of conditional release on 22 the registry may file an application in district court seeking 23 to modify the registration requirements under this chapter . 24 2. An application shall not be granted unless all of the 25 following apply: 26 a. The date of the commencement of the requirement to 27 register occurred at least two ten years prior to the filing 28 of the application for a tier I offender and five twenty-five 29 years prior to the filing of the application for a tier II or 30 III offender. 31 b. The sex offender applicant has successfully completed all 32 sex offender treatment programs that have been required. 33 c. A risk assessment has been completed and the sex offender 34 was classified as a low risk to reoffend. The risk assessment 35 -1- LSB 2161YC (1) 88 as/rh 1/ 7

H.F. _____ used to assess an offender as a low risk to reoffend shall 1 be a validated risk assessment approved by the department 2 of corrections. The applicant has successfully completed 3 any period of probation, parole, or other supervised release 4 for the offense requiring registration, without incurring a 5 revocation of probation, parole, or other supervised release 6 for such offense. 7 d. The sex offender applicant is not incarcerated when the 8 application is filed. 9 e. (1) The director of the judicial district department 10 of correctional services supervising the sex offender, or 11 the director’s designee, stipulates to the modification, 12 and a certified copy of the stipulation is attached to the 13 application. For a tier I offender, the applicant has had 14 no other criminal convictions other than simple misdemeanor 15 violations of chapter 321 or similar local violations for the 16 ten-year period preceding the filing of the application. 17 (2) For a tier III offender, the applicant has had no 18 other criminal convictions other than simple misdemeanor 19 violations of chapter 321 or similar local violations for 20 the twenty-five-year period preceding the filing of the 21 application, and the requirement to register is based upon an 22 adjudication in juvenile court. 23 3. The application shall be filed in the sex offender’s 24 county of principal residence. 25 4. Notice of any application shall be provided to the 26 county attorney of the county of the sex offender’s applicant’s 27 principal residence, the county attorney of any county in 28 this state where a conviction requiring the sex offender’s 29 applicant’s registration occurred, and the department. The 30 county attorney where the conviction occurred shall notify the 31 victim of an application if the victim’s address is known. 32 5. The court may, but is not required to, conduct a hearing 33 on the application to hear any evidence deemed appropriate by 34 the court. The court may modify the registration requirements 35 -2- LSB 2161YC (1) 88 as/rh 2/ 7

H.F. _____ under this chapter . 1 6. a. A sex offender may be granted a modification if the 2 offender is required to be on the sex offender registry as a 3 result of an adjudication for a sex offense, the offender is 4 not under the supervision of the juvenile court or a judicial 5 district judicial department of correctional services, and the 6 department of corrections agrees to perform a risk assessment 7 on the sex offender. However, all other provisions of this 8 section not in conflict with this subsection shall apply to the 9 application prior to an application being granted except that 10 the sex offender is not required to obtain a stipulation from 11 the director of a judicial district department of correctional 12 services, or the director’s designee. If the court grants a 13 modification for a tier I offender, the court may modify the 14 registration period by reducing such period by up to five 15 years. 16 b. If the court grants a modification for a tier III 17 offender, the court may modify the registration period by 18 reducing such period to a term of years. 19 7. If the court modifies the registration requirements 20 under this chapter , the court shall send a copy of the order to 21 the department, the sheriff of the county of the sex offender’s 22 principal residence, any county attorney notified in subsection 23 4 , and the victim, if the victim’s address is known. 24 Sec. 4. Section 726.6, subsection 1, paragraph h, Code 2019, 25 is amended to read as follows: 26 h. Knowingly allows a person custody or control of, or 27 unsupervised access to a child or a minor after knowing the 28 person is required to register due to a conviction for a sex 29 offense against a minor or is on the sex offender registry as 30 a sex offender due to a conviction for a sex offense against 31 a minor under chapter 692A . However, this paragraph does 32 not apply to a person who is a parent or guardian of a child 33 or a minor , who is and the parent or guardian is required 34 to register as a sex offender due to a conviction for a sex 35 -3- LSB 2161YC (1) 88 as/rh 3/ 7

H.F. _____ offense against a minor , or to a person who is married to and 1 living with a person required to register as a sex offender due 2 to a conviction for a sex offense against a minor . 3 Sec. 5. Section 726.6, Code 2019, is amended by adding the 4 following new subsection: 5 NEW SUBSECTION . 1A. A person who knowingly takes custody or 6 control of a child or minor, or who knowingly has unsupervised 7 access to a child or minor while required to register as a sex 8 offender for a sex offense against a minor under chapter 692A, 9 commits child endangerment. However, this subsection does not 10 apply to a person who is a parent or guardian of the child or 11 minor, or to a person who is married to and living with a person 12 who is the parent or guardian of the child or minor. 13 Sec. 6. Section 726.6, subsection 3, unnumbered paragraph 14 1, Code 2019, is amended to read as follows: 15 For the purposes of subsection 1 or 1A , “person having 16 control over a child or a minor” means any of the following: 17 EXPLANATION 18 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 19 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 20 This bill relates to sex offender registration requirements, 21 sexually violent predators, and the commission of the offense 22 of child endangerment. 23 Currently, a person required to register as a sex offender 24 is not required to register while incarcerated including while 25 placed in a jail, prison, penitentiary, juvenile facility, 26 or other correctional institution or facility. The bill 27 amends the definition of “incarcerated” in Code chapter 692A 28 to specifically exclude placement in an adult residential 29 correctional or treatment facility that allows a resident to 30 leave the facility for a portion of a day or days. By excluding 31 placement in a residential correctional or treatment facility 32 from the definition of “incarcerated”, a sex offender placed 33 in an adult residential correctional or treatment facility is 34 required to register as a sex offender while placed at such a 35 -4- LSB 2161YC (1) 88 as/rh 4/ 7

H.F. _____ facility. 1 The bill changes the definition of “sexually violent 2 predator” in Code chapter 692A (sex offender registry) to mean 3 a person who has been determined to be a sexually violent 4 predator pursuant to Code section 229A.7 (civil commitment 5 of sexually violent predator). Code section 229A.2 defines 6 “sexually violent predator” to mean a person who has been 7 convicted of or charged with a sexually violent offense and who 8 suffers from a mental abnormality which makes the person likely 9 to engage in predatory acts constituting sexually violent 10 offenses, if not confined in a secure facility. A sexually 11 violent predator is classified as a tier III offender under 12 Code chapter 692A and must register as a sex offender for life. 13 The bill amends Code section 692A.128 relating to the 14 filing of an application to modify sex offender registration 15 requirements. Currently, such an application shall not be 16 granted unless the date of the commencement of the requirement 17 to register occurred at least two years prior to the filing of 18 the application for a tier I offender and five years prior to 19 the filing of the application for a tier II or III offender. 20 The bill provides that an application to modify the 21 registration requirements by a tier I offender may be granted 22 if the requirement to register occurred at least 10 years prior 23 to the filing of the application, and for a tier III offender 24 such an application may be granted if the requirement to 25 register occurred at least 25 years prior to the filing of the 26 application. A tier II offender under the bill is no longer 27 eligible to file an application to modify the registration 28 requirements. 29 The bill and current law require other conditions be met 30 prior to granting an application to modify sex offender 31 registration requirements. The bill requires the applicant to 32 have successfully completed any period of probation, parole, 33 or other supervised release without incurring a revocation 34 of probation, parole, or other supervised release. The bill 35 -5- LSB 2161YC (1) 88 as/rh 5/ 7

H.F. _____ requires the applicant to have no other criminal convictions 1 other than simple misdemeanor violations of Code chapter 321 2 or similar local violations for a 10-year period for tier I 3 offenders and for a 25-year period for tier III offenders 4 required to register as juvenile offenders. The bill strikes 5 the requirements that an applicant be assessed as a low risk to 6 reoffend and that the applicant’s supervising agency stipulate 7 to the modification. 8 If the application is granted, the bill allows the court to 9 modify the registration period by reducing the registration 10 period by up to five years for a tier I offender and by allowing 11 the court to modify the registration period of a tier III 12 offender to a term of years. 13 The bill modifies the criminal offense of child endangerment 14 when allowing a sex offender access to a child or certain 15 minors. The bill specifies that a parent or guardian, or 16 person having custody or control over a child or a minor 17 under the age of 18 with a mental or physical disability, or 18 a person who is a member of the household in which a child 19 or such a minor resides, commits child endangerment, if the 20 person knowingly allows a person custody or control of, or 21 unsupervised access to a child or a minor after knowing the 22 person is required to register due to a conviction for a sex 23 offense against a minor or is on the sex offender registry due 24 to a conviction for a sex offense against a minor under Code 25 chapter 692A. 26 The bill also specifies that a person who knowingly takes 27 such custody or control or has such unsupervised access commits 28 child endangerment but does not commit such child endangerment, 29 if the person is the parent or guardian of the child or minor 30 and the parent or guardian is required to register as a sex 31 offender due to a conviction for a sex offense against a 32 minor, or if the person is married to and living with a person 33 required to register as a sex offender due to a conviction for 34 a sex offense against a minor. 35 -6- LSB 2161YC (1) 88 as/rh 6/ 7

H.F. _____ The penalties for a person who commits child endangerment 1 range from an aggravated misdemeanor to a class “B” felony 2 punishable by up to 50 years in prison. 3 -7- LSB 2161YC (1) 88 as/rh 7/ 7