HSB 617 (LSB 5075XD (5) 88)

SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED AUDITOR OF STATE BILL)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the penalty for public employees and public officials ordered to pay restitution to a public employer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 907.3, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2020, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
   NEW SUBPARAGRAPH.  (15)  The defendant was a public employee or public official at the time of the offense and is ordered to pay restitution in an amount greater than one thousand five hundred dollars to a public employer in which the defendant was employed or served for damages resulting directly from the offense pursuant to chapter 910.
    Sec. 2.  Section 907.3, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2020, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
   NEW SUBPARAGRAPH.  (9)  The defendant was a public employee or public official at the time of the offense and is ordered to pay restitution in an amount greater than one thousand five hundred dollars to a public employer in which the defendant was employed or served for damages resulting directly from the offense pursuant to chapter 910.
    Sec. 3.  Section 907.3, subsection 3, Code 2020, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  h.  The defendant was a public employee or public official at the time of the offense and is ordered to pay restitution in an amount greater than one thousand five hundred dollars to a public employer in which the defendant was employed or served for damages resulting directly from the offense pursuant to chapter 910.
    Sec. 4.  Section 907.3, Code 2020, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  4.  For the purposes of this section:
   a.  “Public employee” means any individual employed by a public employer and includes a contractor or vendor.
   b.  “Public employer” means the state, its boards, commissions, agencies, and departments, and its political subdivisions including school districts and other special purpose districts.
   c.  “Public official” means the same as defined in section 68B.2.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill prohibits a defendant who was a public employee or public official at the time of the offense and who is ordered to pay restitution in an amount greater than $1,500 to a public employer in which the defendant was employed or served for damages resulting directly from the offense pursuant to Code chapter 910 from receiving a deferred judgment, deferred sentence, or suspended sentence. The bill defines “public employee” as any individual employed by a public employer and includes a contractor or vendor, “public employer” as the state, its boards, commissions, agencies, and departments, and its political subdivisions including school districts and other special purpose districts, and “public official” as officials, local officials, and members of the general assembly (as defined in Code section 68B.2).
   Restitution under Code chapter 910 means payment of pecuniary damages to a victim in an amount and in the manner provided by the offender’s plan of restitution. Pecuniary damages are all damages to the extent not paid by an insurer on an insurance claim by the victim, which a victim could recover against the offender in a civil action arising out of the same facts or event, except punitive damages and damages for pain, suffering, mental anguish, and loss of consortium.