Senate File 439 - Introduced SENATE FILE 439 BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1181) (COMPANION TO HF 435 BY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY) A BILL FOR An Act relating to emergency contact information for use by 1 the department of transportation and law enforcement, and 2 including effective date provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2057SV (1) 89 th/ns

S.F. 439 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 321.197 Emergency contact 1 information. 2 1. The department shall include in the electronic 3 database used by the department and law enforcement to access 4 registration, titling, and driver’s license information a 5 collection of emergency contact information for persons who 6 are issued a driver’s license or nonoperator’s identification 7 card. Emergency contact information in the database shall 8 be confidential and accessible only by employees of the 9 department or a law enforcement agency in the performance of 10 the employee’s official duties, and shall not be considered a 11 public record under chapter 22. 12 2. a. At the time a person applies for issuance, 13 replacement, or renewal of a driver’s license or nonoperator’s 14 identification card, the department shall request that the 15 applicant voluntarily submit emergency contact information for 16 inclusion in the database. A person may provide the emergency 17 contact information along with or separate from an application 18 for issuance, replacement, or renewal of a driver’s license or 19 nonoperator’s identification card. The department shall not 20 require a person to submit emergency contact information as 21 part of the driver’s license or nonoperator’s identification 22 card issuance, replacement, or renewal process. The department 23 shall accept submitted information without payment of a fee. 24 b. The department shall allow a person to provide the name, 25 address, telephone number, and relationship to the person of no 26 more than two emergency contacts whom the person wishes to be 27 contacted if the person is involved in a motor vehicle accident 28 or emergency situation and the person dies or is seriously 29 injured or rendered unconscious and is unable to communicate 30 with the emergency contact. The department shall accept the 31 emergency contact information provided by a person, but has no 32 duty to verify any of the information provided. 33 c. The emergency contact need not be the next of kin of the 34 person, except that if the person is under eighteen years of 35 -1- LSB 2057SV (1) 89 th/ns 1/ 4

S.F. 439 age and is not emancipated, the person shall include a parent, 1 guardian, or custodian of the person as an emergency contact. 2 3. In the event of a motor vehicle accident or emergency 3 situation in which a person dies or is seriously injured or 4 rendered unconscious and is unable to communicate with the 5 emergency contact specified in the database, an employee of a 6 law enforcement agency shall make a good-faith effort to notify 7 the emergency contact of the situation based on information in 8 the database, but the department, the law enforcement agency, 9 and the employee shall not be liable if the employee is not 10 able to notify the emergency contact. 11 4. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A 12 necessary to administer this section, including but not limited 13 to rules relating to all of the following: 14 a. The methods whereby a person who has submitted the 15 information of an emergency contact for inclusion in the 16 database may make changes to that entry. 17 b. The methods whereby a person may opt out of being listed 18 as an emergency contact in the database. 19 Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect January 1, 20 2022. 21 EXPLANATION 22 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 23 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 24 This bill requires the department of transportation (DOT) 25 to include in the electronic database used by the DOT and law 26 enforcement agencies (LEA) to access registration, titling, and 27 driver’s license information a collection of emergency contact 28 information submitted by persons issued a driver’s license or 29 nonoperator’s identification card. In the event of a motor 30 vehicle accident or emergency situation in which a person who 31 provided emergency contact information to the DOT dies or is 32 seriously injured or rendered unconscious and is unable to 33 communicate with the emergency contact, LEA employees are 34 required to make a good-faith effort to notify the emergency 35 -2- LSB 2057SV (1) 89 th/ns 2/ 4

S.F. 439 contact using the database. 1 Under the bill, when a person applies for issuance, 2 replacement, or renewal of a driver’s license or nonoperator’s 3 identification card, the DOT is required to request that the 4 applicant voluntarily submit emergency contact information for 5 inclusion in the database. A person may provide the emergency 6 contact information along with or separate from a driver’s 7 license or nonoperator’s identification card application. 8 The DOT is prohibited from requiring a person to submit 9 emergency contact information as part of the driver’s license 10 or nonoperator’s identification card issuance, replacement, 11 or renewal process. The DOT is required to accept submitted 12 information without payment of a fee. 13 The bill requires the DOT to allow a person to provide 14 the name, address, telephone number, and relationship to the 15 person of no more than two emergency contacts whom the person 16 wishes to be contacted if the person is involved in a motor 17 vehicle accident or emergency situation and the person dies or 18 is seriously injured or rendered unconscious and is unable to 19 communicate with the emergency contact. The DOT must accept 20 the emergency contact information provided by a person, but has 21 no duty to verify any of the information provided. 22 The emergency contact need not be the next of kin of the 23 person, except that if the person is under 18 years of age 24 and is not emancipated, the person shall include a parent, 25 guardian, or custodian of the person as an emergency contact. 26 Information in the database is confidential and only 27 accessible to DOT and LEA employees in the performance of the 28 employee’s official duties and shall not be considered a public 29 record. 30 A person may opt out of being listed as an emergency contact 31 pursuant to rules adopted by the DOT. 32 The bill limits the liability of the DOT, LEAs, and LEA 33 employees who make a good-faith effort to notify the emergency 34 contact of the emergency situation but are unable to do so. 35 -3- LSB 2057SV (1) 89 th/ns 3/ 4

S.F. 439 The bill takes effect January 1, 2022. 1 -4- LSB 2057SV (1) 89 th/ns 4/ 4