House File 468 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 468 BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 141) A BILL FOR An Act concerning judicial branch administration, including 1 mental health advocates, access to and confidentiality of 2 juror information, contracting authority, apportionment 3 of district associate judges, remote testimony and video 4 recordings, and access to criminal history records. 5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 6 TLSB 1212HV (2) 90 cm/ns

H.F. 468 DIVISION I 1 PATIENT ADVOCATES 2 Section 1. Section 229.19, subsection 1, paragraph d, 3 subparagraph (7), Code 2023, is amended to read as follows: 4 (7) To utilize the related best practices for the duties 5 identified in this paragraph “d” developed and promulgated by 6 the judicial council . 7 DIVISION II 8 JURORS —— INFORMATION 9 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 607A.48 Public access to juror 10 information. 11 1. Public access to juror and prospective juror information 12 shall be limited. Information on the year of birth and address 13 information identifying the city and zip code of prospective 14 jurors shall be available to the public. However, more 15 specific address information, phone numbers, and the date and 16 month of birth of prospective jurors are confidential and not 17 subject to disclosure without an order of the court. 18 2. Notwithstanding subsection 1, attorneys representing 19 parties to the case are entitled to the complete juror 20 questionnaires of jurors and prospective jurors without order 21 of the court. 22 DIVISION III 23 CONTRACTING AUTHORITY 24 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION . 602.1209A State court administrator 25 may contractually limit vendor liability. 26 1. The state court administrator may authorize the 27 procurement of goods and services in which a contractual 28 limitation of vendor liability is provided for and set forth in 29 the documents initiating the procurement. 30 2. a. The state court administrator shall consider all of 31 the following criteria when determining whether to permit a 32 contractual limitation of vendor liability with regard to any 33 procurement of goods or services: 34 (1) Whether authorizing a contractual limitation of vendor 35 -1- LSB 1212HV (2) 90 cm/ns 1/ 8

H.F. 468 liability is necessary to prevent harm to the state from 1 a failure to obtain the goods or services sought, or from 2 obtaining the goods or services at a higher price if the state 3 refuses to allow a contractual limitation of vendor liability. 4 (2) Whether the contractual limitation of vendor liability 5 is commercially reasonable when taking into account any risk to 6 the state created by the goods or services to be procured and 7 the purpose for which they will be used. 8 b. The state court administrator may consider additional 9 criteria. 10 3. Notwithstanding subsection 1, a contractual limitation 11 of vendor liability shall not include any limitation on the 12 liability of any vendor for intentional torts, criminal acts, 13 or fraudulent conduct. 14 DIVISION IV 15 APPORTIONMENT OF DISTRICT ASSOCIATE JUDGES 16 Sec. 4. Section 602.6301, Code 2023, is amended to read as 17 follows: 18 602.6301 Number and apportionment of district associate 19 judges. 20 1. There shall be one district associate judge in counties 21 having a population of more than thirty-five thousand and less 22 than eighty thousand; two in counties having a population of 23 eighty thousand or more and less than one hundred twenty-five 24 thousand; three in counties having a population of one 25 hundred twenty-five thousand or more and less than one hundred 26 seventy thousand; four in counties having a population of one 27 hundred seventy thousand or more and less than two hundred 28 fifteen thousand; five in counties having a population of two 29 hundred fifteen thousand or more and less than two hundred 30 sixty thousand; six in counties having a population of two 31 hundred sixty thousand or more and less than three hundred 32 five thousand; seven in counties having a population of three 33 hundred five thousand or more and less than three hundred 34 fifty thousand; eight in counties having a population of three 35 -2- LSB 1212HV (2) 90 cm/ns 2/ 8

H.F. 468 hundred fifty thousand or more and less than three hundred 1 ninety-five thousand; nine in counties having a population of 2 three hundred ninety-five thousand or more and less than four 3 hundred forty thousand; ten in counties having a population of 4 four hundred forty thousand or more and less than four hundred 5 eighty-five thousand; and one additional judge for every 6 population increment of thirty-five thousand which is over 7 four hundred eighty-five thousand in such counties. However, 8 a county shall not lose a district associate judgeship solely 9 because of a reduction in the county’s population. If the 10 formula provided in this section results in the allocation 11 of an additional district associate judgeship to a county, 12 implementation of the allocation shall be subject to prior 13 approval of the supreme court and availability of funds to the 14 judicial branch. The supreme court shall prescribe, subject 15 to the restrictions of this section, a formula to determine 16 the number of district associate judges who will serve in each 17 judicial election district. The formula shall be based upon 18 a model that measures and applies an estimated case-related 19 workload formula of judicial officers, and shall account for 20 administrative duties, travel time, and other judicial duties 21 not related to a specific case. A district associate judge 22 appointed pursuant to section 602.6302 or 602.6307 shall not 23 be counted for purposes of this section and the reduction of 24 a district associate judge pursuant to section 602.6303 also 25 shall not be counted for purposes of this section . 26 2. For purposes of this section, “vacancy” means the death, 27 resignation, retirement, or removal of a district associate 28 judge, or the failure of a district associate judge to be 29 retained in office at the judicial election, or an increase in 30 judgeships under the formula prescribed in subsection 1. 31 3. In those judicial election districts having more 32 district associate judges than the number of judgeships 33 specified by the formula prescribed in subsection 1, vacancies 34 shall not be filled. 35 -3- LSB 1212HV (2) 90 cm/ns 3/ 8

H.F. 468 4. In those judicial election districts having fewer or 1 the same number of district associate judges as the number of 2 judgeships specified by the formula prescribed in subsection 1, 3 vacancies shall be filled as the vacancies occur. 4 5. In those judicial districts that contain more than one 5 judicial election district, a vacancy in a judicial election 6 district shall not be filled if the total number of district 7 associate judges in all judicial election districts within 8 the judicial district equals or exceeds the aggregate number 9 of judgeships to which all of the judicial election districts 10 of the judicial district are authorized by the formula in 11 subsection 1. 12 6. An incumbent district associate judge shall not be 13 removed from office because of a reduction in the number of 14 authorized judgeships specified by the formula prescribed in 15 subsection 1. 16 DIVISION V 17 REMOTE TESTIMONY AND VIDEO RECORDINGS 18 Sec. 5. Section 602.3205, Code 2023, is amended to read as 19 follows: 20 602.3205 Audio and video recordings. 21 1. Except as provided in subsection 2 or 3 , a certified 22 shorthand reporter’s audio and video recordings used solely 23 for the purpose of providing a verbatim written transcript of 24 a court proceeding or a proceeding conducted in anticipation 25 of use in a court proceeding shall be considered the personal 26 property and private work product of the certified shorthand 27 reporter. 28 2. An audio or video recording of a certified shorthand 29 reporter appointed under section 602.6603 shall be provided to 30 the presiding judge or chief judge for an in camera review upon 31 court order for good cause shown. 32 3. a. An audio or video recording of a certified shorthand 33 reporter shall be provided to the board upon request by the 34 board if a disciplinary proceeding is pending regarding the 35 -4- LSB 1212HV (2) 90 cm/ns 4/ 8

H.F. 468 certified shorthand reporter who is a respondent under the 1 provisions of section 602.3203 or the rules of the board of 2 examiners of shorthand reporters, Iowa court rules, ch. 46 . 3 b. The audio and video recordings provided to the board 4 pursuant to this subsection shall be kept confidential by the 5 board in a manner as provided in section 272C.6, subsection 4 . 6 Sec. 6. Section 624.1, subsection 1, Code 2023, is amended 7 to read as follows: 8 1. All issues of fact in ordinary actions shall be tried 9 upon oral evidence taken in open court, except that depositions 10 may be used as provided by law. “Open court” includes remote 11 testimony of a witness by telephone, videoconference, or other 12 remote means of communication approved by the court. 13 DIVISION VI 14 ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS 15 Sec. 7. Section 692.2, subsection 5, Code 2023, is amended 16 to read as follows: 17 5. A person other than the department of public safety 18 shall not disseminate criminal history data maintained by the 19 department to persons who are not criminal or juvenile justice 20 agencies , except as set forth in section 692.3 . 21 Sec. 8. Section 692.3, subsection 3, Code 2023, is amended 22 to read as follows: 23 3. The information described in this section subsections 24 1 and 2 may be redisseminated through any written, audio, or 25 visual means utilized by a criminal or juvenile justice agency. 26 Sec. 9. Section 692.3, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 27 following new subsections: 28 NEW SUBSECTION . 4. A person may disseminate criminal 29 history data of an accused to the attorney of the accused and 30 to self-represented litigants in a pending criminal matter 31 in district or juvenile court, if the criminal history data 32 is already part of the prosecution’s file and subject to a 33 discovery obligation. 34 NEW SUBSECTION . 5. Upon order of the court, a person may 35 -5- LSB 1212HV (2) 90 cm/ns 5/ 8

H.F. 468 disseminate criminal history data of an accused that is not 1 already part of the prosecution’s file, or criminal history 2 data of a witness, to the attorney of the accused, prosecutors, 3 and to self-represented litigants in a pending criminal matter 4 in district or juvenile court. 5 EXPLANATION 6 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 7 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 8 This bill relates to judicial branch administration. 9 PATIENT ADVOCATES. The bill removes the requirement that 10 the judicial council develop and promulgate best practices for 11 court-assigned advocates of persons with mental illness. Under 12 the bill, such advocates may use any best practices for their 13 duties. 14 JURORS —— INFORMATION. The bill provides that prospective 15 juror year of birth and city and zip code address information 16 is available to the public but that more specific address 17 information, phone numbers, and date and month of birth are 18 confidential and are not subject to disclosure without an order 19 of the court. Attorneys representing parties to the case 20 are entitled to complete juror questionnaires of jurors and 21 prospective jurors without court order. 22 CONTRACTING AUTHORITY. The bill allows the state court 23 administrator to enter into contracts with vendors that include 24 limitations of liability for the vendors, after considering 25 certain criteria set forth in the bill. However, the bill 26 prohibits limitations of liability for any intentional torts, 27 criminal acts, or fraudulent conduct by the vendor. 28 APPORTIONMENT OF DISTRICT ASSOCIATE JUDGES. The bill 29 provides for a new formula to be prescribed by the Iowa supreme 30 court for apportioning district associate judges based upon 31 a weighted workload. Under current law, district associate 32 judges are apportioned based upon county population. 33 The bill provides that in judicial election districts 34 that currently have more district associate judges than the 35 -6- LSB 1212HV (2) 90 cm/ns 6/ 8

H.F. 468 new formula prescribes, vacancies shall not be filled, while 1 districts having fewer or the same shall fill vacancies as 2 they occur. In judicial districts that contain more than one 3 judicial election district, a vacancy in a judicial election 4 district shall not be filled if the total number of district 5 associate judges in all judicial election districts within 6 the judicial district equals or exceeds the aggregate number 7 of judgeships to which all of the judicial election districts 8 of the judicial district are authorized. Incumbents shall 9 not be removed because of a reduction in number of authorized 10 judgeships. 11 REMOTE TESTIMONY AND VIDEO RECORDINGS. The bill adds video 12 recordings to Code section 602.3205 (certified shorthand 13 reporter audio recordings). The bill provides that a certified 14 shorthand reporter’s audio and video recordings used solely 15 for the purpose of providing a verbatim written transcript of 16 a court proceeding or a proceeding conducted in anticipation 17 of use in a court proceeding shall be considered the personal 18 property and private work product of the certified shorthand 19 reporter, except that an audio or video recording of a 20 certified shorthand reporter shall be provided to the presiding 21 judge or chief judge for an in camera review upon court order 22 for good cause shown and an audio or video recording of a 23 certified shorthand reporter shall be provided to the board of 24 examiners of shorthand reporters upon request by the board if 25 a disciplinary proceeding is pending regarding the certified 26 shorthand reporter. 27 For purposes of oral evidence in court trials, the bill 28 defines the term “open court” to include remote testimony of a 29 witness by telephone, videoconference, or other remote means 30 approved by the court. 31 Under current law, all testimony needs to be taken in open 32 court, except for depositions. In the supreme court of Iowa’s 33 decision in In re Estate of Rutter, 633 N.W.2d 740 (Iowa 2001), 34 the court held the phrase “in open court” meant physical 35 -7- LSB 1212HV (2) 90 cm/ns 7/ 8

H.F. 468 presence in the courtroom itself, and ruled that allowing 1 telephonic testimony over objection violated the statute. 2 ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS. The bill allows 3 criminal history data of an accused person to be disseminated 4 to the attorney of the accused and self-represented litigants 5 without a court order, if the criminal history data is already 6 a part of the prosecution’s file and is subject to a discovery 7 obligation. The bill also allows criminal history data of an 8 accused person, or of a witness, to be disseminated to the 9 attorney of the accused, prosecutors, and self-represented 10 litigants upon court order. 11 -8- LSB 1212HV (2) 90 cm/ns 8/ 8