HSB 749 (LSB 6898YC (2) 91)

HOUSE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON HOLT)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to state tort claims, including qualified immunity for state employees, and including retroactive applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 669.14A, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  The right, privilege, or immunity secured by law, including by the Constitution of the State of Iowa, statute, or common law, was not clearly established at the time of the alleged deprivation, or at the time of the alleged deprivation the state of the law was not sufficiently clear that every reasonable employee would have understood that the conduct alleged constituted a violation of law. 
    Sec. 2.  RETROACTIVE APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies retroactively to claims brought on or after June 17, 2021.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Under current law, an employee of the state that is subject to a claim brought under Code chapter 669 (state tort claims) is not liable for monetary damages if the right, privilege, or immunity secured by law was not clearly established at the time of the alleged deprivation or at the time of the alleged deprivation the law was not sufficiently clear that every employee would have known the conduct violated the law, or a court issued a final decision holding that the conduct alleged to be unlawful conduct was consistent with the law.
   This bill provides that rights, privileges, or immunities secured by law include the rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution of the State of Iowa, statutes, and common law. The bill is a response to the supreme court of Iowa’s decisions in Montague v. Skinner, No. 24-1745 (Iowa 2026) and Estate of Kahn v. City of Clermont, 22 N.W.3d 252 (Iowa 2025). The court held in both cases that qualified immunity for state employees provided in Code section 669.14A does not apply to common law tort claims.
   The bill applies retroactively to claims brought on or after June 17, 2021, which is the original enactment date of Code section 669.14A.