HF 2751 (LSB 6187HV (2) 91)

HOUSE FILE 2751

BY  COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

(SUCCESSOR TO HF 2728)

(As Amended and Passed by the House 2026-04-06)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to criminal acts against persons in certain occupations, including testing for communicable diseases for certain persons who have committed an assault against a member of a protected occupation, certain public safety personnel, including confidentiality of peer support communications for public safety officers and civilian employees, and obstructing first responders, and providing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 708.3A, Code 2026, is amended by striking the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
   708.3A  Assaults on members of protected occupations.
   1.  For purposes of this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
   a.  “Assault” means the same as defined in section 708.1.
   b.  “Correctional staff” means a person, who is not a peace officer, who is employed by the department of corrections or a judicial district department of correctional services to work at or in a correctional institution, community-based correctional facility, or an institution under the management of the Iowa department of corrections that is used for the purposes of confinement of persons who have committed public offenses.
   c.  “Employee of the department of health and human services” means a person who is an employee of an institution controlled by the director of health and human services that is listed in section 218.1, or who is an employee of the civil commitment unit for sex offenders operated by the department of health and human services. A person who commits an assault under this section against an employee of the department of health and human services at a department of health and human services institution or unit is presumed to know that the person against whom the assault is committed is an employee of the department of health and human services.
   d.  “Employee of the department of revenue” means a person who is employed as an auditor, agent, tax collector, or any contractor or representative acting in the same capacity. The employee, contractor, or representative shall maintain current identification indicating that the person is an employee, contractor, or representative of the department.
   e.  “Health care provider” means an emergency medical care provider as defined in section 147A.1, or a person licensed or registered under chapter 148, 148C, 148D, or 152, who is providing or who is attempting to provide emergency medical services as defined in section 147A.1, or anyone who is working, volunteering, or participating in an educational course of instruction at a hospital or rural emergency hospital as defined in section 135B.1, or at a nursing facility as defined in section 135C.1. A person who commits an assault under this section against a health care provider in a hospital, or at the scene or during out-of-hospital patient transportation in an ambulance, is presumed to know that the person against whom the assault is committed is a health care provider.
   f.  “Jailer” means a person, who is not a peace officer, who is employed by a county or other political subdivision of the state to work at a county jail or other facility used for purposes of the confinement of persons who have committed public offenses.
   g.  “Member of a protection occupation” means a person who is a peace officer; a jailer; correctional staff; juvenile detention staff; a member or employee of the board of parole; a health care provider; an employee of the department of health and human services; an employee of the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing who conducts investigations or inspections; an employee of the department of revenue; a national guard member engaged in national guard duty or state active duty; a civilian employee of a law enforcement agency; a civilian employee of a fire department; or a fire fighter, whether paid or volunteer.
   h.  “National guard” means the same as defined in section 29A.1.
   i.  “National guard duty” means the same as defined in section 29A.1.
   j.  “State active duty” means the same as defined in section 29A.1.
   2.  An assault against a member of a protected occupation with the knowledge that the person against whom the assault is committed is a member of a protected occupation is a class “C” felony.
   3.  An assault against a member of a protected occupation using or displaying a dangerous weapon is a class “C” felony.
   4.  An assault against a member of a protected occupation that causes bodily injury or mental illness is a class “D” felony.
   5.  Any other assault, including an assault causing another to come into contact with saliva by throwing, tossing, spitting, or expelling the fluid, committed against a member of a protected occupation is an aggravated misdemeanor. A person convicted of violating this subsection shall serve a minimum term of seven days of the sentence imposed by law, and shall not be eligible for deferral or suspension of the minimum term of seven days.
   6.  a.  A person who is a victim of an assault under subsection 2, 3, 4, or 5 that resulted in the victim coming in contact with the blood, seminal fluid, urine, saliva, or feces of the person committing the assault, when there is reason to believe that the person committing the assault has or may have a communicable disease, may request that law enforcement make application to the court for the issuance of a search warrant, in accordance with chapter 808, for the purpose of requiring the person committing the assault to submit to testing by a medical professional for communicable diseases.
   b.  The medical professional conducting testing of the person committing the assault for communicable diseases shall, as soon as practicable upon receipt of the test results, contact the victim of the assault with the test results.
    Sec. 2.  Section 80F.1, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  2A.  This section shall not be construed to require the disclosure, use, or consideration of a confidential communication protected under chapter 622C in any informal inquiry, formal administrative investigation, disciplinary proceeding, or Brady-Giglio determination.
    Sec. 3.  Section 622.10, subsection 9, paragraph a, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  A peer support group counselor or individual present for a individual or group crisis intervention who obtains information from an officer or a civilian employee of a law enforcement agency, emergency management agency, emergency medical services agency, or fire department by reason of the counselor’s capacity as a peer support group counselor or an individual’s presence for a individual or group crisis intervention shall not be allowed, in giving testimony, to disclose any confidential communication properly entrusted to the counselor or individual present for a group crisis intervention by the officer or civilian employee while receiving counseling or group crisis intervention pursuant to chapter 622C except as provided pursuant to section 622C.2, subsection 3.
    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  622C.1  Definitions.
   As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
   1.  “Civilian employee” means an employee of a law enforcement agency, emergency management agency, emergency medical services agency, or fire department who is not an officer.
   2.  “Confidential communication” means any oral, written, or recorded communication made by an officer or civilian employee to a peer support counselor while receiving peer support services or crisis intervention, whether the communication is made individually or in a group setting.
   3.  “Officer” means a certified law enforcement officer, fire fighter, fire marshal, emergency medical technician, paramedic, medical provider, corrections officer, detention officer, jailer, probation or parole officer, public safety telecommunicator, dispatcher, emergency management coordinator under chapter 29C, or any other public safety employee certified by the Iowa law enforcement academy or state fire marshal and employed by a city, county, or state agency.
   4.  “Peer support counselor” means a law enforcement officer, fire fighter, emergency medical services provider, public safety telecommunicator, dispatcher, civilian employee of a law enforcement or fire department, or a nonemployee counselor who has been designated as a peer support counselor by a sheriff, police chief, fire chief, emergency medical services director, or department head of a public safety agency, and who has received training to provide emotional and moral support, counseling, or crisis intervention to officers and civilian employees affected by stress or trauma arising from official duties.
    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  622C.2  Confidential peer support communications —— exceptions.
   1.  Except as provided in subsection 3, a peer support counselor or individual who is present for a confidential communication from an officer or civilian employee during a peer support or crisis intervention session shall not be permitted to testify or otherwise disclose any confidential communication properly entrusted to the peer support counselor or individual, or made in the peer support counselor’s or individual’s presence by an officer or civilian employee receiving peer support services.
   2.  Except as provided in subsection 3, a confidential communication obtained by a peer support counselor during the provision of peer support services or by an individual present for a confidential communication shall not be used or introduced in any formal administrative investigation, disciplinary proceeding, or Brady-Giglio disclosure or proceeding.
   3.  A peer support counselor or an individual present for a confidential communication may testify or otherwise disclose a confidential communication if the confidential communication includes any of the following:
   a.  A plan for the commission of a crime or information related to the commission of a crime by the officer or civilian employee.
   b.  An explicit threat of harm to the officer, civilian employee, or to another person.
   c.  Information for which disclosure is otherwise required by law, including but not limited to mandatory reporting of child abuse or dependent adult abuse.
    Sec. 6.  NEW SECTION.  622C.3  Construction.
   1.  This chapter shall not be construed to limit an employer’s authority to direct an employee to an employee assistance program or to require a fitness-for-duty evaluation.
   2.  This chapter shall be construed liberally to promote candid and confidential communications during peer support services for public safety professionals.
    Sec. 7.  NEW SECTION.  719.1B  Obstructing first responder after warning.
   1.  As used in this section:
   a.  “First responder” means a law enforcement officer, a probation or parole officer, a fire fighter, or an emergency medical care provider.
   b.  “Harass” means to willfully engage in a course of conduct directed at a first responder that intentionally causes substantial emotional distress in the first responder and serves no legitimate purpose.
   2.  a.  A person shall not, after receiving a verbal warning not to approach from an individual the person knows or reasonably should know is a first responder who is engaged in the lawful performance of a legal duty, knowingly and willfully violate the warning and approach or remain within twenty-five feet of the first responder with the intent to do any of the following:
   (1)  Impede or interfere with the first responder’s ability to perform the first responder’s duty.
   (2)  Threaten the first responder with physical harm.
   (3)  Harass the first responder.
   b.  A person who violates this section commits a serious misdemeanor.