House Study Bill 88 - IntroducedA Bill ForAn Act 1relating to the requirements for a sex offender
2to be granted a modification of sex offender registry
3requirements.
4BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1   Section 1.  Section 692A.128, Code 2021, is amended to read
2as follows:
   3692A.128  Modification.
   41.  A sex offender who is on probation, parole, work release,
5special sentence, or any other type of conditional release
may
6file an application in district court seeking to modify the
7registration requirements under this chapter.
   82.  An application shall not be granted unless all of the
9following apply:
   10a.  The date of the commencement of the requirement to
11register occurred at least two years prior to the filing of
12the application for a tier I offender and five years prior to
13the filing of the application for a tier II or III offender.
14
 A period of time has elapsed since the date of the offender’s
15initial registration as follows:

   16(1)  (a)  Except as otherwise provided in subparagraph
17division (b), a tier I offender initially registered at least
18ten years prior to the filing of the application.
   19(b)  A tier I offender who was under twenty years of age at
20the time the offender committed a violation of section 709.4,
21subsection 1, paragraph “b”, subparagraph (3), subparagraph
22division (d), initially registered at least five years prior to
23the filing of the application.
   24(2)  A tier II or tier III offender initially registered at
25least twenty-five years prior to the filing of the application.
   26b.  The sex offender has successfully completed all sex
27offender treatment programs that have been required.
   28c.  A risk assessment has been completed and the sex offender
29was classified as a low risk to reoffend. The risk assessment
30used to assess an offender as a low risk to reoffend shall
31be a validated risk assessment approved by the department of
32corrections.
 The sex offender has successfully completed
33any period of probation, parole, special sentence, or other
34supervised release for the offense requiring registration.

   35d.  The sex offender is not incarcerated when the application
-1-1is filed.
   2e.  The director of the judicial district department
3of correctional services supervising the sex offender, or
4the director’s designee, stipulates to the modification,
5and a certified copy of the stipulation is attached to the
6application.
   7(1)  A tier I offender must not have been convicted of any
8criminal offenses other than simple misdemeanor violations of
9chapter 321 or local traffic ordinances for the ten-year period
10immediately preceding the filing of the application.
   11(2)  A tier II or tier III offender must meet all of the
12following requirements:
   13(a)  The offender must not have been convicted of any
14criminal offenses other than simple misdemeanor violations
15of chapter 321 or local traffic ordinances for the
16twenty-five-year period immediately preceding the filing of the
17application.
   18(b)  The offender must have been initially required to
19register as a result of an adjudication for a sex offense in
20juvenile court.
   213.  The application shall be filed in the sex offender’s
22county of principal residence.
   234.  Notice of any application shall be provided to the
24county attorney of the county of the sex offender’s principal
25residence, the county attorney of any county in this state
26where a conviction requiring the sex offender’s registration
27occurred, and the department. The county attorney where the
28conviction occurred shall notify the victim of an application
29if the victim’s address is known.
   305.  The court may, but is not required to, conduct a hearing
31on the application to hear any evidence deemed appropriate by
32the court. The court may modify the registration requirements
33under this chapter by reducing the registration period.
   346.  A sex offender may be granted a modification if the
35offender is required to be on the sex offender registry as a
-2-1result of an adjudication for a sex offense, the offender is
2not under the supervision of the juvenile court or a judicial
3district judicial department of correctional services, and the
4department of corrections agrees to perform a risk assessment
5on the sex offender. However, all other provisions of this
6section not in conflict with this subsection shall apply to the
7application prior to an application being granted except that
8the sex offender is not required to obtain a stipulation from
9the director of a judicial district department of correctional
10services, or the director’s designee.
   117.    6.  If the court modifies the registration requirements
12under this chapter, the court shall send a copy of the order to
13the department, the sheriff of the county of the sex offender’s
14principal residence, any county attorney notified in subsection
154, and the victim, if the victim’s address is known.
16EXPLANATION
17The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
18the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   19This bill changes the requirements for a sex offender
20to be granted a modification of the sex offender registry
21requirements. Under current law, a sex offender must be on
22probation, parole, work release, special sentence, or any
23other type of conditional release to file an application for a
24modification. The bill allows any sex offender on the Iowa sex
25offender registry to file an application for a modification.
   26Under current law, a sex offender will only be granted a
27modification by a court if the date of the commencement of
28the requirement to register occurred at least two years prior
29to the filing of the application for a tier I offender and
30five years prior to the filing of the application for a tier
31II or III offender. The bill changes these requirements and
32provides that a tier I offender must have initially registered
33at least 10 years prior to the filing of the application,
34except for a tier I offender who was under 20 years of age
35at the time the offender committed sexual abuse in the third
-3-1degree under certain circumstances pursuant to Code section
2709.4(1)(b)(3)(d), who must have initially registered at least
3five years prior to the filing of the application. A tier II or
4tier III offender must have initially registered at least 25
5years prior to the filing of the application.
   6Under current law, a risk assessment approved by the
7department of corrections must be completed and an offender
8must be classified as a low risk to reoffend in order to be
9granted a modification. The bill strikes this requirement and
10allows a court to grant a modification if the offender has
11successfully completed any period of probation, parole, special
12sentence, or other supervised release for the offense requiring
13registration.
   14The bill provides that a tier I offender must not have
15been convicted of any criminal offenses other than simple
16misdemeanor violations of Code chapter 321 or local traffic
17ordinances for the 10-year period immediately preceding
18the filing of the application in order to be granted a
19modification. The bill provides that a tier II or tier III
20offender must not have been convicted of any criminal offenses
21other than simple misdemeanor violations of Code chapter 321
22or local traffic ordinances for the 25-year period immediately
23preceding the filing of the application and must have been
24initially required to register as a result of an adjudication
25for a sex offense in juvenile court in order to be granted a
26modification.
   27The bill allows a court to reduce the period in which a sex
28offender is required to register. The bill strikes current law
29allowing a sex offender to be granted a modification if the
30offender is required to be on the sex offender registry as a
31result of an adjudication for a sex offense, the offender is
32not under the supervision of the juvenile court or a judicial
33district judicial department of correctional services, and the
34department of corrections agrees to perform a risk assessment
35on the sex offender.
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   1Under current law, the director of the judicial district
2department of correctional services supervising the sex
3offender, or the director’s designee, must stipulate to the
4modification. The bill strikes this requirement.
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