Bill Text: IA HF2342 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Amended

Iowa House Bill 2342 (Prior Session Legislation)

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the seizure and disposition of property by the department of natural resources and requiring a report. (Formerly HF 2127.) Effective 7-1-18.

Sponsorship: Committee Bill

Status: (Passed) 2018-05-16 - Signed by Governor. H.J. 997. [HF2342 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-HF2342-Amended.html


House File 2342 - Reprinted




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC
                                     SAFETY

                                 (SUCCESSOR TO HF 2127)
       (As Amended and Passed by the House March 6, 2018)

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to the seizure and disposition of property by
  2    the department of natural resources and requiring a report.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    HF 2342 (3) 87
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 481A.11, Code 2018, is amended to read
  1  2 as follows:
  1  3    481A.11  Confiscated or accidentally killed game.
  1  4    Except as provided in section 481A.13 or 481A.13A, any game
  1  5 or fish seized by the commission under section 481A.12 or any
  1  6 game accidentally killed by a motor vehicle on a public highway
  1  7 shall, when salvageable, be disposed of as determined by the
  1  8 commission or its designee.
  1  9    Sec. 2.  Section 481A.12, Code 2018, is amended to read as
  1 10 follows:
  1 11    481A.12  Seizure of wildlife taken or handled illegally.
  1 12    The director or any peace officer shall seize with or
  1 13 without warrant and take possession of, or direct the disposal
  1 14 of, any fish, furs, birds, or animals, or mussels, clams, or
  1 15 frogs, which have been caught, taken, or killed at a time,
  1 16 in a manner, or for a purpose, or had in possession or under
  1 17 control, or offered for shipment, or illegally transported in
  1 18 the state or to a point beyond its borders, contrary to the
  1 19 Code. All fish, furs, birds, or animals, or mussels, clams,
  1 20 or frogs seized under this section may shall be relinquished
  1 21 to a representative of the commission or disposed of and kept
  1 22 as provided in section 481A.13.
  1 23    Sec. 3.  Section 481A.13, Code 2018, is amended to read as
  1 24 follows:
  1 25    481A.13  Search warrants.
  1 26    Any court having jurisdiction of the offense, upon receiving
  1 27 proof of probable cause for believing that any fish, mussels,
  1 28 clams, frogs, birds, furs, or animals caught, taken, killed,
  1 29 had in possession, under control, or shipped, contrary to the
  1 30 Code, or hidden or concealed in any place, shall issue a search
  1 31 warrant and cause a search to be made in any place therefor.
  1 32 The property so seized under warrant shall be safely kept under
  1 33 the direction of the court so long as necessary for the purpose
  1 34 of being used as evidence in any trial, and if a trial results
  1 35 in a conviction the property seized shall be confiscated by the
  2  1 director or the director's officers.  If the trial does not
  2  2 result in a conviction, the property shall be returned to the
  2  3 person pursuant to section 481A.13A.
  2  4    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  481A.13A  Conviction required for
  2  5 property confiscation ==== return of property.
  2  6    1.  The state shall not confiscate property seized under
  2  7 section 481A.12 or 481A.13 unless the person from whom the
  2  8 property was seized is convicted of the violation for which the
  2  9 property was seized.
  2 10    2.  If the person from whom the property was seized is not
  2 11 convicted of the violation for which the property was seized,
  2 12 the department, law enforcement agency, or other governmental
  2 13 agency in possession of the seized property shall return the
  2 14 seized property to the person within thirty days of any of the
  2 15 following:
  2 16    a.  The date the person is found not guilty of the violation.
  2 17    b.  The date the action involving the violation is dismissed.
  2 18    c.  The date the statute of limitations expires for the
  2 19 alleged violation for which the property was seized.
  2 20    3.  For purposes of this section, "convicted" includes
  2 21 a finding of guilt, payment of a scheduled fine, a plea of
  2 22 guilty, deferred judgment, deferred or suspended sentence,
  2 23 adjudication of delinquency, or circumstance where a person is
  2 24 not charged with a criminal offense related to the violation
  2 25 based in whole or in part on the person's agreement to provide
  2 26 information regarding the criminal activity of another person.
  2 27    Sec. 5.  Section 483A.32, Code 2018, is amended to read as
  2 28 follows:
  2 29    483A.32  Public nuisance.
  2 30    1.  Any Subject to subsection 2, any device, contrivance,
  2 31 or material used to violate a rule adopted by the commission,
  2 32 or any other provision of this chapter or chapter 481A, 481B,
  2 33 482, 484A, or 484B, is a public nuisance and may be condemned
  2 34 by the state. The director, the director's officers, or
  2 35 any peace officer, shall seize the devices, contrivances,
  3  1 or materials used as a public nuisance, without warrant or
  3  2 process, and deliver them to a magistrate having jurisdiction.
  3  3 An automobile shall not be construed to be a public nuisance
  3  4 under this section.
  3  5    2.  The state may only condemn property seized as a public
  3  6 nuisance if the person from whom the property was seized is
  3  7 convicted of the violation for which the property was seized as
  3  8 a public nuisance.
  3  9    3.  If the person from whom the property was seized is not
  3 10 convicted of the violation for which the property was seized,
  3 11 the department, law enforcement agency, or other governmental
  3 12 agency in possession of the seized property shall return the
  3 13 seized property to the person within thirty days of any of the
  3 14 following:
  3 15    a.  The date the person is found not guilty of the violation.
  3 16    b.  The date the action involving the violation is dismissed.
  3 17    c.  The date the statute of limitations expires for the
  3 18 alleged violation for which the property was seized.
  3 19    4.  For purposes of this section, "convicted" means the same
  3 20 as in section 481A.13A, subsection 3.
  3 21    Sec. 6.  Section 483A.33, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code
  3 22 2018, is amended to read as follows:
  3 23    a.  The person from whom the property was seized may make
  3 24 application for its return in the office of the clerk of the
  3 25 district court for the county in which the property was seized.
  3 26 The application shall be filed within thirty days after
  3 27 the receipt of the notice of condemnation or the person is
  3 28 convicted of the violation for which the property was seized,
  3 29 whichever occurs later. Failure to file the application within
  3 30 this time period terminates the interest of the person and the
  3 31 ownership of the property shall be transferred to the state,
  3 32 except that a person who is not convicted of the violation
  3 33 for which the property was seized is not required to file an
  3 34 application and is entitled to the return of the property in
  3 35 accordance with section 483A.32.
  4  1    Sec. 7.  Section 483A.33, subsection 4, Code 2018, is amended
  4  2 to read as follows:
  4  3    4.  If an application for return of condemnable property
  4  4 is timely and of sufficient grounds, the claim shall be set
  4  5 for hearing. The hearing shall be held not less than ten nor
  4  6 more than thirty days after the filing of the claim claim is
  4  7 filed or the person is convicted for the violation for which
  4  8 the property was seized as a public nuisance, whichever occurs
  4  9 later. The proceeding shall be conducted by a magistrate or
  4 10 a district associate judge. All claims to the same property
  4 11 shall be heard in one proceeding, unless it is shown that the
  4 12 proceeding would result in prejudice to one or more of the
  4 13 parties.
  4 14    Sec. 8.  Section 483A.33, subsection 5, Code 2018, is amended
  4 15 by adding the following new paragraphs:
  4 16    NEW PARAGRAPH.  c.  On or before December 31, 2018, and
  4 17 on or before December 1 each year thereafter, the department
  4 18 shall report to the general assembly's standing committees
  4 19 on government oversight regarding the amount of the proceeds
  4 20 deposited to the state fish and game protection fund pursuant
  4 21 to this subsection. The report shall also contain all
  4 22 information recorded pursuant to paragraph "d".
  4 23    NEW PARAGRAPH.  d.  A seizing public agency that has custody
  4 24 of any property that is seized pursuant to a provision of this
  4 25 subchapter shall adopt and comply with a written internal
  4 26 control policy that does all of the following:
  4 27    (1)  Provides for keeping detailed records as to the amount
  4 28 of property acquired by the agency and the date property was
  4 29 acquired.
  4 30    (2)  Provides for keeping detailed records of the
  4 31 disposition of the property, which shall include the manner
  4 32 in which the property was disposed, the date of disposition,
  4 33 and detailed financial records concerning any property sold.
  4 34 The records shall not identify or enable identification of the
  4 35 individual officer who seized any item of property or the name
  5  1 of any person or entity who received any item of property.
  5  2    NEW PARAGRAPH.  e.  The records kept under the internal
  5  3 control policy shall be open to public inspection during the
  5  4 agency's regular business hours. The policy adopted under this
  5  5 section is a public record open for inspection under chapter
  5  6 22.
  5  7    Sec. 9.  Section 483A.33, Code 2018, is amended by adding the
  5  8 following new subsections:
  5  9    NEW SUBSECTION.  6.  An employee of the seizing public agency
  5 10 or a member of the immediate family of the employee shall not
  5 11 purchase a fish, fur, bird, animal, mussel, clam, or frog
  5 12 seized pursuant to section 481A.12, a device, contrivance, or
  5 13 material condemned pursuant to section 483A.32, or a weapon
  5 14 seized pursuant to section 483A.32 and disposed of pursuant
  5 15 to this section or section 809.21.  For purposes of this
  5 16 subsection, "member of the immediate family" means a spouse,
  5 17 child, stepchild, brother, brother=in=law, stepbrother, sister,
  5 18 sister=in=law, stepsister, parent, parent=in=law, or stepparent
  5 19 of an employee of the seizing public agency who resides in the
  5 20 same household in the same principal residence of the employee
  5 21 of the seizing public agency.
  5 22    NEW SUBSECTION.  7.  For purposes of this section,
  5 23 "convicted" means the same as in section 481A.13A, subsection 3.
       HF 2342 (3) 87
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