Bill Text: IA HF349 | 2023-2024 | 90th General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to probation, including discharge credits, educational credits, and workforce credits, and including effective date provisions. (Formerly HSB 55.)

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2024-02-28 - Fiscal note. [HF349 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2023-HF349-Amended.html

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House File 349 - Reprinted
HOUSE FILE 349
BY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 55)
(As Amended and Passed by the House March 21, 2023 )
A BILL FOR
An Act relating to probation, including discharge credits,
educational credits, and workforce credits, and including
effective date provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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Section 1. Section 907.1, Code 2023, is amended by adding
the following new subsections:
NEW SUBSECTION . 01. “Adult criminal problem-solving court”
means a court program under direct supervision of a judge
established to treat drug or alcohol addiction or mental
illness of adults charged with criminal offenses.
NEW SUBSECTION . 2A. “Discharge credit” means a fourteen-day
reduction from a defendant’s term of probation for each full
calendar month the defendant is in compliance with the terms
of the defendant’s probation.
NEW SUBSECTION . 2B. “Educational credit” means a ninety-day
reduction from a defendant’s term of probation when a
defendant earns a high school diploma, high school equivalency
certificate, or academic degree or completes a certified
vocational, technical, or career education or training program.
NEW SUBSECTION . 6. “Special probation program” means a
program under the supervision of a district court or a judicial
district department of correctional services established to
treat drug or alcohol addiction, mental illness, or domestic
or sexual abuse of the parties involved in a criminal case,
or to improve outcomes for persons involved in the program
including an intermediate criminal sanctions program under
section 901B.1.
NEW SUBSECTION . 7. “Workforce credit” means a thirty-day
reduction from a defendant’s term of probation for each
six-month period in which a defendant maintains verifiable
employment.
Sec. 2. Section 907.9, Code 2023, is amended by adding the
following new subsections:
NEW SUBSECTION . 6. a. On or after July 1, 2024, a
defendant on probation shall earn a discharge credit from the
defendant’s term of probation for each full calendar month in
which the defendant is in compliance with the terms of the
defendant’s probation.
b. A defendant shall not earn a discharge credit for a
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H.F. 349
calendar month in which a violation has occurred, the defendant
has absconded from probation, or the defendant is incarcerated,
except that a defendant shall be retroactively awarded a
discharge credit for a calendar month in which a violation
allegedly occurred if the violation is not sustained by the
court.
c. A defendant shall not earn a discharge credit for a
partial calendar month or the last full calendar month of
probation.
NEW SUBSECTION . 7. On or after July 1, 2024, a defendant on
probation shall earn an educational credit from the defendant’s
term of probation when a defendant earns a high school diploma,
high school equivalency certificate, or academic degree
or completes a certified vocational, technical, or career
education or training program.
NEW SUBSECTION . 8. On or after July 1, 2024, a
defendant on probation shall earn a workforce credit from
the defendant’s term of probation for each six-month period
in which a defendant maintains verifiable employment for at
least an average of thirty hours per week. The defendant’s
probation officer may verify such employment through
supporting documentation, which may include but is not
limited to any record, letter, pay stub, contract, or other
department-approved methods of verification.
NEW SUBSECTION . 9. Beginning July 1, 2024, at least
two times per year, the defendant’s probation officer shall
provide the defendant with an accounting of the defendant’s
discharge credits, educational credits, and workforce credits,
if applicable, that have accrued under subsections 6, 7, and
8. The department of corrections shall, without leave of
court, award any accrued credits under subsections 6, 7, and
8 toward the completion of the defendant’s probation except
that the maximum reduction of the defendant’s probation term
earned through the application of the credits shall not exceed
forty percent of the probation period imposed and the defendant
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H.F. 349
shall not be discharged from probation until the defendant's
probation officer determines that fees imposed under section
905.14 and court debt collected pursuant to section 602.8107
have been paid or are subject to a payment plan. The
department of corrections shall adopt rules to implement the
provisions of this subsection.
NEW SUBSECTION . 10. Subsections 6, 7, 8, and 9 shall not
apply to proceedings in adult criminal problem-solving courts
and special probation programs unless the problem-solving court
or special probation program adopts some or all of subsections
6, 7, 8, and 9.
NEW SUBSECTION . 11. Beginning July 1, 2024, the department
of corrections shall collect information and report annually
in a public report made available no later than December 1
of each year the number of defendants on probation who have
earned discharge credits, educational credits, and workforce
credits pursuant to subsections 6, 7, and 8 during that year,
the average amount of credits earned per defendant during that
year, the total number of supervision days reduced due to
the awarding of credits during that year, and the number of
defendants terminated from probation early that year.
Sec. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect July 1, 2024.
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