House Study Bill 141 - Introduced SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED JUDICIAL BRANCH BILL) A BILL FOR An Act concerning judicial branch administration, including 1 mental health advocates, access to and confidentiality of 2 certain department of revenue taxpayer information for jury 3 list compilation, contracting authority, apportionment 4 of district associate judges, remote testimony and video 5 recordings, and access to criminal history records. 6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 7 TLSB 1212XD (6) 90 cm/ns

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ DIVISION I 1 PATIENT ADVOCATES 2 Section 1. Section 229.19, subsection 1, paragraph d, 3 subparagraph (7), Code 2023, is amended to read as follows: 4 (7) To utilize the related best practices for the duties 5 identified in this paragraph “d” developed and promulgated by 6 the judicial council . 7 DIVISION II 8 JURORS —— TAX INFORMATION 9 Sec. 2. Section 422.20, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code 10 2023, is amended to read as follows: 11 a. Unless otherwise expressly permitted by section 8A.504 , 12 section 8G.4 , section 11.41 , section 96.11, subsection 6 , 13 section 421.17, subsections 22, 23, and 26 , section 421.17, 14 subsection 27 , paragraph “k” , section 421.17, subsection 31 , 15 section 252B.9 , section 321.40, subsection 6 , sections 321.120 , 16 421.19 , 421.28 , 421.59 , 422.72 , and 452A.63 , and 607A.22, this 17 section , or another provision of law, a tax return, return 18 information, or investigative or audit information shall not 19 be divulged to any person or entity, other than the taxpayer, 20 the department, or internal revenue service for use in a matter 21 unrelated to tax administration. 22 Sec. 3. Section 422.72, subsection 1, paragraph c, Code 23 2023, is amended to read as follows: 24 c. (1) The Except as explicitly provided in this section, 25 the department shall not authorize the examination of tax 26 information by officers and employees of this state, another 27 state, or of the United States if the officers or employees 28 would otherwise be required to obtain a judicial order to 29 examine the information if it were to be obtained from another 30 source, and if the purpose of the examination is other than for 31 tax administration. However, the 32 (2) The director may provide sample individual income 33 tax information to be used for statistical purposes to the 34 legislative services agency. The information shall not 35 -1- LSB 1212XD (6) 90 cm/ns 1/ 10

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ include the name or mailing address of the taxpayer or the 1 taxpayer’s social security number. Any information contained 2 in an individual income tax return which is provided by the 3 director shall only be used as a part of a database which 4 contains similar information from a number of returns. The 5 legislative services agency shall not have access to the income 6 tax returns of individuals. Each request for individual income 7 tax information shall contain a statement by the director of 8 the legislative services agency that the individual income tax 9 information received by the legislative services agency shall 10 be used solely for statistical purposes. 11 (3) The director may provide tax information to the state 12 court administrator to be used to prepare grand and petit 13 master jury lists. Tax information provided shall be limited 14 to the name, date of birth, last four digits of the social 15 security number, and address of the taxpayer and spouse. 16 The information provided shall not include the financial 17 information of the taxpayer. Each request for tax information 18 shall contain a statement by the state court administrator that 19 the tax information received by the judicial branch shall be 20 used solely to prepare grand and petit master jury lists. 21 (4) This subsection does not prevent the department 22 from authorizing the examination of state returns and state 23 information under the provisions of section 252B.9 or 607A.22 . 24 (5) This subsection prevails over any general law of this 25 state relating to public records. 26 Sec. 4. Section 422.72, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code 27 2023, is amended to read as follows: 28 a. Unless otherwise expressly permitted by section 8A.504 , 29 section 8G.4 , section 11.41 , section 96.11, subsection 6 , 30 section 421.17, subsections 22, 23, and 26 , section 421.17, 31 subsection 27 , paragraph “k” , section 421.17, subsection 31 , 32 section 252B.9 , section 321.40, subsection 6 , sections 321.120 , 33 421.19 , 421.28 , 422.20 , and 452A.63 , and 607A.22, this section , 34 or another provision of law, a tax return, return information, 35 -2- LSB 1212XD (6) 90 cm/ns 2/ 10

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ or investigative or audit information shall not be divulged to 1 any person or entity, other than the taxpayer, the department, 2 or internal revenue service for use in a matter unrelated to 3 tax administration. 4 Sec. 5. Section 607A.22, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 5 following new subsection: 6 NEW SUBSECTION . 1A. The state court administrator may use 7 taxpayer information provided by the department of revenue as 8 permitted by section 422.72, subsection 1, paragraph “c” , when 9 preparing grand and petit master jury lists. 10 Sec. 6. NEW SECTION . 607A.48 Public access to juror 11 information. 12 Public access to juror and prospective juror information 13 shall be limited. Information on the year of birth and address 14 information identifying the city and zip code of prospective 15 jurors shall be available to the public. However, more 16 specific address information, phone numbers, and the date and 17 month of birth of prospective jurors are confidential and not 18 subject to disclosure without an order of the court. 19 DIVISION III 20 CONTRACTING AUTHORITY 21 Sec. 7. NEW SECTION . 602.1209A State court administrator 22 may contractually limit vendor liability. 23 1. The state court administrator may authorize the 24 procurement of goods and services in which a contractual 25 limitation of vendor liability is provided for and set forth in 26 the documents initiating the procurement. 27 2. a. The state court administrator shall consider all of 28 the following criteria when determining whether to permit a 29 contractual limitation of vendor liability with regard to any 30 procurement of goods or services: 31 (1) Whether authorizing a contractual limitation of vendor 32 liability is necessary to prevent harm to the state from 33 a failure to obtain the goods or services sought, or from 34 obtaining the goods or services at a higher price if the state 35 -3- LSB 1212XD (6) 90 cm/ns 3/ 10

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ refuses to allow a contractual limitation of vendor liability. 1 (2) Whether the contractual limitation of vendor liability 2 is commercially reasonable when taking into account any risk to 3 the state created by the goods or services to be procured and 4 the purpose for which they will be used. 5 b. The state court administrator may consider additional 6 criteria. 7 3. Notwithstanding subsection 1, a contractual limitation 8 of vendor liability shall not include any limitation on the 9 liability of any vendor for intentional torts, criminal acts, 10 or fraudulent conduct. 11 DIVISION IV 12 APPORTIONMENT OF DISTRICT ASSOCIATE JUDGES 13 Sec. 8. Section 602.6301, Code 2023, is amended to read as 14 follows: 15 602.6301 Number and apportionment of district associate 16 judges. 17 1. There shall be one district associate judge in counties 18 having a population of more than thirty-five thousand and less 19 than eighty thousand; two in counties having a population of 20 eighty thousand or more and less than one hundred twenty-five 21 thousand; three in counties having a population of one 22 hundred twenty-five thousand or more and less than one hundred 23 seventy thousand; four in counties having a population of one 24 hundred seventy thousand or more and less than two hundred 25 fifteen thousand; five in counties having a population of two 26 hundred fifteen thousand or more and less than two hundred 27 sixty thousand; six in counties having a population of two 28 hundred sixty thousand or more and less than three hundred 29 five thousand; seven in counties having a population of three 30 hundred five thousand or more and less than three hundred 31 fifty thousand; eight in counties having a population of three 32 hundred fifty thousand or more and less than three hundred 33 ninety-five thousand; nine in counties having a population of 34 three hundred ninety-five thousand or more and less than four 35 -4- LSB 1212XD (6) 90 cm/ns 4/ 10

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ hundred forty thousand; ten in counties having a population of 1 four hundred forty thousand or more and less than four hundred 2 eighty-five thousand; and one additional judge for every 3 population increment of thirty-five thousand which is over 4 four hundred eighty-five thousand in such counties. However, 5 a county shall not lose a district associate judgeship solely 6 because of a reduction in the county’s population. If the 7 formula provided in this section results in the allocation 8 of an additional district associate judgeship to a county, 9 implementation of the allocation shall be subject to prior 10 approval of the supreme court and availability of funds to the 11 judicial branch. The supreme court shall prescribe, subject 12 to the restrictions of this section, a formula to determine 13 the number of district associate judges who will serve in each 14 judicial election district. The formula shall be based upon 15 a model that measures and applies an estimated case-related 16 workload formula of judicial officers, and shall account for 17 administrative duties, travel time, and other judicial duties 18 not related to a specific case. A district associate judge 19 appointed pursuant to section 602.6302 or 602.6307 shall not 20 be counted for purposes of this section and the reduction of 21 a district associate judge pursuant to section 602.6303 also 22 shall not be counted for purposes of this section . 23 2. For purposes of this section, “vacancy” means the death, 24 resignation, retirement, or removal of a district associate 25 judge, or the failure of a district associate judge to be 26 retained in office at the judicial election, or an increase in 27 judgeships under the formula prescribed in subsection 1. 28 3. In those judicial election districts having more 29 district associate judges than the number of judgeships 30 specified by the formula prescribed in subsection 1, vacancies 31 shall not be filled. 32 4. In those judicial election districts having fewer or 33 the same number of district associate judges as the number of 34 judgeships specified by the formula prescribed in subsection 1, 35 -5- LSB 1212XD (6) 90 cm/ns 5/ 10

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ vacancies shall be filled as the vacancies occur. 1 5. In those judicial districts that contain more than one 2 judicial election district, a vacancy in a judicial election 3 district shall not be filled if the total number of district 4 associate judges in all judicial election districts within 5 the judicial district equals or exceeds the aggregate number 6 of judgeships to which all of the judicial election districts 7 of the judicial district are authorized by the formula in 8 subsection 1. 9 6. An incumbent district associate judge shall not be 10 removed from office because of a reduction in the number of 11 authorized judgeships specified by the formula prescribed in 12 subsection 1. 13 DIVISION V 14 REMOTE TESTIMONY AND VIDEO RECORDINGS 15 Sec. 9. Section 602.3205, Code 2023, is amended to read as 16 follows: 17 602.3205 Audio and video recordings. 18 1. Except as provided in subsection 2 or 3 , a certified 19 shorthand reporter’s audio and video recordings used solely 20 for the purpose of providing a verbatim written transcript of 21 a court proceeding or a proceeding conducted in anticipation 22 of use in a court proceeding shall be considered the personal 23 property and private work product of the certified shorthand 24 reporter. 25 2. An audio or video recording of a certified shorthand 26 reporter appointed under section 602.6603 shall be provided to 27 the presiding judge or chief judge for an in camera review upon 28 court order for good cause shown. 29 3. a. An audio or video recording of a certified shorthand 30 reporter shall be provided to the board upon request by the 31 board if a disciplinary proceeding is pending regarding the 32 certified shorthand reporter who is a respondent under the 33 provisions of section 602.3203 or the rules of the board of 34 examiners of shorthand reporters, Iowa court rules, ch. 46 . 35 -6- LSB 1212XD (6) 90 cm/ns 6/ 10

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ b. The audio and video recordings provided to the board 1 pursuant to this subsection shall be kept confidential by the 2 board in a manner as provided in section 272C.6, subsection 4 . 3 Sec. 10. Section 624.1, subsection 1, Code 2023, is amended 4 to read as follows: 5 1. All issues of fact in ordinary actions shall be tried 6 upon oral evidence taken in open court, except that depositions 7 may be used as provided by law. “Open court” includes remote 8 testimony of a witness by telephone, videoconference, or other 9 remote means of communication approved by the court. 10 DIVISION VI 11 ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS 12 Sec. 11. Section 692.2, subsection 5, Code 2023, is amended 13 to read as follows: 14 5. A person other than the department of public safety 15 shall not disseminate criminal history data maintained by the 16 department to persons who are not criminal or juvenile justice 17 agencies , except as set forth in section 692.3 . 18 Sec. 12. Section 692.3, subsection 3, Code 2023, is amended 19 to read as follows: 20 3. The information described in this section subsections 21 1 and 2 may be redisseminated through any written, audio, or 22 visual means utilized by a criminal or juvenile justice agency. 23 Sec. 13. Section 692.3, Code 2023, is amended by adding the 24 following new subsections: 25 NEW SUBSECTION . 4. A person may disseminate criminal 26 history data of an accused to the attorney of the accused and 27 to self-represented litigants in a pending criminal matter 28 in district or juvenile court, if the criminal history data 29 is already part of the prosecution’s file and subject to a 30 discovery obligation. 31 NEW SUBSECTION . 5. Upon order of the court, a person may 32 disseminate criminal history data of an accused that is not 33 already part of the prosecution’s file, or criminal history 34 data of a witness, to the attorney of the accused, prosecutors, 35 -7- LSB 1212XD (6) 90 cm/ns 7/ 10

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ and to self-represented litigants in a pending criminal matter 1 in district or juvenile court. 2 EXPLANATION 3 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 4 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 5 This bill relates to judicial branch administration. 6 PATIENT ADVOCATES. The bill removes the requirement that 7 the judicial council develop and promulgate best practices for 8 court-assigned advocates of persons with mental illness. Under 9 the bill, such advocates may use any best practices for their 10 duties. 11 JURORS —— TAX INFORMATION. The bill authorizes the director 12 of the department of revenue to provide certain tax information 13 to the state court administrator to be used to prepare grand 14 and petit master jury lists. Tax information provided includes 15 the name, date of birth, last four digits of the social 16 security number, and address of the taxpayer and spouse. The 17 bill prohibits the information provided from including the 18 financial information of the taxpayer. 19 The bill provides that prospective juror year of birth 20 and city and zip code address information is available to 21 the public but that more specific address information, phone 22 numbers, and date and month of birth are confidential and are 23 not subject to disclosure without an order of the court. 24 CONTRACTING AUTHORITY. The bill allows the state court 25 administrator to enter into contracts with vendors that include 26 limitations of liability for the vendors, after considering 27 certain criteria set forth in the bill. However, the bill 28 prohibits limitations of liability for any intentional torts, 29 criminal acts, or fraudulent conduct by the vendor. 30 APPORTIONMENT OF DISTRICT ASSOCIATE JUDGES. The bill 31 provides for a new formula to be prescribed by the Iowa supreme 32 court for apportioning district associate judges based upon 33 a weighted workload. Under current law, district associate 34 judges are apportioned based upon county population. 35 -8- LSB 1212XD (6) 90 cm/ns 8/ 10

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ The bill provides that in judicial election districts 1 that currently have more district associate judges than the 2 new formula prescribes, vacancies shall not be filled, while 3 districts having fewer or the same shall fill vacancies as 4 they occur. In judicial districts that contain more than one 5 judicial election district, a vacancy in a judicial election 6 district shall not be filled if the total number of district 7 associate judges in all judicial election districts within 8 the judicial district equals or exceeds the aggregate number 9 of judgeships to which all of the judicial election districts 10 of the judicial district are authorized. Incumbents shall 11 not be removed because of a reduction in number of authorized 12 judgeships. 13 REMOTE TESTIMONY AND VIDEO RECORDINGS. The bill adds video 14 recordings to Code section 602.3205 (certified shorthand 15 reporter audio recordings). The bill provides that a certified 16 shorthand reporter’s audio and video recordings used solely 17 for the purpose of providing a verbatim written transcript of 18 a court proceeding or a proceeding conducted in anticipation 19 of use in a court proceeding shall be considered the personal 20 property and private work product of the certified shorthand 21 reporter, except that an audio or video recording of a 22 certified shorthand reporter shall be provided to the presiding 23 judge or chief judge for an in camera review upon court order 24 for good cause shown and an audio or video recording of a 25 certified shorthand reporter shall be provided to the board of 26 examiners of shorthand reporters upon request by the board if 27 a disciplinary proceeding is pending regarding the certified 28 shorthand reporter. 29 For purposes of oral evidence in court trials, the bill 30 defines the term “open court” to include remote testimony of a 31 witness by telephone, videoconference, or other remote means 32 approved by the court. 33 Under current law, all testimony needs to be taken in open 34 court, except for depositions. In the supreme court of Iowa’s 35 -9- LSB 1212XD (6) 90 cm/ns 9/ 10

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ decision in In re Estate of Rutter, 633 N.W.2d 740 (Iowa 2001), 1 the court held the phrase “in open court” meant physical 2 presence in the courtroom itself, and ruled that allowing 3 telephonic testimony over objection violated the statute. 4 ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORDS. The bill allows 5 criminal history data of an accused person to be disseminated 6 to the attorney of the accused and self-represented litigants 7 without a court order, if the criminal history data is already 8 a part of the prosecution’s file and is subject to a discovery 9 obligation. The bill also allows criminal history data of an 10 accused person, or of a witness, to be disseminated to the 11 attorney of the accused, prosecutors, and self-represented 12 litigants upon court order. 13 -10- LSB 1212XD (6) 90 cm/ns 10/ 10