Bill Text: IA HSB524 | 2019-2020 | 88th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to eluding or attempting to elude a pursuing law enforcement vehicle and providing penalties.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-06 - Committee report, recommending amendment and passage. H.J. 210. [HSB524 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2019-HSB524-Introduced.html
House Study Bill 524 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY BILL BY CHAIRPERSON HOLT) A BILL FOR An Act relating to eluding or attempting to elude a pursuing 1 law enforcement vehicle and providing penalties. 2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 3 TLSB 5317YC (2) 88 hf/rh
H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 321.279, Code 2020, is amended to read 1 as follows: 2 321.279 Eluding or attempting to elude pursuing law 3 enforcement vehicle. 4 1. a. The driver of a motor vehicle commits a serious 5 misdemeanor if the driver willfully fails to bring the motor 6 vehicle to a stop or otherwise eludes or attempts to elude a 7 marked official law enforcement vehicle driven by a uniformed 8 peace officer after being given a visual and audible signal 9 to stop. The signal given by the peace officer shall be by 10 flashing red light, or by flashing red and blue lights, and 11 siren. For purposes of this section , “peace officer” means 12 those officers designated under section 801.4, subsection 11 , 13 paragraphs “a” , “b” , “c” , “f” , “g” , and “h” . 14 b. The driver of a motor vehicle who commits a second or 15 subsequent violation under this subsection is, upon conviction, 16 guilty of an aggravated misdemeanor. 17 2. a. The driver of a motor vehicle commits an aggravated 18 misdemeanor if the driver willfully fails to bring the motor 19 vehicle to a stop or otherwise eludes or attempts to elude a 20 marked official law enforcement vehicle that is driven by a 21 uniformed peace officer after being given a visual and audible 22 signal as provided in this section and in doing so exceeds the 23 speed limit by twenty-five miles per hour or more. 24 b. The driver of a motor vehicle who commits a violation 25 under this section and who has previously committed a violation 26 under this section or subsection 3 is, upon conviction, guilty 27 of a class “D” felony. 28 3. a. The driver of a motor vehicle commits a class “D” 29 felony if the driver willfully fails to bring the motor vehicle 30 to a stop or otherwise eludes or attempts to elude a marked 31 official law enforcement vehicle that is driven by a uniformed 32 peace officer after being given a visual and audible signal as 33 provided in this section , and in doing so exceeds the speed 34 limit by twenty-five miles per hour or more, and if any of the 35 -1- LSB 5317YC (2) 88 hf/rh 1/ 3
H.F. _____ following occurs: 1 a. (1) The driver is participating in a public offense, as 2 defined in section 702.13 , that is a felony. 3 b. (2) The driver is in violation of section 321J.2 or 4 124.401 . 5 (3) The driver is in violation of section 124.401. 6 c. (4) The offense results in bodily injury to a person 7 other than the driver. 8 b. The driver of a motor vehicle who commits a second or 9 subsequent violation under this subsection is, upon conviction, 10 guilty of a class “C” felony. 11 Sec. 2. Section 907.3, subsection 2, paragraph a, 12 subparagraph (2), Code 2020, is amended by adding the following 13 new subparagraph division: 14 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH DIVISION . (f) The offense is a violation 15 of section 321.279, subsection 3, paragraph “a” , subparagraph 16 (2). 17 EXPLANATION 18 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 19 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 20 This bill relates to the criminal offense of eluding or 21 attempting to elude a pursuing law enforcement vehicle. 22 Under current law, a driver of a motor vehicle who commits 23 a violation of Code section 321.279(1) by willfully failing 24 to bring a motor vehicle to a stop or otherwise eluding or 25 attempting to elude a marked official law enforcement vehicle, 26 is, upon conviction, guilty of a serious misdemeanor. A driver 27 of a motor vehicle who commits a violation of Code section 28 321.279(2) by willfully failing to bring a motor vehicle to 29 a stop or otherwise eluding or attempting to elude a marked 30 official law enforcement vehicle and in doing so exceeds the 31 speed limit by 25 miles per hour or more, is, upon conviction, 32 guilty of an aggravated misdemeanor. A driver of a motor 33 vehicle who commits a violation of Code section 321.279(3) is, 34 upon conviction, guilty of a class “D” felony. A driver of a 35 -2- LSB 5317YC (2) 88 hf/rh 2/ 3
H.F. _____ motor vehicle violates Code section 321.279(3) by willfully 1 failing to bring a motor vehicle to a stop or otherwise eluding 2 or attempting to elude a marked official law enforcement 3 vehicle and in doing so exceeds the speed limit by 25 miles 4 per hour or more, and any of the following occur: the driver 5 participates in a public offense, as defined in Code section 6 702.13, that is a felony; the driver violates Code section 7 321J.2 (operating while under the influence) or Code section 8 124.401 (controlled substance violations); or the offense 9 results in bodily injury to a person other than the driver. 10 The bill provides enhanced penalties for all violations of 11 Code section 321.279. Under the bill, a driver of a motor 12 vehicle who commits a second or subsequent violation of Code 13 section 321.279(1) is, upon conviction, guilty of an aggravated 14 misdemeanor. A driver of a motor vehicle who commits a 15 violation of Code section 321.279(2) who has previously 16 committed a violation of Code section 321.279(2) or (3) is, 17 upon conviction, guilty of a class “D” felony. A driver of a 18 motor vehicle who commits a second or subsequent violation of 19 Code section 321.279(3) is, upon conviction, guilty of a class 20 “C” felony. 21 The bill prohibits the court from ordering a deferred 22 sentence for the driver of a motor vehicle convicted of eluding 23 or attempting to elude a pursuing law enforcement vehicle while 24 exceeding the speed limit by 25 miles per hour or more while in 25 violation of Code section 321J.2. 26 -3- LSB 5317YC (2) 88 hf/rh 3/ 3
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