Capitol Letters: Safe neighborhoods a top priority for Iowans

State Rep. Megan Jones

Safe neighborhoods are a top priority for Iowans. The requirement that hardworking families can raise their kids without fear, safely go to work, and build strong communities rooted in time-honored American values is not negotiable.

This year the House Public Safety and Judiciary Committees will be working on three unique bills to ensure Iowa does not go the way of Illinois, Minneapolis or California. These common sense crime bills will tackle the issue from three different angles, helping ensure Iowa is a welcome place for law abiding Iowans and not for criminals.

The first bill, which is awaiting a bill number in the Judiciary Committee, is the Career Criminals bill. This legislation creates a three strikes and you’re out system for habitual offenders. These individuals will be facing a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison without parole once they have three strikes on their record.

• 1 Full Strike: Any conviction for felonies and specific aggravated misdemeanors, including sex offenses, assaults, certain thefts and drug possession
• 0.5 Strike: All other aggravated misdemeanors and some serious misdemeanors including those involving assaults, drug possession and theft.

The second bill, which will run through the Public Safety Committee, is a pretrial accountability and bail reform act. The goal of this bill is to ensure those who are arrested and charged with a crime cannot simply skip out on bail or be released on their own recognizance in instances where they are unlikely to return to face judgement. The bill addresses four areas of bail reform:

• Inflation-Adjusted Bail Schedules: Require an update to the statewide bail schedules to adjust for inflation.
• Justification for Deviation: Any judge who departs from the Supreme Court’s established bail schedule must document their specific reasoning on the record.
• Restricting 'Promise to Appear' (PTA): PTA release will only be allowed if an individual has been charged with a nonviolent, nondrug-related simple or serious misdemeanor.
• Fact-Checking Pretrial Release: Requires the Department of Corrections to independently verify claims regarding residency, employment, and criminal record before release can be considered.

Law and order can’t exist without a reliable Judiciary. House Study Bill 631 aims to help the public to better understand the Judicial system and specifically judges. The bill creates a dashboard to provide Iowans with objective data on how judges exercise their discretion. It requires the state to collect and publish information including:

• Bond & Sentencing Decisions: How often a judge departs from standard bail schedules or statutory sentencing recommendations.
• Legal Accuracy: The frequency with which a judge’s decisions are overturned by higher courts for legal errors.
• Efficiency: How quickly a judge rules on motions and cases.

This information will help Iowans make educated decisions when it comes time to vote on judicial retention. Helping the general public understand the role and responsibility of judges is one more way to increase confidence in the Judiciary and increase safety in our state.

These three bills will be debated in subcommittees and committees in the coming weeks. We are looking forward to hearing from those in the community and in law enforcement to ensure these bills truly make Iowa a better place.

A Storm Lake Legislative Forum will be held Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Sunrise Pointe Golf Course Clubhouse from 10-11 a.m. Contact Jones by email: megan.jones@legis.iowa.gov