Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Fiscal Note
                                       Fiscal Services Division
SF 2263 – Prisons, Sleeping Quarters and Bathroom Use (LSB5651SV)
Staff Contact: Molly Kilker (515.725.1286) molly.kilker@legis.iowa.gov
Fiscal Note Version – New
Description
Senate File 2263 relates to the privacy and safety of inmates in a correctional facility and does
the following:
• Requires every restroom, changing room, and sleeping quarter within a correctional facility
    that is designated for the use of incarcerated individuals to be used or entered only by
    members of one sex.
• Defines “sex” as an individual’s biological sex, either male or female, as observed or
    clinically verified at birth.
• Requires correctional facilities to ensure all restrooms, changing rooms, and sleeping
    quarters provide users with privacy from members of the opposite sex.
• Provides exceptions for an incarcerated individual entering a restroom, changing room, or
    sleeping quarter designated for the opposite sex for custodial or maintenance purposes, to
    provide medical assistance, during an emergency or natural disaster, at the direction of the
    correctional facility (which must not include overnight housing), or to prevent a serious threat
    to good order or safety.
• Establishes a private cause of action for declaratory and injunctive relief against the
    correctional facility under specific circumstances.
• Requires that all civil actions brought pursuant to the Bill be initiated within two years after
    the violation occurred.
Senate File 2263 takes effect upon enactment.
Background
Under current practice, the Iowa Department of Corrections (DOC) provides restroom, changing
room, and sleeping quarter arrangements as determined by an incarcerated individual’s genital
sex at the time of intake. This may include both biological genitalia at birth and genitalia
following a sexual reassignment surgery.
Under Standard 115.42(c) of the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA), when deciding
whether to assign a transgender or intersex inmate to a facility for male or female inmates, and
in making other housing and programming assignments, an agency must consider on a case-
by-case basis whether a placement would ensure the inmate’s health and safety and whether
the placement would present management or security problems.
There are three Department of Justice (DOJ) federal grant programs (or portions thereof) that
are subject to a 5.0% penalty for noncompliance with PREA standards. These include the
following:
• The Bureau of Justice Assistance’s Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG)
     Formula Program.
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•   The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention’s Juvenile Justice and
    Delinquency Prevention (JJDP) Act Formula Grant Program.
•   The Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors Violence Against Women Act (STOP
    VAWA) Formula Grant Program.
As of February 29, 2024, the DOC is not actively housing any incarcerated individuals who are
of one biological sex at a facility of another biological sex.
Assumptions
• A reduction in federal funds may apply to all DOJ funding that the State could use for prison
   purposes.
• According to the DOC, SF 2263 may conflict with the requirements of PREA.
• In FY 2023, the award amounts for the JAG, JJDP, and STOP VAWA federal grant
   programs were as follows:
   • The Department of Public Safety (DPS) received $2.2 million from the JAG program. A
      5.0% penalty for noncompliance would total $109,000.
   • The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) received $602,000 from the JJDP
      program. A 5.0% penalty for noncompliance would total $30,000.
   • The Office of the Attorney General received $1.9 million from the STOP VAWA program.
      A 5.0% penalty for noncompliance would total $95,000.
• The DOC identified a federal rent program as potentially subject to a penalty of
   noncompliance as well. The FY 2023 award amount to the DOC was $5.0 million. A 5.0%
   penalty for noncompliance would total $250,000.
• There may be other unidentified federal funds that could be subject to a penalty of
   noncompliance under PREA under the Bill.
Fiscal Impact
Senate File 2263 may result in a reduction in federal funding if the State is found to be
noncompliant, but the extent or timing of the impact is unknown. The DOC, DPS, HHS, and
Office of the Attorney General have identified approximately $485,000 in federal grant moneys
that may be subject to a penalty of noncompliance with PREA standards.
Sources
Department of Corrections
Office of the Attorney General
Department of Public Safety
Department of Health and Human Services
Legislative Services Agency
                                                                               /s/ Jennifer Acton
                                                                                 March 1, 2024
Doc ID 1446669
The fiscal note for this Bill was prepared pursuant to Joint Rule 17 and the Iowa Code. Data used in developing this
fiscal note is available from the Fiscal Services Division of the Legislative Services Agency upon request.
                                                 www.legis.iowa.gov
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