Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

House Study Bill 607 - Introduced
                                  HOUSE FILE _____
                                  BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON
                                      PUBLIC SAFETY BILL BY
                                      CHAIRPERSON KLEIN)
                            A BILL FOR
An Act relating to probation including the length of probation,
  discharge from probation, payment of fines and fees, and
  probation violations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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    Section 1. Section 907.1, Code 2022, 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 or high school
 equivalency certificate 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. “Technical violation” means a violation
 by the defendant of the terms and conditions of probation other
 than a conviction of the defendant for a new crime.
    Sec. 2. Section 907.7, subsection 2, Code 2022, is amended
 by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 3. Section 907.9, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2022, are
 amended to read as follows:
    1. At any time that the court determines that the purposes
 of probation have been fulfilled and 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 court may
 order the discharge of a person defendant from probation.
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    2. a. At any time that a probation officer determines
 that the purposes of probation have been fulfilled and 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 officer may order the discharge of a person defendant
 from probation after approval of the district director and
 notification of the sentencing court and the county attorney
 who prosecuted the case.
    b. Notwithstanding any earned discharge credit accrued under
 subsection 6 or any educational credit accrued under subsection
 7, a defendant’s probation officer shall complete a probation
 status report no later than halfway through the defendant’s
 probation term and provide a copy of the probation status
 report to the defendant containing one of the following:
    (1) An order that the defendant be discharged from probation
 early under paragraph “a” after approval of the district
 director and notification of the sentencing court and the
 county attorney who prosecuted the case.
    (2) A recommendation that the defendant’s probation be
 continued with reduced terms and conditions along with a
 description of the defendant’s progress on probation and the
 conditions that must still be completed before the defendant
 may be discharged from probation.
    (3) A recommendation that the defendant’s probation be
 continued as previously ordered along with a description of the
 defendant’s progress on probation and the conditions that must
 still be completed before the defendant may be discharged from
 probation.
    c. (1) If the defendant’s probation status report
 recommends the defendant continue probation with reduced terms
 and conditions under paragraph “b”, subparagraph (2), or that
 the defendant’s probation continue as previously ordered under
 paragraph “b”, subparagraph (3), the probation officer shall
 include a description of why continued probation is necessary
 and beneficial and shall also include any discharge credits and
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 educational credits the defendant has accrued.
    (2) If the probation status report does not recommend
 early termination of the defendant’s probation, the defendant
 may request further administrative review on the issue
 of early termination of the defendant’s probation by the
 probation officer’s supervisor. The requested review shall
 be held no later than fourteen days from the date of the
 defendant’s request. During the review, the probation
 officer’s supervisor shall review the probation status report;
 the defendant’s progress and conduct on probation including
 whether the defendant has attended court-ordered mandatory
 counseling or treatment and whether the defendant is subject
 to a payment plan and has been found to afford payments
 but is purposely avoiding making payments; the underlying
 offense and its relationship to the conditions of probation
 imposed on the defendant; the defendant’s criminal record;
 and any mitigating factors to determine whether to reduce the
 terms and conditions of the defendant’s probation, continue
 the defendant’s probation, or discharge the defendant from
 probation. Following this review, the supervisor shall issue
 an addendum to the original probation status report and provide
 a copy of the addendum and original probation status report
 to the defendant, including either a new recommendation or
 order regarding the matter of early termination as outlined
 under paragraph “b” or noting a continuation of the original
 recommendation. The addendum shall include the supervisor’s
 rationale for the change in recommendation or continuation of
 the original recommendation.
    d. Nothing in this subsection shall preclude a probation
 officer or the court from terminating the defendant’s probation
 early at any time under subsection 1 or this subsection or
 under any other applicable provision.
    e. Paragraphs “b” and “c” shall not apply to proceedings
 in adult criminal problem-solving courts and special probation
 programs.
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    Sec. 4. Section 907.9, subsection 4, paragraphs a and b,
 Code 2022, are amended to read as follows:
    a. At the expiration of the period of probation, if the 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 court shall order the discharge of the person from
 probation. If portions of the court debt remain unpaid, the
 person shall establish a payment plan with the clerk of the
 district court or the county attorney prior to the discharge.
 The payment plan shall be based upon the defendant’s ability to
 pay. The court shall forward to the governor a recommendation
 for or against restoration of citizenship rights to that
 person upon discharge. If the court’s recommendation to the
 governor is not in favor of the restoration of the defendant’s
 citizenship rights, the court shall provide a written
 explanation of its recommendation to the defendant and give
 notice to the defendant of the defendant’s right to appear at a
 hearing. A person who has been discharged from probation shall
 no longer be held to answer for the person’s offense.
    b. Upon discharge from probation, if judgment has been
 deferred under section 907.3, the court’s criminal record with
 reference to the deferred judgment, any counts dismissed by the
 court, which were contained in the indictment, information,
 or complaint that resulted in the deferred judgment, and
 any other related charges that were not contained in the
 indictment, information, or complaint but were dismissed, shall
 be expunged. However, the court’s record shall not be expunged
 until the person has paid, or is subject to a payment plan,
 for the restitution, civil penalties, court costs, fees, or
 other financial obligations ordered by the court or assessed
 by the clerk of the district court in the case that includes
 the deferred judgment. The expunged record is a confidential
 record exempt from public access under section 22.7 but shall
 be made available by the clerk of the district court, upon
 request and without court order, to an agency or person granted
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 access to the deferred judgment docket under section 907.4,
 subsection 2. The court’s record shall not be expunged in any
 other circumstances unless authorized by law.
    Sec. 5. Section 907.9, Code 2022, is amended by adding the
 following new subsections:
    NEW SUBSECTION. 6. a. A defendant on probation shall
 be eligible to 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
 calendar month in which a violation has occurred, the defendant
 has absconded from probation, or the defendant is incarcerated.
    c. A defendant shall not earn a discharge credit for a
 partial calendar month or the last full calendar month of
 probation.
    d. A discharge credit shall be applied to the termination
 date of the defendant’s probation within thirty days of the end
 of the calendar month in which the discharge credit was earned.
    NEW SUBSECTION. 7. A defendant on probation shall be
 eligible to earn an educational 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.
    NEW SUBSECTION. 8. At least once a year, and in the
 probation status report provided halfway through the
 defendant’s period of probation pursuant to subsection 2,
 paragraph “b”, the defendant’s probation officer shall provide
 the defendant with an accounting of the defendant’s discharge
 credits and educational credits that have accrued pursuant to
 subsections 6 and 7. A defendant may earn both a discharge
 credit and an educational credit to be applied toward the
 completion of the defendant’s probation in accordance with
 this subsection. A defendant may seek administrative review
 and recalculation of the defendant’s discharge credits and
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 educational credits contained in the defendant’s probation
 status report. The department of corrections shall adopt
 rules to implement the review and recalculation of discharge
 and educational credits awarded under this section. A
 defendant may seek judicial review of the credit calculations
 at a hearing to modify the credit calculations or for early
 termination of probation.
    NEW SUBSECTION. 9. Subsections 6, 7, and 8 shall not apply
 to proceedings in adult criminal problem-solving courts and
 special probation programs.
    NEW SUBSECTION. 10. 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
 persons on probation who have earned educational and discharge
 credits pursuant to this section during that year, the average
 amount of credits earned per individual during that year, the
 total number of supervision days reduced due to the awarding
 of credits pursuant to this section during that year, and the
 number of defendants terminated from probation early that year
 pursuant to this section.
    Sec. 6. NEW SECTION. 907.15 Payment of fines and fees.
    1. The court shall direct that a defendant pay any monetary
 obligations imposed in conjunction with a term of probation,
 and shall create a payment plan based upon the defendant’s
 ability to pay which shall include a plan of payment for
 restitution owed pursuant to section 910.2 and section 910.4,
 subsection 4.
    2. The court, upon the receipt of a petition from a
 probation officer for termination of a defendant’s probation,
 shall not consider the defendant’s lack of payment of fines and
 fees as a disqualifying factor for early termination of the
 defendant’s probation unless the defendant has been found to
 be able to afford payments but has purposely avoided making
 payments.
    3. A defendant who is compliant with the conditions of
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 probation shall not be precluded from obtaining a driver’s
 license due to lack of payment of fines and fees, unless a
 defendant has been found to be able to afford payments but has
 purposely avoided making payments.
    4. A determination of a defendant’s ability to pay shall
 include the factors set forth in the court’s financial
 affidavit under sections 815.9 and 908.2A. A defendant may
 petition the court for review of the defendant’s financial
 status pursuant to section 910.7.
    Sec. 7. Section 908.11, Code 2022, is amended to read as
 follows:
    908.11 Violation of probation.
    1. A probation officer or the judicial district department
 of correctional services having probable cause to believe that
 any person defendant released on probation has violated the
 conditions of probation shall proceed by arrest or summons
 as in the case of a parole violation utilize a violation
 response matrix to determine the severity of the violation,
 any protective factors that mitigate the risk, and the
 correlating appropriate sanction. This section shall not apply
 to proceedings in adult criminal problem-solving courts and
 special probation programs.
    2. There shall be a presumption against incarceration for
 technical violations of supervision.
    3. A sentence of incarceration upon revocation shall not be
 imposed unless the court finds either of the following:
    a. The defendant has committed a new felony or misdemeanor.
    b. The violation response matrix authorizes incarceration
 under such circumstances.
    4. The probation officer may proceed internally, without
 court intervention, by arrest or by summons depending on the
 severity of the alleged violation and the level of risk.
    5. For any alleged violation for which the probation officer
 seeks to increase the defendant’s conditions of supervision
 or extend the length of the defendant’s supervision, the
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 defendant has the right to request a supervision hearing.
 For any alleged violation for which the probation officer
 seeks to revoke supervision or incarcerate the defendant, a
 hearing under this section is required and no such sanction may
 commence until and unless the violation is established.
    2. 6. The If the sanctions require court intervention, the
 functions of the liaison officer and the board of parole shall
 be performed by the judge or magistrate who placed the alleged
 violator on probation if that judge or magistrate is available,
 otherwise by another judge or magistrate who would have had
 jurisdiction to try the original offense.
    3. 7. If the probation officer proceeds by arrest, any
 magistrate may receive the complaint, issue an arrest warrant,
 or conduct the initial appearance and probable cause hearing
 if it is not convenient for the judge who placed the alleged
 violator on probation to do so. The initial appearance,
 probable cause hearing, and probation revocation hearing, or
 any of them, may at the discretion of the court be merged into
 a single hearing when it appears that the alleged violator