Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Fiscal Note
                                       Fiscal Services Division
HF 2161 – Sex Offender Registry (LSB5315HV)
Staff Contact: Evan Johnson (515.281.6301) evan.johnson@legis.iowa.gov
Fiscal Note Version – New
Description
House File 2161 changes the requirements for a sex offender to be granted a modification of
the sex offender registry requirements pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 692A. This Bill allows
any sex offender on the Iowa Sex Offender Registry to file an application for a modification of
the Registry requirements. The Bill allows a court to grant a modification if the offender has
successfully completed any period of probation, parole, special sentence, or other supervised
release for the offense requiring registration.
Background
Under current law, a sex offender who is on probation, on parole, on work release, serving a
special sentence, or in any type of conditional release may file an application to request a
modification of the registry requirements. Prior to the granting of a modification, the following
conditions must be met:
• A Tier I offender must have been required to register for at least two years, and a Tier II or III
   offender must have been required to register for at least five years.
• The offender must have successfully completed all required sex offender treatment
   programs.
• The DOC must complete a valid risk assessment of the offender and determine the offender
   to be at a low risk of reoffending.
• The offender may not be incarcerated at the time of filing the application.
• The director of the judicial district department of correctional services supervising the
   offender, or the director’s designee, must also stipulate to the modification.
According to the Department of Public Safety (DPS), in calendar year (CY) 2021, there were 80
individuals who received Sex Offender Registry modifications. The number of sex offender
registrants as of June 30, 2021, is shown in Table 1.
                      Table 1 — FY 2021 Sex Offender Registrant Count
                                  Tier             Offender Count
                                  Tier I                1,257
                                  Tier II               1,686
                                  Tier III              3,537
                                  Registrant Total      6,480
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Assumptions
• To be considered for a modification, a Tier I offender must have initially registered at least
   10 years prior to the filing of the application. If the Tier I offender was under 20 years of age
   at the time the offender committed sexual abuse in the third degree under circumstances
   pursuant to Iowa Code section 709.4(1)(b)(2)(d), the offender must have initially registered
   at least 5 years prior to the filing of the application. A Tier II or III offender must have initially
   registered at least 25 years prior to the filing of the application.
• An increased length of time before an offender can request a modification of the Sex
   Offender Registry requirements will result in fewer modifications being granted and an
   increase in the number of offenders on the Registry.
• An increased number of offenders on the Registry will result in an increased number of
   violations of the Registry requirements.
Correctional Impact
House File 2161 increases the length of time that an offender must remain on the Sex Offender
Registry before requesting a modification. This is estimated to increase prison and community-
based corrections (CBC) admissions by an unknown amount for violations of the Sex Offender
Registry requirements. As shown in Table 2, there were 78 offenders admitted to prison and
203 offenders admitted to community-based corrections on a most serious Iowa Code chapter
692A sex offender registration or verification violation in FY 2021.
     Table 2 — FY 2021 Prison and CBC Admissions Under Iowa Code Chapter 692A
                                            Prison Admissions CBC Admissions
                     Offense Class          Under 692A        Under 692A
                     B Felony                        5              14
                     C Felony                       59              94
                     Aggravated Misdemeanor         14              95
                     Total                          78              203
In CY 2021, there were 80 offenders who received a Sex Offender Registry modification. Also,
there were 463 convictions under Iowa Code chapter 692A among 428 unique offenders in
FY 2021. Refer to the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) memo addressed to the General
Assembly, Cost Estimates Used for Correctional Impact Statements, dated January 18, 2022,
for information related to the correctional system.
Minority Impact
Minority data related to violations of Iowa Code chapter 692A for FY 2021 is shown in Table 3.
This Bill could have a disproportionate or negative impact on the African American community
as 16.3% of prison admissions for violations of Iowa Code chapter 692A were African-American
compared to 3.9% of Iowa’s population. Refer to the LSA memo addressed to the General
Assembly, Minority Impact Statement, dated January 18, 2022, for information related to
minorities in the criminal justice system.
      Table 3 — FY 2021 Minority Prison Admissions Under Iowa Code Chapter 692A
                Race                            Population of Iowa Prison Admissions
                Caucasian                             85.3%              78.9%
                African American                      3.9%               16.3%
                Hispanic                              6.2%                2.4%
                American Indian/Alaska Native         0.3%                2.4%
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Fiscal Impact
House File 2161 is estimated to have a minimal fiscal impact to the DPS. The Bill would not
bring the DPS into compliance with the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification
System (SORNA), also known as Title I of the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety
Act of 2006. As a result, the DPS would remain unable to receive 10.0% of the State’s awarded
federal Byrne Justice Assistance Grant, which equates to approximately $100,000 annually.
The fiscal impact of HF 2161 on the DOC cannot be estimated due to a lack of data. Table 4
shows the increase in costs for one offender to be returned to prison and CBC for a violation of
Iowa Code chapter 692A for each offense class.
   Table 4 — Marginal Cost of a Violation of Iowa Code Chapter 692A by Offense Class
                            Average Length of Stay Marginal Prison  Average Length of     Marginal CBC
   Offense Class              in Prison (Months)    Cost Per Day   Stay in CBC (Months)   Cost Per Day   Total Cost
   B Felony                           17.9             $23.33               27.5             $7.01       $ 18,600
   C Felony                           13.7             $23.33               23.2             $7.01       $ 14,700
   Aggravated Misdemeanor             7.7              $23.33               14.1             $7.01       $    8,500
Sources
Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning Division, Department of Human Rights
Department of Corrections
Department of Public Safety
Legislative Services Agency calculations
                                                                            /s/ Holly M. Lyons
                                                                            February 15, 2022
Doc ID 1287259
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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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 692A.128