Bill Text: IA HF2023 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to operating-while-intoxicated offenses causing death or serious injury, and providing penalties.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-11 - Introduced, referred to Judiciary. H.J. 86. [HF2023 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-HF2023-Introduced.html

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House File 2023 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  SALMON

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to operating=while=intoxicated offenses causing
  2    death or serious injury, and providing penalties.
  3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 707.6A, subsections 1 and 4, Code 2018,
  1  2 are amended to read as follows:
  1  3    1.  A person commits a class "B" felony punishable by
  1  4 imprisonment not to exceed fifty years when the person
  1  5 unintentionally causes the death of another by operating a
  1  6 motor vehicle while intoxicated, as prohibited by section
  1  7 321J.2, subsection 1.
  1  8    4.  a.  A person commits a class "C" felony when the person
  1  9 unintentionally causes a serious injury, as defined in section
  1 10 702.18, by the means described in subsection 1.
  1 11    b.  A person commits a class "D" felony when the person
  1 12 unintentionally causes a serious injury, as defined in section
  1 13 702.18, by any of the means described in subsection 1 or 2.
  1 14                           EXPLANATION
  1 15 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  1 16 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  1 17    This bill increases criminal penalties for
  1 18 operating=while=intoxicated (OWI) offenses causing death or
  1 19 serious injury.
  1 20    Under current law, unintentionally causing the death of
  1 21 another person by operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated
  1 22 is a class "B" felony. Unless the maximum sentence for
  1 23 a felony is prescribed by statute, a class "B" felony is
  1 24 punishable by imprisonment for no more than 25 years. The
  1 25 bill provides the maximum sentence for unintentionally causing
  1 26 the death of another person by operating a motor vehicle while
  1 27 intoxicated is imprisonment not to exceed 50 years.
  1 28    Under current law, unintentionally causing serious injury
  1 29 by operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated is a class "D"
  1 30 felony. A class "D" felony is punishable by imprisonment for
  1 31 no more than five years and a fine of at least $750 but not
  1 32 more than $7,500. The bill provides that unintentionally
  1 33 causing serious injury by operating a motor vehicle while
  1 34 intoxicated is a class "C" felony. A class "C" felony is
  1 35 punishable by imprisonment for no more than 10 years and a fine
  2  1 of at least $1,000 but not more than $10,000. By operation of
  2  2 law, Code section 811.1 would prohibit a person convicted of
  2  3 unintentionally causing serious injury by operating a motor
  2  4 vehicle while intoxicated from being admitted to bail during
  2  5 the appeal process.
  2  6    Under current law, a court is prohibited from deferring
  2  7 judgment, deferring the sentence, or suspending the sentence of
  2  8 any person convicted of an offense under Code section 707.6A,
  2  9 subsections 1 and 4, involving an OWI offense (Code section
  2 10 907.3). In addition, a person convicted of unintentionally
  2 11 causing the death of another person by operating a motor
  2 12 vehicle while intoxicated who also fails to remain at the scene
  2 13 of an accident in violation of Code section 321.261 must be
  2 14 denied parole or work release until the person has served at
  2 15 least seven=tenths of the maximum term of the person's sentence
  2 16 (Code section 902.12).
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