Bill Text: IA HF2342 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Enrolled
Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the seizure and disposition of property by the department of natural resources and requiring a report. (Formerly HF 2127.) Effective 7-1-18.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Passed) 2018-05-16 - Signed by Governor. H.J. 997. [HF2342 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2017-HF2342-Enrolled.html
House File 2342 - Enrolled
HOUSE FILE
BY COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC
SAFETY
(SUCCESSOR TO HF 2127)
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A BILL FOR
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House File 2342
AN ACT
RELATING TO THE SEIZURE AND DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY BY
THE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND REQUIRING A REPORT.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. Section 481A.11, Code 2018, is amended to read
as follows:
481A.11 Confiscated or accidentally killed game.
Except as provided in section 481A.13 or 481A.13A, any game
or fish seized by the commission under section 481A.12 or any
game accidentally killed by a motor vehicle on a public highway
shall, when salvageable, be disposed of as determined by the
commission or its designee.
Sec. 2. Section 481A.12, Code 2018, is amended to read as
follows:
481A.12 Seizure of wildlife taken or handled illegally.
The director or any peace officer shall seize with or
without warrant and take possession of, or direct the disposal
of, any fish, furs, birds, or animals, or mussels, clams, or
frogs, which have been caught, taken, or killed at a time,
in a manner, or for a purpose, or had in possession or under
control, or offered for shipment, or illegally transported in
the state or to a point beyond its borders, contrary to the
Code. All fish, furs, birds, or animals, or mussels, clams,
or frogs seized under this section may shall be relinquished
to a representative of the commission, or disposed of, or kept
as provided in section 481A.13.
Sec. 3. Section 481A.13, Code 2018, is amended to read as
follows:
481A.13 Search warrants.
Any court having jurisdiction of the offense, upon receiving
proof of probable cause for believing that any fish, mussels,
clams, frogs, birds, furs, or animals caught, taken, killed,
had in possession, under control, or shipped, contrary to the
Code, or hidden or concealed in any place, shall issue a search
warrant and cause a search to be made in any place therefor.
The property so seized under warrant shall be safely kept under
the direction of the court so long as necessary for the purpose
of being used as evidence in any trial, and if a trial results
in a conviction the property seized shall be confiscated by
the director or the director's officers. If the trial does
not result in a conviction, the property shall be returned to
the person pursuant to section 481A.13A unless the property is
fish or wildlife that is illegal to possess, including fish or
wildlife that was taken, possessed, or transported unlawfully.
Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 481A.13A Conviction required for
property confiscation ==== return of property.
1. The state shall not confiscate property seized under
section 481A.12 or 481A.13 unless the person from whom the
property was seized is convicted of the violation for which the
property was seized. However, the state shall not return any
fish or wildlife that is illegal to possess, including fish or
wildlife that was taken, possessed, or transported unlawfully.
2. If the person from whom the property was seized is not
convicted of the violation for which the property was seized,
the department, law enforcement agency, or other governmental
agency in possession of the seized property shall return the
seized property to the person within thirty days of any of the
following:
a. The date the person is found not guilty of the violation.
b. The date the action involving the violation is dismissed.
c. The date the statute of limitations expires for the
alleged violation for which the property was seized.
3. For purposes of this section, "convicted" includes
a finding of guilt, payment of a scheduled fine, a plea of
guilty, deferred judgment, deferred or suspended sentence,
adjudication of delinquency, or circumstance where a person is
not charged with a criminal offense related to the violation
based in whole or in part on the person's agreement to provide
information regarding the criminal activity of another person.
Sec. 5. Section 483A.32, Code 2018, is amended to read as
follows:
483A.32 Public nuisance.
1. Any Subject to subsection 2, any device, contrivance,
or material used to violate a rule adopted by the commission,
or any other provision of this chapter or chapter 481A, 481B,
482, 484A, or 484B, is a public nuisance and may be condemned
by the state. The director, the director's officers, or
any peace officer, shall seize the devices, contrivances,
or materials used as a public nuisance, without warrant or
process, and deliver them to a magistrate having jurisdiction.
An automobile shall not be construed to be a public nuisance
under this section.
2. The state may only condemn property seized as a public
nuisance if the person from whom the property was seized is
convicted of the violation for which the property was seized as
a public nuisance.
3. If the person from whom the property was seized is not
convicted of the violation for which the property was seized,
the department, law enforcement agency, or other governmental
agency in possession of the seized property shall return the
seized property to the person within thirty days of any of the
following:
a. The date the person is found not guilty of the violation.
b. The date the action involving the violation is dismissed.
c. The date the statute of limitations expires for the
alleged violation for which the property was seized.
4. For purposes of this section, "convicted" means the same
as in section 481A.13A, subsection 3.
Sec. 6. Section 483A.33, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code
2018, is amended to read as follows:
a. The person from whom the property was seized may make
application for its return in the office of the clerk of the
district court for the county in which the property was seized.
The application shall be filed within thirty days after
the receipt of the notice of condemnation or the person is
convicted of the violation for which the property was seized,
whichever occurs later. Failure to file the application within
this time period terminates the interest of the person and the
ownership of the property shall be transferred to the state,
except that a person who is not convicted of the violation
for which the property was seized is not required to file an
application and is entitled to the return of the property in
accordance with section 483A.32.
Sec. 7. Section 483A.33, subsection 4, Code 2018, is amended
to read as follows:
4. If an application for return of condemnable property
is timely and of sufficient grounds, the claim shall be set
for hearing. The hearing shall be held not less than ten nor
more than thirty days after the filing of the claim claim is
filed or the person is convicted for the violation for which
the property was seized as a public nuisance, whichever occurs
later. The proceeding shall be conducted by a magistrate or
a district associate judge. All claims to the same property
shall be heard in one proceeding, unless it is shown that the
proceeding would result in prejudice to one or more of the
parties.
Sec. 8. Section 483A.33, subsection 5, Code 2018, is amended
by adding the following new paragraphs:
NEW PARAGRAPH. c. On or before December 31, 2018, and
on or before December 1 each year thereafter, the department
shall report to the general assembly's standing committees
on government oversight regarding the amount of the proceeds
deposited to the state fish and game protection fund pursuant
to this subsection. The report shall also contain all
information recorded pursuant to paragraph "d".
NEW PARAGRAPH. d. A seizing public agency that has custody
of any property that is seized pursuant to a provision of this
subchapter shall adopt and comply with a written internal
control policy that does all of the following:
(1) Provides for keeping detailed records as to the amount
of property acquired by the agency and the date property was
acquired.
(2) Provides for keeping detailed records of the
disposition of the property, which shall include the manner
in which the property was disposed, the date of disposition,
and detailed financial records concerning any property sold.
The records shall not identify or enable identification of the
individual officer who seized any item of property or the name
of any person or entity who received any item of property.
NEW PARAGRAPH. e. The records kept under the internal
control policy shall be open to public inspection during the
agency's regular business hours. The policy adopted under this
section is a public record open for inspection under chapter
22.
Sec. 9. Section 483A.33, Code 2018, is amended by adding the
following new subsections:
NEW SUBSECTION. 6. a. An employee of the seizing public
agency or a member of the immediate family of the employee
shall not purchase a fish, fur, bird, animal, mussel, clam, or
frog seized pursuant to section 481A.12, a device, contrivance,
or material condemned pursuant to section 483A.32, or a weapon
seized pursuant to section 483A.32 and disposed of pursuant
to this section or section 809.21. For purposes of this
subsection, "member of the immediate family" means a spouse,
child, stepchild, brother, brother=in=law, stepbrother, sister,
sister=in=law, stepsister, parent, parent=in=law, or stepparent
of an employee of the seizing public agency who resides in the
same household in the same principal residence of the employee
of the seizing public agency.
b. The department shall provide a form on which a person
purchasing property seized pursuant to section 481A.12 or
483A.32 shall declare that the person is not an employee of the
seizing public agency or a member of the immediate family of an
employee of the seizing public agency.
NEW SUBSECTION. 7. For purposes of this section,
"convicted" means the same as in section 481A.13A, subsection 3.
LINDA UPMEYER
CHARLES SCHNEIDE
CARMINE BOAL
KIM REYNOLDS
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