This 94th Edition of Justice For All is about the Iowa County Attorneys Legislative Committee.
The Iowa County Attorneys Legislative Committee was formed by the Iowa County Attorneys Association (ICAA) which is a non-partisan organization comprised of the 99 locally-elected county attorneys and their assistants. ICAA’s purpose is to promote the uniform and efficient administration of criminal justice in Iowa.
This is the fourth year in which I have served on the Legislative Committee. Approximately 20 County Attorneys from all across Iowa who are selected to serve meet annually to discuss and create priorities for the upcoming legislative session. After the annual meeting there is a discussion via email about the priorities and in the spring a review of pending legislation.
The Legislative Committee met in Des Moines on September 13 this year but unfortunately I was involved in a trial and was unable to make the meeting, a conflict which has arisen for many of the members at one time or another. On the agenda for the meeting was an update from the ICAA’s legislative liaisons along with hearing from two senators on the Judiciary Committee.
The Legislative Committee set three general priorities for the 2019 legislative session:
- Protecting Iowa’s Children.
- Protecting Iowa’s Elderly.
- Protecting Iowans from Fraud.
More specific legislative proposals flowed from those three general priorities such as: expanding the prohibited conduct that the Iowa Code defines as lascivious acts with a minor (children ages 14 and 15), specifying permitted areas of expert testimony in child abuse or sexual assault cases, including personal degradation within dependent adult abuse, expanding the scope of financial exploitation of a dependent adult, and creating a new crime that specifically addresses home improvement fraud.
I continue to be a proud member of the Legislative Committee whose mission statement remains “Assure Safety & Justice for All Iowans.”