HF 201 creates a new criminal offense for sharing someone's personal information without consent to harass them. It prohibits purposefully distributing details like home addresses, phone numbers, email, social media, or work locations with intent to threaten, intimidate, or alarm the person or encourage others to do so. Violations are classified as aggravated misdemeanors, punishable by fines up to $8,540 or up to two years in jail. This law directly affects individuals who share others' private details online or offline to cause harm, providing a specific legal remedy for this form of harassment.
SF 205 modifies Iowa's school calendar start date requirement for public school districts and accredited nonpublic schools. It changes the earliest possible start date from "no sooner than August 23" to "no sooner than the Monday immediately preceding the last Monday in August." The bill maintains existing requirements for a 180-day school year (or 1,080 hours), limits internet instruction to 5 days/30 hours, and mandates public hearings for calendar changes. This directly affects all Iowa school districts and accredited nonpublic schools by altering their permitted calendar start timing.
SF 35 expands the definition of harassment to include the unauthorized sharing of personal information. This bill directly affects individuals whose private contact or identity details are shared without their consent, as well as those who engage in such actions. It specifies that a person commits harassment if they purposefully disseminate, publish, distribute, or post another person's personal information without consent, intending to threaten, intimidate, annoy, or alarm them or encourage others to do so. "Personal information" is broadly defined to include contact details like home address, phone numbers, email, social media profiles, place of employment, and photographic depictions. Violations of this provision are classified as harassment in the first degree, an aggravated misdemeanor.
This bill prohibits financial institutions (including mortgage lenders and brokers) from using deceptive tactics when soliciting consumers who have already applied for loans with a different institution. It bans failing to clearly disclose lack of affiliation with the consumer's original lender, ignoring opt-outs from prescreened offers, or changing loan terms after an initial offer. The law specifically targets the use of "prescreened" consumer credit report data for these solicitations. It directly affects lenders seeking to contact borrowers who applied elsewhere, ensuring transparency and preventing misleading offers.
Senate Study Bill 1232 appropriates funds from the state's general fund to support various components of the justice system for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2025. It allocates money to the Department of Justice for the Attorney General's office, prosecuting attorney training, victim assistance grants for crime victims, legal services for low-income individuals, and cybersecurity improvements. The bill also provides funding for the Office of Consumer Advocate and the operation of multiple correctional facilities across the state. It specifies the number of full-time equivalent positions for these departments and includes conditions such as reporting requirements for the Department of Justice regarding funding sources. Additionally, it mandates the Department of Justice to reimburse the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy for a human trafficking instructor position.
This bill establishes a temporary pilot program (expiring July 1, 2026) to help voters with disabilities that prevent them from marking ballots by hand vote independently by mail. It requires the Secretary of State to create rules enabling these voters to use assistive technology (like nonvisual or low-vision tools) to mark absentee ballots privately. The program must include a method for voters to request absentee ballots by mail, test in enough counties to assess statewide feasibility, and require annual reports to the legislature. The pilot aims to evaluate if this system can be expanded statewide for accessible absentee voting.
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This bill prohibits using or creating bots to buy event tickets online in excess of posted limits or to bypass sales systems like electronic queues or access controls. It defines "bot" as software mimicking human activity (excluding browser autofill), "event" as paid public performances, and "ticket" as admission proof. Ticket sellers must report violations to the attorney general within five days, who can then sue violators for up to $10,000 per violation or $100,000 for violating an injunction. The bill directly affects ticket sellers, bot developers, and buyers attempting to circumvent ticket purchase limits.
SF 5 expands Iowa's invasion of privacy law to include possessing non-consensual intimate images. It makes it a crime for someone to knowingly possess photos or videos taken without consent for sexual gratification, even if they didn't take the images themselves. This applies when the person being filmed was in partial or full nudity and had a reasonable expectation of privacy. Violating this law is classified as an aggravated misdemeanor and a tier II sex offense, requiring 10 years of sex offender registration. The bill directly affects individuals who possess such non-consensual images, broadening the scope of criminal liability beyond just capturing them.
HF 582 requires county voter registrars and the state voter registrar to remove a voter's date of birth and home address from any voter registration list requested by a person. This bill directly affects voters whose personal information appears on publicly accessible voter lists when those lists are requested. The key provision mandates that specific personal details - including date of birth, home address, and other identifiers - must be deleted from the list before it is provided. The bill aims to enhance privacy by limiting the personal information shared in these voter lists upon request. It does not change voter eligibility or registration requirements.
HF 633 modernizes county land record systems in Iowa by establishing electronic filing standards and restructuring recording fees. It requires county recorders to collect $10 per page (max $500 for 50+ pages) for physical documents, with $2 per document directed to a Technology Advancement Fund for equipment and digital conversion, and $3 per document to an Electronic Services System Fund for statewide electronic record access. The bill prohibits counties from paying filing fees (except treasurers) and mandates that fees only cover direct costs like technology, excluding office expenses. These changes affect property owners paying recording fees, county recorders managing land records, and the public accessing digital records. The law also defines key terms like "electronic services system" and sets standards for secure, accessible digital land record management.
