On Wednesday, August 6, 2020, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed Executive Order 7, restoring the voting rights of thousands of Iowans who have completed their felony sentences. As per the Governor’s official website, “Iowa’s Constitution currently states that anyone convicted of a felony permanently loses the right to vote or hold public office unless the …
Category: Iowa Legal News
University of Iowa Student Government Lobbying Helps Pass New Immunity Bill
University of Iowa Student Government had been advocating for a medical amnesty bill at Capitol Hill for several years and their efforts for limited immunity finally have paid off. On Thursday, June 25, 2020, Governor Kim Reynolds signed a medical amnesty bill into law that potentially could save many lives, some right here in Iowa City. …
How Illinois Marijuana Legalization will Affect Iowans
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker recently signed a new bill legalizing the sale and possession of marijuana starting January 1, 2020. Here is how the sale of legal marijuana in Illinois may affect Iowans. Purchasing & Possessing Marijuana in Illinois With the new legalization law, non-residents, including Iowans, will be able to purchase and use marijuana …
New Iowa Expungement Law
New Iowa Expungement law goes into effect July 1, 2019; as part of Senate File 589. https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=88&ba=SF589 Division I- Expungements: Section 1 allows persons who have been convicted of public intoxication, simulated public intoxication or public consumption under either the state law or a local ordinance, to have the conviction expunged two years after conviction …
New Iowa Temporary Restricted License Law
Last year a new Iowa temporary restricted license law went into effect, drastically changing how temporary restricted licenses (TRL) work in Iowa. No Periods of Ineligibility Under the new Iowa temporary restricted license law, there are no periods of ineligibility. This means that almost everyone is eligible for a TRL immediately, regardless of age, test consent …
BREAKING UPDATE: Temporary Restricted License
As of July 1, 2018, a new law, House File 2338, goes into effect, and it radically changes the temporary restricted license (TRL) rules. There will be no periods of ineligibility, regardless of age, test consent or refusal, or how high or low the test result is. Almost everyone will be eligible for a TRL immediately. The new law will …
Was the Proposed Iowa Supermajority Bill Unconstitutional?
Proposed but failed legislation would have required the Iowa Supreme Court have a supermajority to rule an Iowa statute unconstitutional. This legislation would have required five of the seven Iowa Supreme Court justices to agree. Interestingly enough, the proposed bill may have been unconstitutional. It is likely that an amendment to the Iowa constitution would have to be made …
Bill Proposes all OWI Offenders Install Ignition Interlocks
Legislators in the Iowa House recently introduced a bill that would require anyone arrested for drunken driving to install an ignition interlock device in their vehicle. Iowa’s law currently states that first-time offenders, who were not involved in an accident and whose blood-alcohol level was between .08 and .10 at the time of the arrest, …
Illegal or Not? CBD Oil Seized by Police
Police in Carroll and Muscatine recently went into five stores and seized CBD-oil products, claiming they contain illegal marijuana. This has stirred debate and concerns around the entire state of Iowa, for business owners and their customer base. The main cause for concern is two-fold; business owners were under the impression they were selling products …
Iowa Felony Convictions Nearly Tripled Since 1980
Iowa and many states across the country have experienced a dramatic increase in felony convictions in the past few decades. A study in 2010 showed that felony convictions in Iowa had almost tripled since 1980, going from 2.05% to 5.72% in just three decades. This steady increase in felony convictions has caused many states to …
Old Law Gets Iowa Man a New Trial
Robert Reynolds, who was charged with killing a family friend in 2014, will have his new trial held in Avoca, Iowa, rather than Council Bluffs. This change occurred after he appealed based on a law from the 1880s that split Pottawattamie County by east and west, allowing everyone to be able to reach their courthouse …
New Ruling Gives Minorities in Iowa a Better Chance at Fair Trials
The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a 25-year-old ruling, stating that judges must broaden their analysis in regard to whether or not a jury pool includes enough minority members to guarantee a fair trial under the 6th Amendment. This came after an appeal by a Waterloo man convicted in 2015 of harassing his neighbor. Kelvin …