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HF 826

Senior citizen property tax credit established, and money appropriated.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Jeff Dotseth

Creates a new criminal offense for producing, distributing, receiving, or possessing with intent to distribute obscene material involving a minor, with penalties and Tier I sex-off

Introduction and first reading, referred to Taxes
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Bill Summary · HF 826

Summary — H.F. 826 (as introduced / version materials provided)

Note on materials: The bill title and subject line you provided (senior citizen property tax credit) do not match the draft text and fiscal note supplied. The documents attached to this request and the Legislative Services Agency fiscal note refer to a different H.F. 826 that creates a new offense for obscene material involving a minor. This summary describes the substantive content in the provided bill text and fiscal note (obscene‑materials/sex‑offender changes), not the unrelated property‑tax title.

Purpose and intent

To create a new criminal offense prohibiting the production, distribution, receipt, or possession (with intent to distribute) of “obscene material involving a minor,” to classify penalties for first and repeat offenses, and to require registration as a Tier I sex offender for persons convicted of the offense.

Key provisions

  • Creates new Code section 728.13 making it unlawful to knowingly:
    • produce, distribute, receive, or possess with intent to distribute, or
    • attempt any of the foregoing, any “obscene material involving a minor.”
  • Penalties:
    • First offense: aggravated misdemeanor (up to 2 years confinement; fine at least $855 and not more than $8,540).
    • Second or subsequent offense: Class D felony (up to 5 years confinement; fine at least $1,025 and not more than $10,245).
    • “Second or subsequent” includes prior convictions or deferred judgments for related Iowa offenses (sections 728.2, 728.3, 728.12, 728.15), any chapter 709 offense involving a minor, or substantially similar out‑of‑state offenses.
  • Sex‑offender registration:
    • Amends section 692A.102 to add this offense to registration requirements (Tier I).
  • Definition added to section 728.1:
    • “Obscene material involving a minor” is defined by a four‑part test similar to the Miller obscenity test applied to a visual depiction: (a) depicts or appears to depict a minor engaging in a prohibited sexual act; (b) appeals to the prurient interest (average person/ contemporary adult community standards); (c) is patently offensive (same standards); and (d) lacks serious literary, scientific, political, or artistic value when taken as a whole.
  • Exemptions / limits:
    • Does not apply to bona fide law‑enforcement or judicial activity, accredited educational uses (schools, public libraries, educational programs), and it does not impose civil or criminal liability on internet service providers.

Amendment activity

  • Amendment H‑1193 (filed) would have defined “involving a minor” as a realistic or apparently realistic depiction of a person recognizable as a minor; that amendment was later withdrawn (per actions listed).

Fiscal and correctional impact

  • LSA fiscal note (March 18, 2025) states the fiscal impact is unknown because there is no existing conviction data for the new offense.
  • Per‑offense average State cost estimates provided as ranges:
    • Aggravated misdemeanor: $6,800 to $11,800.
    • Class D felony: $11,900 to $19,100.
  • Costs would affect the Judicial Branch, Indigent Defense Fund, Department of Corrections, and likely county jails and Community‑Based Corrections (timing and magnitude uncertain).
  • Assumptions noted include a six‑month delay from effective date to first entries into corrections; minority impact cannot be estimated with current data.

Who is affected

  • Individuals who produce, distribute, receive, or possess (with intent to distribute) visual depictions meeting the statute’s definition.
  • The criminal justice system (courts, prosecutors, public defense), corrections (prison, parole, probation, CBC), and sex‑offender registry administration.
  • ISPs are explicitly not made civilly or criminally liable by the bill text.

Procedural status (from provided actions)

  • Introduced March 6, 2025; fiscal note prepared March 18, 2025.
  • Read first time and referred (records show Judiciary referral); House passed the bill (yeas 96–0) on March 26, 2025.
  • Amendment H‑1193 was filed March 25, 2025 and later withdrawn March 26, 2025.

If you want, I can: (1) produce a plain‑language one‑page fact sheet for the public, (2) compare this draft’s definition of “obscene material involving a minor” with existing Iowa statutes and federal law, or (3) outline likely legal challenges or enforcement issues arising from the definition’s reliance on community standards.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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