Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird calls for heightened penalties for assaults on police, other officials

DES MOINES — People who assault police officers, firefighters and other protected professionals would receive heightened sentences under a bill Iowa lawmakers advanced Monday.

The bill, House Study Bill 523, would raise the penalties for assaults on a number of public safety employees and officials to as high as a class C felony if the offender intends to cause serious injury or displays a dangerous weapon. The charge would be a class D felony if the offender causes bodily injury or mental illness.

Those charges would be elevated from Class D felony and aggravated misdemeanor, respectively.

The bill would heighten penalties for assaults on the following occupations:

The bill was proposed by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird's office. Bird, a former prosecutor and county attorney, said the current penalties for the offenses are far too lenient.

"I want to do all we can do to increase respect for law enforcement, you do a tough job,“ Bird said. ”Respect for our first responders and others who do very difficult work and are just trying to help people."

The bill makes other assaults, including spitting on a police officer or other official, an aggravated misdemeanor, raising them from a simple misdemeanor. A person found guilty of that crime would be subject to a mandatory minimum of seven days in jail. An inmate who spits on an employee of a correctional facility would face a class D felony.

Ray Reynolds, the director of fire and EMS at the Nevada Fire Department, said the bill is necessary.

He became emotional recounting responding to an arson fire in 2022. When he and police responded, the perpetrator attempted to strangle the officer and take his gun, Reynolds said, and when Reynolds intervened he also was assaulted.

“I got bit, I got spit on, and the guy got two simple misdemeanors or a serious misdemeanor,” he said.

Melissa Speed, a lobbyist for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, said she wanted to ensure that all employees in correctional facilities are covered under the new penalties.

She also said she wants lawmakers to ensure that incarcerated people who assault correctional staff receive a full penalty rather than a light charge.

“Somebody who’s in prison and assaults a correctional officer, that happens on a daily,” she said. “Are we going to be putting those individuals through the system?”

Assaults on correctional staff increased between 2020 and 2022, KCCI-TV reported last year. Two inmates at the Anamosa State Penitentiary killed a nurse and correctional officer in 2021 during an attempted escape.

A class C felony is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $13,360, while a class D felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,245. An aggravated misdemeanor is punishable by up to two years in prison and a fine of up to $8,540.

Lawmakers advance bill

The bill was approved by two Republicans in a three-person subcommittee on Monday.

Democratic Rep. Eleanor Levin of Iowa City asked Bird whether there was evidence the increased penalties would lower incidences of assault. She did not vote to advance the bill, saying it “sounds like there’s some work to do on the bill.”

Bird did not point to any data to suggest raising the penalties would lowers offenses, but she said she believed it would deter people from assaulting officers.

"Based on my personal experience, I think it would (reduce assaults)," Bird said. "Particularly that seven-day mandatory minimum. Because if someone thinks that they'll just get probation and assault a peace officer, I don' think that's right."

Iowa Rep. Jeff Shipley, a Republican from Birmingham, supported the bill and said he would be interested in tracking whether the change leads to fewer offenses.

"I would never want to have law enforcement in the situation that we've described," Shipley said. "I think there's an argument you can even make the penalties even more severe, just considering how vile some of these offenses are."