Bill updating definition of stalking passes subcommittee

DES MOINES - A bill to update the definition of stalking in Iowa Code, and add criminal penalties for offenders, is to be taken up for debate by state lawmakers in the coming weeks.

Sen. Kevin Kinney, D-Oxford, first introduced the bill last year, but it did not pass. He's hoping the bill has more success this year. The Judiciary subcommittee unanimously voted Senate File 209 through Thursday and various law enforcement officials and the Iowa Attorney General's Office have shown support for the bill, Kinney said.

'With a lot of the domestic homicides in Iowa, a lot of times there's stalking that goes on well before the actual homicide has occurred,” Kinney said. 'We could stop this at the level of stalking, instead.”

About 3.4 million people over the age of 18 are stalked each year in the United States, according to the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

The bill would change section 708.11 of the Iowa Code to include 'repeatedly utilizing a technological device to locate, listen to or watch a person without legitimate purpose” as stalking conduct.

Kinney, retired from the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, said law enforcement officials are well aware that cellphones and GPS tracking devices are used by stalkers.

'With all the advancing technology, (Iowa Code) needed to be updated,” Kinney said.

Kinney's bill would also expand the definition of a stalker to include when their actions 'cause a reasonable person to feel terrorized, frightened intimidated, or threatened.”

Current code only requires the victim of stalking to fear bodily injury or death to themselves or an immediate family member.

Lastly, the bill would add clear criminal penalty guidelines for those found guilty of stalking.

Criminal penalties would range from an aggravated misdemeanor - which includes confinement for no more than two years and a fine between $625 and $6,250 - to a class 'C” felony - confinement for no more than 10 years and a fine between $1,000 and $10,000.

'In the next few weeks, I hope it is called up to the floor and allowed to go forward,” Kinney said.

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