Iowa House panel hears concerns with police misconduct list

DES MOINES — Iowa lawmakers addressed law enforcement discipline in a wide-ranging bill a year ago but now say there’s no consistency in how police officers are dismissed, suspended, demoted or decertified when their credibility is in question.

“It’s the wild, wild west out there,” Rep. Steve Holt, R-Denison, said after hearing an update on the Brady-Giglio List Thursday.

He was referring to a list maintained by county attorneys of law enforcement officers who may have impeached themselves as witnesses and officers who may have violated the pretrial discovery rule requiring them to turn over any evidence that might be used to exonerate a defendant.

The list “is a bit of a mess at the moment,” Jancy Nielson told the House Public Safety Committee on Thursday.

In some cases, county attorneys have an actual list, the Drake University law student said. Other county attorneys keep the list in their heads, which means it’s unlikely to be shared with their successors.

Bad or unwritten lists can result in litigation if a defendant — or an officer — claims their rights were violated, added Jacob Schrader of the House Republican caucus staff.

“If there are no policies or procedures in place to determine how an officer gets placed on the list, what reason they can be placed on the list, the due process rights to notice and appeal, how officers can get off the list, it’s currently 100 percent up to the discretion of the prosecutor,” Schrader said.

More than 100 current and former Iowa officer are included in an independent database of information about police misconduct, public complaints and use-of-force reports.

It is maintained by Level Playing Field Solutions, which describes itself as “a group of technologists, industry professionals and futurists that believe in improving the average citizen's experience while interacting with government, justice and law enforcement.”

As part of Senate File 342, which was approved 46-0 by the Senate and 63-30 in 2021, the Legislature formed an interim study committee to look at the issue.

Lawmakers approved a prohibition on firing and disciplining officers simply for the determination that a disclosure for exculpatory evidence exists, Schrader said, but that section of the law sunsets in July unless legislators take action.

There’s no legislation to address the issues Schrader and Nielson presented, but Holt, a former police officer who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said legislators are working on a proposal.

“It is such a complex issue I don't know if we will get there, but we are trying,” he said after the meeting.

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