Iowa

Recent / Pending Legislation

House File 2624 (2026, did not pass) – expands DNA collection to felony (or violent aggravated misdemeanor charges) upon arrest.

Arrestees: No. Not Booking Station Rapid Ready.

But there was arrestee legislation in Iowa legislature this session. House File 2624 (2026, passed House but died in Senate) and House Study Bill 571 (2026, died) / SSB 3088. Would expand to allow arrestee collection for anyone arrested for felony or aggravated misdemeanor. Time of collection would be booking process. If sample is taken at booking, but state fails to file charges within one year or charges are dismissed or resolved by acquittal, the individual can petition Division of Criminal Investigation to have their DNA record and PIP expunged. The bill has passed the Iowa House (64-30) in March 2026 and is under review by the Senate.

Convicted: Yes.

Qualifying Crimes: Felony convictions (including deferred judgments) and “aggravated misdemeanors” (excluding certain enumerated ones, such as motor-vehicle, hazardous-waste, agricultural-production, and gaming and betting offenses). Also covered: persons determined to be sexually violent predators, before discharge or placement in transitional release; persons found not guilty by reason of insanity of an offense requiring a sample; juveniles adjudicated delinquent for offenses that would require an adult to submit a sample; persons required to register as sex offenders; and, in criminal cases, “if appropriate.”

Time of Collection: The supervising agency collects the sample at admission to the relevant institution or facility. A person already confined when a sample becomes required submits one as soon as practicable; for persons not confined, the supervising agency sets the date and time.

Expungement: By written request to the Division of Criminal Investigation, with a certified copy of the final court order reversing the conviction, adjudication, or civil commitment that required the sample, plus a certified copy of the dismissal. The Division need not expunge or destroy a DNA record where doing so would destroy evidence relating to another person.

Statutes / Case Law

§ 81.2 Persons Required to Submit a DNA Sample

§ 81.4 Collecting, Submitting, Analyzing, Identifying, and Storing DNA Samples and DNA Records

§ 81.9 Expungement of DNA Records

Iowa Code Title XVI § 901.5 Pronouncing Judgment and Sentence

Schrieber v. State, 666 N.W.2d 127 (2003) (holding statute is not unconstitutional on ex post facto grounds because the underlying purpose of requiring inmates to submit DNA is to promote public safety rather than punish inmates).

Legislative History

• HF 619 (81st GA, 2005) — 2005 Acts, ch. 158, §§ 2, 19 (approved June 14, 2005; eff. upon enactment). Created Iowa Code ch. 81; all-felon DNA mandate. Repealed the offense-list statute at § 13.10 and the unfunded all-felon mandate in 2002 Acts ch. 1080 (§§ 16–17). New § 81.2 (§ 2) requires a sample from anyone convicted of or receiving a deferred judgment for a felony, plus sexually violent predators, NGRI acquittees, and adjudicated delinquents. Companion sections created the state DNA database and data bank under DCI (§ 81.3), collection and contempt procedures (§ 81.4), confidentiality and expungement (§§ 81.8–81.9), and post-conviction DNA testing (§ 81.10); § 18 required retroactive collection from anyone already in a supervising agency’s custody. Section 19 made the division effective immediately. (Note: your list had HF 713 — that companion bill died at introduction; HF 619 was the enacted vehicle.)
• SF 204 (82nd GA, 2007) — 2007 Acts, ch. 38, § 4 (approved April 4, 2007). Added the sex offender registrant mandate. As enacted in 2005, § 81.2(6) read only “A person required to register as a sex offender.” — a sentence fragment with no operative command. Section 4 rewrote it to add “shall submit a DNA sample for DNA profiling pursuant to section 81.4,” converting registrant status into an independent, enforceable collection trigger separate from the underlying conviction.
• HF 527 (85th GA, 2013) — 2013 Acts, ch. 107, §§ 2, 5 (approved May 15, 2013; eff. July 1, 2014). Extended the mandate to aggravated misdemeanants. Section 2 amended § 81.2(1) to add aggravated misdemeanor convictions. Section 1 added a defined “aggravated misdemeanor” at § 81.1, limited to offenses by persons 18 or older on or after the effective date and carving out ch. 321 (motor vehicles), most second-offense OWI under § 321J.2, ch. 716B, ch. 717A, and § 725.7. Section 3 extended post-conviction testing standing under § 81.10 to aggravated misdemeanants. Section 5 delayed the effective date to July 1, 2014 to let DCI scale collection.
• HF 734 (88th GA, 2019) — 2019 Acts, ch. 149, §§ 1–8 (approved May 16, 2019; eff. July 1, 2019). Rebuilt the post-conviction DNA framework and authorized court-ordered database searching. Section 1 added definitions for “forensic sample,” “keyboard search,” “national DNA index system,” and “state DNA index system” to § 81.1, and dropped the requirement that DNA profiling follow a DCI-established procedure. Section 2 converted § 81.10 from a motion to a no-filing-fee application and — significantly — deleted the bar limiting relief to defendants not already required to submit a sample, opening the process to offenders already in the database. New § 81.11 (§ 3) sets the grant standard and expressly permits retesting where a new method is “substantially more probative.” New § 81.12 (§ 4) lets a court order DPS to run an unidentified profile against NDIS or SDIS, subject to CODIS administrator gatekeeping and an unenforceability clause if the order would breach the FBI–DCI memorandum of understanding. New §§ 81.13–81.14 (§§ 5–6) cover results distribution, a three-year post-limitations evidence-retention duty, indigent counsel, and a bar on orders risking loss of federal database access. Sections 7–8 amended ch. 822 to make favorable DNA results a distinct ground for post-conviction relief and a “ground of fact” exempt from the three-year filing limitation.

No specific program or law found.

No specific program or law found.

No specific program or law found.

No specific program or law found.