Governor Kim Reynolds has signed three crime-related bills, including a “three strikes” policy that requires mandatory seven-year-long prison sentences for anyone convicted of a third felony.
The policy replaces current law which calls for three-year prison sentences for habitual offenders, but judges have the discretion to adjust or eliminate that prison time. Reynolds signed two other bills Tuesday in a ceremony in her Capitol office. One new law will not allow people charged with drug or violent crimes to be released without posting bail. The other ends warrant resolution clinics that let people with an arrest warrant sign a document, agreeing to appear in court. A woman who went to a clinic in Polk County in April is accused of murdering someone a few days later. Her mother attended but did not speak at Tuesday’s event.
House Speaker Pat Grassley says violent offenders consume the resources of police and sheriffs departments that have to deal with the same people over and over.
Representative Mike Vondran, a Republican from Davenport, says it took three years of work to come up with the bail and bond reform measure that’s now law.
People charged with misdemeanors or non-violent offenses may still be released if they agree to appear in court later, but those charged with a violent crime or a drug offense must post bail before they are released — and a judge cannot lower the required bond amount listed in state law.
