Iowa Governor Signs Bill Disbanding Citizen Police Review Boards

Iowa cities like Cedar Rapids and Iowa City must disband citizen review boards that provide oversight of local law enforcement under a bill signed into law Monday by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Reynolds signed a slew bills, including Senate File 311 that prohibits cities that already have civil service commissions from establishing "a board or other entity for the purpose of citizen review of the conduct of police officers."

At least six Iowa cities have them: Cedar Rapids, Coralville, Iowa City, University Heights, Dubuque and Ames. The law takes effect Aug. 16.

Long-standing boards have existed in Dubuque and Iowa City to improve community relations. University Heights adopted one in 2019. Cedar Rapids and Coralville moved in 2020 to create these boards after the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police sparked calls nationwide for police reforms.

The bill also changes the makeup of civil service commissions — which oversee the testing, hiring, promotion and discipline for police officers, firefighters and other civil service positions — based upon population, as well as the standards and procedures for the removal, discharge, demotion or suspension of a city civil service employee.

Statehouse Republicans have argued the ban is needed to shield law enforcement from political interventions by the boards and the media coverage that goes along with them.

Democratic lawmakers opposed to the ban argued that citizen police review boards have been in place in Iowa for decades, and have helped improve the relationship between communities and their police departments.

"I can't support removing something that has taken the relationship between the police department and my neighborhood from negative to positive, that has given citizens a voice in considering how people should be treated by police, and has opened a dialogue between our police department and put that dialogue in place of what had been an adversarial relationship," Rep. Elinor Levin, an Iowa City Democrat, said during debate.

Democratic lawmakers also noted most boards lack the capacity to fire or discipline officers. "They were simply reviewing things," Senate Democratic Leader Janice Weiner, who used to serve on the Iowa City Council, said during a legislative hearing on the bill.

The Iowa City review board, according to city code, "has no power to review police officer personnel records or disciplinary matters" and "has only limited civil, administrative review powers, and has no power or authority over criminal matters."

In Cedar Rapids, the board is focused on public engagement and improving community-police relations, advising the city on department policies and practices, reviewing citizen complaints and serving on the committee that hires a police chief.

The board was created after racial justice advocates, led by the nonprofit Advocates for Social Justice, pushed for stronger civilian oversight of local law enforcement in 2020.

But the board itself does not have disciplinary authority over officers. When the city receives a complaint against an officer, the police department's Professional Standards unit conducts an investigation and delivers findings to the police chief, who then reviews that report and may request additional information.

Afterward, the chief provides a report to the board, which may provide its own report to the City Council if a board majority disagrees with the chief's findings.

The Cedar Rapids Citizen Review Board, in its regular monthly meeting May 15, discussed the bill, but no decisions were made about what to do when it became law.

"What I will say is the city has always worked towards compliance, so we will continue to do that with whatever comes down from either the federal or state level, recognizing the good work that you guys do and how many things there are that this board does," Cedar Rapids City Attorney Vanessa Chavez said during the meeting

Board members stated in the meeting they were proud of the work the board has accomplished in the last few years, focused on improvements in the way that metrics and police investigations are reported based on the questions the board asked and the number of community members turning to it for help understanding police action.

"I'm proud of the work that we've been able to do, that we've been allowed to do," board member Harold Walehwa said during the meeting. "I appreciate everyone that's been a part of this process, and I know the work will still get done."

Board Chair Arthur Kim said the board will work with the city and other stakeholders to explore possible avenues for continuing its work while staying in line with the new law.

"Transparency and a commitment to open communication have been, and will continue to be, among key factors that help bring trust and bridge cooperation between law enforcement and the community," Kim told The Gazette in an email. "From that trust and cooperation, shared knowledge and shared power ensures continued momentum in keeping our officers and community safe."

Reynolds signs 'anti-SLAPP' bill

Reynolds also signed legislation that would expand free speech protections.

House File 472 would prohibit the use of strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPP suits. The lawsuits are designed to silence critics or intimidate those who exercise their free speech rights, often on matters of public concern. The suits aim to burden defendants with the cost of defending the claims, and are purposely dragged out over time with the end goal of draining the defendant's financial resources.

The legislation would create a special motion for expedited relief in cases involving the exercise of free speech and press.

Rep. Steve Holt, a Republican from Denison, said he was inspired to push for the legislation after a Carroll newspaper was almost put out of business when a police officer sued the paper over its reporting on his relationships with teenage girls.

Iowa joins 35 other states and the District of Columbia, which all have some form of "anti-SLAPP" laws.

Other bills signed by Reynolds Monday include:

•  Senate File 303 prohibits county supervisors and city councils from restricting the use of fireworks on July 3, July 4 and Dec. 31. A number of Eastern Iowa cities have banned residents from setting off fireworks, including Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty.
• House File 549 places standard timelines on reviews of officer-involved shootings and requires a county attorney reviewing a case to provide a written report to the officer involved or the officer's legal counsel within 180 days after all evidence is collected.
• House File 248 requires state employers to provide the same amount of paid parental leave for parents of newly adopted children as parents of biological children. State employers would also have to provide the same employment policies, benefits and protection to adoptive parents as biological parents.
• House File 649 removes language in Iowa Code defining human trafficking that requires the two parties involved have an "ongoing relationship." The legislation was amended to include additional provisions allowing human trafficking charges to apply in cases where a law enforcement officer is posing as a victim or perpetrator of human trafficking, as well as expanding the definition of "victim" to include people "identified as being subjected to or targeted for human trafficking," even if the offense has not yet occurred.
• Senate File 167 increases general state funding to Iowa's public K-12 schools by 2 percent for next school year. It increases per-pupil funding for K-12 students by $162 from the current year to $7,988. That includes a $5 bump in addition to the percentage increase to address disparities in the actual amount of funding a school district receives per student. The total amount can vary between districts due to a variety of factors, including historical funding practices and property tax revenue — leading to some districts receiving more per-pupil funding than others.

SF 167 also raises the cap on operational sharing, providing an additional roughly $942,000 to support and allow more administrative staff to be shared between small school districts, and provides a 5 percent increase to the rate of funding per student for rural districts that encounter larger transportation costs.

It also extends for another year property tax relief in which the state freezes local property tax dollars that go to the increase in per-pupil spending, amounting to $136.7 million, and includes funding for the second year of a two-year phase-in to raise the starting salary for new teachers to $50,000 for the 2025-26 school year.

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