HF167 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to mandatory reporting to the board of educational examiners of licensed school employees who engage in grooming behavior toward students.(Formerly HSB 46 .)

Education Labor

Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor: COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Last action: 2025-05-15
Official status: Rereferred to Education. H.J. 1221 .
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

A bill for an act relating to mandatory reporting to the board of educational examiners of licensed school employees who engage in grooming behavior toward students.(Formerly HSB 46 .)

What This Bill Does

A bill for an act relating to mandatory reporting to the board of educational examiners of licensed school employees who engage in grooming behavior toward students.(Formerly HSB 46 .)

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

2025-05-15 Iowa Legislature
Rereferred to Education. H.J. 1221 .
2025-04-03 Iowa Legislature
Placed on calendar under unfinished business. H.J. 894 .
2025-03-07 Iowa Legislature
Amendment H-1039 filed. H.J. 569 .
2025-01-30 Iowa Legislature
Introduced, placed on calendar. H.J. 152 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to mandatory reporting to the board of educational examiners of licensed school employees who engage in grooming behavior toward students.(Formerly HSB 46 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

House

File

167

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

167

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

EDUCATION

(SUCCESSOR

TO

HSB

46)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

mandatory

reporting

to

the

board

of

1

educational

examiners

of

licensed

school

employees

who

2

engage

in

grooming

behavior

toward

students.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

TLSB

1449HV

(1)

91

jda/jh

H.F.

167

Section

1.

Section

256.160,

subsection

5,

paragraph

a,

Code

1

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

a.

“Grooming

behavior”

means

any

behavior,

which

in

light

3

of

all

relevant

circumstances,

constitutes

actions

to

entice

4

or

entrap

a

student

or

students

with

the

intent

to

make

such

5

student

or

students

engage

in

a

sex

act

the

process

of

building

6

trust

and

emotional

connections

with

a

student

with

the

intent

7

to

exploit

such

student

.

8

EXPLANATION

9

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

10

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

11

This

bill

relates

to

mandatory

reporting

to

the

board

of

12

educational

examiners

(BOEE)

of

licensed

school

employees

who

13

engage

in

grooming

behavior

toward

students.

Current

law

14

requires

the

board

of

directors

of

a

school

district

or

area

15

education

agency,

the

superintendent

of

a

school

district,

16

the

chief

administrator

of

an

area

education

agency,

and

the

17

authorities

in

charge

of

an

accredited

nonpublic

school,

to

18

report

to

the

BOEE

any

instance

of

disciplinary

action

taken

19

against

a

licensed

school

employee

for

conduct

constituting

20

soliciting,

encouraging,

or

consummating

a

sexual

or

physical

21

relationship

with

a

student,

grooming

behavior

toward

a

22

student,

or

an

otherwise

inappropriate

relationship

with

a

23

student.

For

purposes

of

this

provision,

current

law

defines

24

“grooming

behavior”

to

mean

any

behavior,

which

in

light

of

all

25

relevant

circumstances,

constitutes

actions

to

entice

or

entrap

26

a

student

or

students

with

the

intent

to

make

such

student

or

27

students

engage

in

a

sex

act.

The

bill

modifies

“grooming

28

behavior”

to

mean

the

process

of

building

trust

and

emotional

29

connections

with

a

student

with

the

intent

to

exploit

such

30

student.

31

-1-

LSB

1449HV

(1)

91

jda/jh

1/

1