HF561 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to the criminal offense of grooming, and making penalties applicable.

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor: BAGNIEWSKI and LOHSE
Last action: 2025-02-26
Official status: Subcommittee recommends passage.
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 the criminal offense of grooming, and making penalties applicable.

What This Bill Does

A bill for an act relating to the criminal offense of grooming, and making penalties applicable.

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

2025-02-26 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee recommends passage.
2025-02-25 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee Meeting: 02/26/2025 11:00AM House Lounge.
2025-02-25 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee: Meggers, Gosa and Rinker. H.J. 427 .
2025-02-24 Iowa Legislature
Introduced, referred to Public Safety. H.J. 414 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to the criminal offense of grooming, and making penalties applicable.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

House

File

561

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

561

BY

BAGNIEWSKI

and

LOHSE

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

the

criminal

offense

of

grooming,

and

making

1

penalties

applicable.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

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H.F.

561

Section

1.

Section

709.8A,

Code

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

1

follows:

2

709.8A

Grooming.

3

1.

A

person

commits

grooming

when

the

person

knowingly

4

performs

an

act

in

person

or

by

conduct

through

a

third

party,

5

uses

a

computer,

internet

service,

or

any

other

electronic

6

storage

or

transmission

device,

or

uses

written

communication

7

to

seduce,

solicit,

lure,

or

entice,

or

attempt

to

seduce,

8

solicit,

lure,

or

entice,

a

child

or

a

person

believed

to

be

a

9

child

,

including

a

law

enforcement

officer

or

agent

posing

as

a

10

child,

to

commit

any

unlawful

sex

act

or

to

otherwise

engage

in

11

unlawful

sexual

conduct.

As

used

in

this

section

,

“child”

means

12

a

person

under

eighteen

years

of

age.

13

2.

Grooming

is

a

class

“D”

felony.

14

EXPLANATION

15

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

16

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

17

This

bill

relates

to

the

criminal

offense

of

grooming.

18

The

bill

provides

that

a

person

commits

grooming

if

the

19

person

seduces,

solicits,

lures,

or

entices,

or

attempts

to

20

seduce,

solicit,

lure,

or

entice,

a

child

or

a

person

believed

21

to

be

a

child,

which

includes

a

law

enforcement

officer

or

22

agent

posing

as

be

a

child.

23

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