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HF850 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to illegal gaming, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 21 .)

A bill for an act relating to illegal gaming, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 21 .)

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Last action
2025-05-15
Official status
Rereferred to Public Safety. 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 illegal gaming, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 21 .)

A bill for an act relating to illegal gaming, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 21 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to illegal gaming, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 21 .)

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

  1. 2025-05-15 Iowa Legislature

    Rereferred to Public Safety. H.J. 1221 .

  2. 2025-04-03 Iowa Legislature

    Placed on calendar under unfinished business. H.J. 894 .

  3. 2025-03-10 Iowa Legislature

    Fiscal note .

  4. 2025-03-07 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, placed on calendar. H.J. 561 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to illegal gaming, and making penalties applicable.(Formerly HSB 21 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
House

File

850

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

850

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

PUBLIC

SAFETY

(SUCCESSOR

TO

HSB

21)

(COMPANION

TO

SF

395

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

JUDICIARY)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

illegal

gaming,

and

making

penalties

1

applicable.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

TLSB

1447HV

(1)

91

ll/ns

H.F.

850

Section

1.

Section

99F.1,

Code

2025,

is

amended

by

adding

1

the

following

new

subsections:

2

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

01.

“Account

sharing”

means

entering

into

3

or

participating

in

an

agreement

between

two

or

more

persons

4

to,

either

temporarily

or

permanently,

share

access

to

a

5

person’s

account

with

the

purpose

of

concealing

a

person’s

6

identity,

which

account

has

been

established

with

a

licensee

7

to

participate

in

gambling

games

or

sports

wagering

under

this

8

chapter.

9

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

25A.

“Proxy

betting”

means

any

wagering

or

10

betting

activity,

including

a

request

of

another

to

engage

in

11

wagering

or

betting

activity,

involving

two

or

more

persons,

12

where

one

person

places

a

wager

on

behalf

of

another

person

13

with

the

intent

to

hide

or

conceal

the

bettor’s

identity.

14

Sec.

2.

Section

99F.15,

Code

2025,

is

amended

by

adding

the

15

following

new

subsection:

16

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

3A.

A

person

engaging

in

proxy

betting

or

17

account

sharing

is

in

violation

of

section

725.7.

18

Sec.

3.

Section

725.7,

subsection

1,

Code

2025,

is

amended

19

to

read

as

follows:

20

1.

Except

as

permitted

in

chapters

99B

,

and

99D

,

99E,

and

21

99F,

a

person

shall

not

do

any

of

the

following:

22

a.

Participate

in

a

game

for

any

sum

of

money

or

other

23

property

of

any

value.

24

b.

Make

any

bet.

25

c.

For

a

fee,

directly

or

indirectly,

give

or

accept

26

anything

of

value

to

be

wagered

or

to

be

transmitted

or

27

delivered

for

a

wager

to

be

placed

within

or

without

outside

of

28

the

state

of

Iowa.

29

d.

For

a

fee,

deliver

anything

of

value

which

has

been

30

received

outside

the

enclosure

of

a

racetrack

licensed

under

31

chapter

99D

,

or

outside

of

a

gambling

structure,

to

be

placed

32

as

wagers

a

wager

in

the

pari-mutuel

pool

or

other

authorized

33

systems

system

of

wagering.

34

e.

Engage

in

bookmaking,

except

as

permitted

in

chapters

99E

35

-1-

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H.F.

850

and

99F

.

1

f.

Engage

in

proxy

betting

as

defined

in

section

99F.1.

2

g.

Engage

in

account

sharing

as

defined

in

section

99F.1.

3

EXPLANATION

4

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

5

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

6

This

bill

relates

to

illegal

gaming.

Under

current

law,

a

7

person

is

prohibited

from

engaging

in

the

acts

outlined

in

Code

8

section

725.7(1).

A

person

who

violates

these

prohibitions

is

9

guilty

of

illegal

gaming

and

is

subject

to

criminal

penalties.

10

The

bill

defines

“account

sharing”

and

“proxy

betting”

and

11

includes

those

activities

in

the

list

of

activities

considered

12

illegal

gaming.

The

bill

also

includes

in

the

activities

13

considered

illegal

gaming

the

act

of

delivering

anything

of

14

value

to

place

as

a

wager

in

a

pari-mutuel

pool

or

other

15

authorized

system

of

wagering

after

receiving

that

thing

of

16

value,

for

a

fee,

outside

of

a

gambling

structure.

17

A

person

guilty

of

illegal

gaming

commits

an

offense

ranging

18

from

a

serious

misdemeanor

to

a

class

“C”

felony

based

on

the

19

sum

of

money

or

value

of

other

property

involved

and

whether

20

the

offense

was

a

first

or

repeat

offense.

Illegal

gaming

21

in

the

fourth

degree

($100

or

less)

constitutes

a

serious

22

misdemeanor

for

a

first

offense,

an

aggravated

misdemeanor

23

for

a

second

offense,

a

class

“D”

felony

for

a

third

offense,

24

and

a

class

“C”

felony

for

a

fourth

or

subsequent

offense.

25

Illegal

gaming

in

the

third

degree

($100

to

$500)

constitutes

26

an

aggravated

misdemeanor

for

a

first

offense,

a

class

“D”

27

felony

for

a

second

offense,

and

a

class

“C”

felony

for

a

third

28

or

subsequent

offense.

Illegal

gaming

in

the

second

degree

29

($500

to

$5,000)

constitutes

a

class

“D”

felony

for

a

first

30

offense

and

a

class

“C”

felony

for

a

second

or

subsequent

31

offense.

Illegal

gaming

in

the

first

degree

(more

than

$5,000)

32

constitutes

a

class

“C”

felony.

33

A

serious

misdemeanor

is

punishable

by

confinement

for

no

34

more

than

one

year

and

a

fine

of

at

least

$430

but

not

more

than

35

-2-

LSB

1447HV

(1)

91

ll/ns

2/

3

H.F.

850

$2,560.

An

aggravated

misdemeanor

is

punishable

by

confinement

1

for

no

more

than

two

years

and

a

fine

of

at

least

$855

but

2

not

more

than

$8,540.

A

class

“D”

felony

is

punishable

by

3

confinement

for

no

more

than

five

years

and

a

fine

of

at

least

4

$1,025

but

not

more

than

$10,245.

A

class

“C”

felony

is

5

punishable

by

confinement

for

no

more

than

10

years

and

a

fine

6

of

at

least

$1,370

but

not

more

than

$13,660.

7

-3-

LSB

1447HV

(1)

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ll/ns

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