SF2398 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to the defense of justification for violent crimes.

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor: BENNETT, WAHLS and WEINER
Last action: 2026-02-19
Official status: Subcommittee: Schultz, Blake, and Bousselot. S.J. 331 .
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 defense of justification for violent crimes.

What This Bill Does

A bill for an act relating to the defense of justification for violent crimes.

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

2026-02-19 Iowa Legislature
Subcommittee: Schultz, Blake, and Bousselot. S.J. 331 .
2026-02-19 Iowa Legislature
Introduced, referred to Judiciary. S.J. 327 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to the defense of justification for violent crimes.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

Senate

File

2398

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

2398

BY

BENNETT

,

WAHLS

,

and

WEINER

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

the

defense

of

justification

for

violent

1

crimes.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

TLSB

6732XS

(2)

91

as/js

S.F.

2398

Section

1.

NEW

SECTION

.

704A.1

Restriction

on

the

defense

1

of

justification.

2

The

defense

of

justification

is

not

available

to

a

person

3

who

is

the

subject

of

a

nonviolent

sexual

advance

who

commits

4

a

violent

crime,

as

defined

in

section

915.10,

upon

another

5

person

as

the

result

of

that

sexual

advance

or

solely

as

6

the

result

of

the

person’s

discovery

of,

knowledge

about,

or

7

potential

disclosure

of

the

victim’s

sex,

sexual

orientation,

8

or

gender

identity.

9

EXPLANATION

10

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

11

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

12

This

bill

specifies

that

a

defense

of

justification

is

not

13

available

to

a

person

who

is

the

subject

of

a

nonviolent

sexual

14

advance

who

commits

a

violent

crime

upon

another

person

as

the

15

result

of

that

sexual

advance

or

solely

as

the

result

of

the

16

person’s

discovery

of,

knowledge

about,

or

potential

disclosure

17

of

the

victim’s

sex,

sexual

orientation,

or

gender

identity.

18

-1-

LSB

6732XS

(2)

91

as/js

1/

1