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SF571 • 2026

A bill for an act relating to defense subpoenas in criminal cases, and providing penalties.(Formerly SSB 1055 .)

A bill for an act relating to defense subpoenas in criminal cases, and providing penalties.(Formerly SSB 1055 .)

Passed Legislature

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

Sponsor
COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Last action
2025-03-24
Official status
Read first time, referred to Judiciary. H.J. 789 .
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 defense subpoenas in criminal cases, and providing penalties.(Formerly SSB 1055 .)

A bill for an act relating to defense subpoenas in criminal cases, and providing penalties.(Formerly SSB 1055 .)

What This Bill Does

  • A bill for an act relating to defense subpoenas in criminal cases, and providing penalties.(Formerly SSB 1055 .)

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. 2025-03-24 Iowa Legislature

    Read first time, referred to Judiciary. H.J. 789 .

  2. 2025-03-24 Iowa Legislature

    Message from Senate. H.J. 777 .

  3. 2025-03-24 Iowa Legislature

    Immediate message. S.J. 619 .

  4. 2025-03-24 Iowa Legislature

    Passed Senate , yeas 34, nays 15. S.J. 617 .

  5. 2025-03-24 Iowa Legislature

    Fiscal note .

  6. 2025-03-10 Iowa Legislature

    Committee report, approving bill. S.J. 473 .

  7. 2025-03-10 Iowa Legislature

    Introduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 460 .

Official Summary Text

A bill for an act relating to defense subpoenas in criminal cases, and providing penalties.(Formerly SSB 1055 .)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
Senate

File

571

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

571

BY

COMMITTEE

ON

JUDICIARY

(SUCCESSOR

TO

SSB

1055)

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

defense

subpoenas

in

criminal

cases,

and

1

providing

penalties.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

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S.F.

571

Section

1.

Section

815.9,

subsection

1,

unnumbered

1

paragraph

1,

Code

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

For

purposes

of

this

chapter

,

chapters

13B

,

229A

,

232

,

665

,

3

812

,

814

,

and

822

,

and

section

sections

811.1A

and

821A.1

,

and

4

the

rules

of

criminal

procedure,

a

person

is

indigent

if

the

5

person

is

entitled

to

an

attorney

appointed

by

the

court

as

6

follows:

7

Sec.

2.

NEW

SECTION

.

821A.1

Defense

subpoenas

in

criminal

8

actions.

9

1.

a.

A

criminal

defendant

or

counsel

acting

on

the

10

defendant’s

behalf

shall

not

issue

any

subpoena

for

documents

11

or

other

evidence

except

upon

application

to

the

court.

An

12

application

shall

not

be

granted

unless

a

defendant

proves

by

a

13

preponderance

of

the

evidence

all

of

the

following:

14

(1)

There

is

a

compelling

need

for

the

evidence

sought

and

15

that

such

evidence

is

material,

necessary,

exculpatory,

and

16

admissible

at

trial.

17

(2)

The

evidence

sought

does

not

include

the

private

18

information

of

a

crime

victim

or

any

other

person

except

for

19

the

defendant’s

own

private

information.

20

b.

For

the

purposes

of

this

subsection:

21

(1)

“Exculpatory”

means

information

that

tends

to

negate

the

22

guilt

of

the

defendant

and

not

information

that

is

unrelated

to

23

the

case

and

is

merely

impeaching

or

substantially

cumulative

24

in

nature.

25

(2)

“Private

information”

means

information

immaterial

to

26

the

case

for

which

a

person

has

a

reasonable

expectation

of

27

privacy

including

but

not

limited

to

information

the

state

28

would

need

a

search

warrant

to

obtain,

nonpublic

electronic

29

communications,

and

information

that

would

reveal

personal

30

information

not

related

to

the

case.

31

2.

Notwithstanding

any

rule

of

criminal

procedure

32

concerning

the

issuance

of

a

subpoena,

this

section

is

the

33

exclusive

mechanism

for

a

criminal

defendant

or

counsel

acting

34

on

the

defendant’s

behalf

to

issue

a

subpoena

for

documents

or

35

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571

other

evidence.

1

3.

An

application

for

a

defense

subpoena

shall

not

be

filed

2

or

reviewed

ex

parte.

3

4.

The

prosecuting

attorney

shall

not

be

required

to

execute

4

or

effectuate

any

order

or

subpoena

issued

pursuant

to

this

5

section.

6

5.

A

crime

victim

or

other

party

who

is

the

subject

of

7

a

subpoena

shall

not

be

required

by

the

court

to

execute

a

8

waiver.

9

6.

Upon

application

by

a

crime

victim

or

the

prosecuting

10

attorney,

the

court

shall

appoint

an

attorney

to

represent

a

11

person

or

entity

served

with

a

defense

subpoena

if

the

person

12

or

entity

is

determined

to

be

indigent

pursuant

to

section

13

815.9.

Counsel

appointed

pursuant

to

this

subsection

shall

be

14

paid

from

the

indigent

defense

fund

established

pursuant

to

15

section

815.11.

16

7.

Documents

or

other

evidence

obtained

through

a

defense

17

subpoena

must

be

provided

to

the

prosecuting

attorney

within

18

five

business

days

after

the

receipt

of

the

documents

or

other

19

evidence.

20

8.

Documents

or

other

evidence

obtained

through

a

defense

21

subpoena

that

does

not

comply

with

this

section

shall

not

be

22

admissible

in

any

criminal

action

if

offered

by

the

defendant.

23

9.

The

court

may

sanction

an

attorney

for

knowingly

issuing

24

a

defense

subpoena

in

violation

of

this

section.

25

10.

An

applicant

for

postconviction

relief

shall

not

be

26

entitled

to

relief

on

a

claim

of

ineffective

assistance

of

27

counsel

when

that

claim

is

predicated

upon

evidence

that

28

was

obtained

through

a

defense

subpoena

and

required

to

be

29

disclosed

pursuant

to

this

section.

30

EXPLANATION

31

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

32

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

33

This

bill

relates

to

defense

subpoenas

in

criminal

cases.

34

The

bill

provides

that

a

criminal

defendant

or

counsel

35

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571

acting

on

the

defendant’s

behalf

shall

not

issue

any

subpoena

1

for

documents

or

other

evidence

except

upon

application

to

the

2

court.

An

application

shall

not

be

granted

unless

a

defendant

3

proves

by

a

preponderance

of

the

evidence

there

is

a

compelling

4

need

for

the

evidence

sought

and

that

such

evidence

is

5

material,

necessary,

exculpatory,

and

admissible

at

trial;

and

6

the

evidence

sought

does

not

include

the

private

information

of

7

a

crime

victim

or

any

other

person

except

for

the

defendant’s

8

own

private

information.

9

Notwithstanding

any

rule

of

criminal

procedure

concerning

10

the

issuance

of

a

subpoena,

the

bill

provides

that

the

11

procedure

set

forth

in

the

bill

is

the

exclusive

mechanism

12

for

a

criminal

defendant

or

counsel

acting

on

behalf

of

the

13

defendant

to

issue

a

subpoena

for

documents

or

other

evidence.

14

Documents

or

other

evidence

obtained

by

a

subpoena

that

does

15

not

comply

with

the

requirements

of

the

bill

shall

not

be

16

admissible

in

any

criminal

action

if

offered

by

the

defendant,

17

and

an

attorney

who

knowingly

issues

a

defense

subpoena

that

18

does

not

comply

with

the

requirements

of

the

bill

may

be

19

sanctioned

by

the

court.

An

application

for

a

defense

subpoena

20

shall

not

be

made

or

reviewed

ex

parte.

Any

documents

or

21

evidence

obtained

by

a

defense

subpoena

must

be

provided

to

the

22

prosecuting

attorney

within

five

business

days

of

obtaining

the

23

documents

or

evidence.

24

The

bill

provides

that

upon

application

by

a

crime

victim

or

25

the

prosecuting

attorney,

the

court

shall

appoint

an

attorney

26

to

represent

a

person

or

entity

served

with

a

defense

subpoena,

27

if

the

person

or

entity

is

indigent.

28

The

bill

provides

that

an

applicant

for

postconviction

29

relief

shall

not

be

entitled

to

relief

on

a

claim

of

30

ineffective

assistance

of

counsel

when

that

claim

is

predicated

31

upon

evidence

that

was

obtained

through

a

defense

subpoena

and

32

required

to

be

disclosed

under

the

bill.

33

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