Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — People convicted of several serious crimes would face a minimum 20-year prison sentence without parole under a bill advancing in the Iowa House.
Mahaska County Attorney Andrew Ritland says he’s prosecuted people with more than 10 separate felony convictions, but each sentence was no more than a year or two.
Wayne Ford, a former member of the Iowa House, says he and others worked hard to reduce the racial disparity in Iowa prisons after a 2007 report found the ratio of blacks to whites in Iowa prisons was highest in the nation. He’s urging lawmakers to reject the mandatory 20-year sentences for habitual violent offenders.
The Iowa State Sheriffs’ and Deputies’ Association supports the bill. A lobbyist for the group says the bill would help address repeat offenders by sending a clear signal they face spending two full decades in prison.
The bill has cleared a House subcommittee.
KIWA Staff Photo
