1. A person who owns, rents, leases, or uses any part of a building, structure, boat, trailer, or other place offering shelter or seclusion, and who knows, or has reason to know, that the building, structure, boat, trailer, or other place offering shelter or seclusion is being used for the purposes of human trafficking, commits a class “D” felony.

Attorney's Note

Under the Iowa Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Class D felonyup to 5 yearsbetween $1,025 and $10,245
Serious misdemeanorup to 1 yearbetween $430 and $2,560
For details, see Iowa Code902.9 and Iowa Code§ 903.1

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Terms Used In Iowa Code 710A.2B

  • Human trafficking: means participating in a venture to recruit, harbor, transport, supply provisions, or obtain a person for any of the following purposes:
     (1) Forced labor or service that results in involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery. See Iowa Code 710A.1
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • person: means individual, corporation, limited liability company, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. It shall be an affirmative defense to a prosecution of a person pursuant to subsection 1, if immediately upon acquiring knowledge that the building, structure, boat, trailer, or other place offering shelter or seclusion is used for the purposes of human trafficking, the person notifies a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction and fully cooperates with any subsequent investigation.
 3. a. If a law enforcement agency notifies a person who owns, rents, leases, or uses any part of a building, structure, boat, trailer, or other place offering shelter or seclusion of an investigation pursuant to chapter 152C or 157 that may involve the building, structure, boat, trailer, or other place offering shelter or seclusion, the person shall have an affirmative duty to fully cooperate with the investigation.

 b. A person who fails to fully cooperate with an investigation pursuant to paragraph “a” commits a serious misdemeanor.