1. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a special state agent authorized by the prosecuting attorney or an assistant attorney general who reasonably determines that an emergency situation described in subsection 2 exists which requires the installation and use of a pen register or a trap and trace device before an order authorizing such installation and use can be obtained with due diligence, may install and use a pen register or trap and trace device, if an order approving the installation or use is applied for and issued in accordance with section 808B.11 within forty-eight hours of the installation.

Attorney's Note

Under the Iowa Code, punishments for crimes depend on the classification. In the case of this section:
ClassPrisonFine
Serious misdemeanorup to 1 yearbetween $430 and $2,560
For details, see Iowa Code§ 903.1

Terms Used In Iowa Code 808B.12

  • Electronic communication: means any transfer of signals, signs, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature transmitted in whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, photoelectronic or photooptical system that affects intrastate, interstate, or foreign commerce, but excludes the following:
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Investigative or law enforcement officer: means a peace officer of this state or one of its political subdivisions or of the United States who is empowered by law to conduct investigations of or to make arrests for criminal offenses, the attorney general, or a county attorney authorized by law to prosecute or participate in the prosecution of criminal offenses. See Iowa Code 808B.1
  • Pen register: means a device or process which records or decodes dialing, routing, addressing, or signaling information, but not the contents of the communication, transmitted by an instrument or facility from which a wire or electronic communication is transmitted. See Iowa Code 808B.1
  • 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
  • Special state agent: means a sworn peace officer member of the department of public safety. See Iowa Code 808B.1
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Trap and trace device: means a device or process which captures the incoming electronic or other impulses which identify the originating number or other dialing, routing, addressing, and signaling information reasonably likely to identify the source of a wire or electronic communication, but does not capture the contents of any communication. See Iowa Code 808B.1
  • year: means twelve consecutive months. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. Subsection 1 applies in the following emergency situations:

 a. Immediate danger of death or serious bodily injury to a person.
 b. Conspiratorial activities characteristic of organized crime.
 c. Immediate threat to a national security interest.
 d. Ongoing attack on a computer that constitutes a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment greater than one year.
 3. In the absence of an authorizing order, such use shall immediately terminate when the information sought is obtained, when the application for the order is denied, or when forty-eight hours have lapsed since the installation of the pen register or trap and trace device, whichever is earlier.
 4. The knowing installation or use by any investigative or law enforcement officer of a pen register or trap and trace device pursuant to subsection 1 without application for the authorizing order within forty-eight hours of the installation constitutes a serious misdemeanor.
 5. A provider of a wire or electronic communication service, landlord, custodian, or other person who furnishes facilities or technical assistance pursuant to this section shall be reasonably compensated for such reasonable expenses incurred in providing such facilities and assistance.