Senate panel advances death penalty bill for murder of peace officers
Iowa senators are considering a bill to reinstate the death penalty in Iowa. (Photo by)
A Senate subcommittee advanced this year's proposal to reinstate the death penalty in Iowa in cases where a person is found guilty of the intentional killing of a peace officer.
Iowa abolished capital punishment in 1965. But Republican lawmakers have proposed bringing back the practice for specific crimes multiple times in recent years. In 2024, lawmakers considered a proposal to reinstate the death penalty for cases in which a person is convicted of first-degree murder for intentionally killing a police officer or prison employee.
The 2025 bill, Senate File 320, is another attempt at implementing the death penalty for the crime of first-degree murder of law enforcement officers. Under current Iowa law, the intentional killing of a peace officer, correctional officer, public employee, or hostage by a person imprisoned in a correctional institution constitutes a first-degree murder charge. The legislation would create a new first-degree murder charge for when a person 'intentionally kills a peace officer, who is on duty, under any circumstances, with the knowledge that the person killed is a peace officer.'
The death penalty, by lethal injection, could be considered when a person is convicted on the charge of intentionally killing a law enforcement officer.
Sen. Dave Rowley, R-Spirit Lake, said the legislation came at behest of the family of Officer Kevin Cram, an Algona police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty in 2023, as well as others in the state who expressed concerns about justice served after law enforcement officers are killed.
'These people came forward with this bill, and I think it needs a serious discussion on where the death penalty, where life imprisonment applies, and where it may not,' Rowley said.
A majority of speakers at the subcommittee meeting were opposed to the legislation. Many representing faith groups said the state as an entity should not have the power to decide to end an individual's life. Connie Ryan, executive director of Interfaith Alliance of Iowa, read a letter from 170 faith leaders that called these proposals 'wrong, immoral, and contrary to the facts' about the effectiveness of the death penalty as punishment and a deterrent for crime. She said she read the same letter during numerous meetings since 2018 in opposition to death penalty bills.
The Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit organization focused on capital punishment, found at least 200 people in the U.S. who have been sentenced to death since 1973 were wrongfully convicted and have been exonerated. Multiple studies, compiled by the organization, have found the death penalty does not effectively deter crime in states where the punishment is used.
'The government should not kill a human being as retribution or punishment, regardless of the person's actions,' Ryan said. 'It is unfair, it is unnecessary, it is ineffective, and it is morally wrong.'
In addition to the moral arguments against the death penalty, several opponents to the measure said reinstating the death penalty would come at a high cost to the state. Amy Campbell, representing the League of Women Voters of Iowa, said during her time as a lobbyist at the legislature she has been repeatedly told 'we don't have enough money' for efforts on issues like conservation or Medicaid waiver waiting lists.
'More than a dozen states have found that the death penalty cases are up to 10 times more expensive when comparable to non-death penalty cases,' Campbell said. '(And) I haven't heard the judge the courts talk about their impact to them — there will be a fiscal impact to the courts. There have been in every other state, and … according to a Columbia Law School study, 68% of the cases, death penalty cases, are overturned. So that's a very costly process when we have others waiting for trial.'
Jen Rathje with the Iowa Department of Corrections said the department, working with the Department of Administrative Services, found implementing the death penalty would come at a 'conservative' estimated cost of $3.45 million, a figure that does not take into account additional materials or equipment that would be required to carry out executions. She said estimates have found the cost of an execution would be roughly $9,000, with $2,000 for the pharmaceuticals used for a lethal injection and $7,000 for the cost of contracting an executioner.
Senate Minority Leader Janice Weiner said the costs to the state of hiring an executioner was unintentionally one of the 'most chilling' things she heard brought up in the discussion on the death penalty. She said while she understands why family members of police officers seek this form of justice, she said that reinstating the death penalty is not the best path forward for Iowa.
'I have the greatest, only the greatest, empathy and sympathy for the family of the slain officer. I cannot imagine what it is like to be in their shoes,' Weiner said. 'So I understand and appreciate some of the motivations. At the same time, I just, I really ask that we not do this.'
Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, said he believed there needed to be support for police officers, while also understanding those not in support of the bill were not siding against police.
'I think this conversation is not easy to have,' Webster said. 'I think the conversation will probably continue, and I'm okay with that, because I think we need to continue to have the conversation over these particular items. Because that's what we need to do as Iowans and as Americans, is have difficult conversations and try not to politicize them too much, just try to have the difficult conversation and see which way we move forward.'
Rowley said the death penalty would just be 'an option' in the justice system as families, like the family of Officer Cram, seek closure following the murder of their loved ones.
'Not mandatory, but part of our justice system, integrated in to provide justice, not only for the family, but I also see it as an issue for society as a whole,' Rowley said. 'At some level, I feel — sorry — it needs to be addressed, and that's what brought the bill forward from the family. That's what brings it forward from my heart.'
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