Iowa statute
Iowa Code § 904.503 — Transfers persons with mental illness
Current through 2026 Iowa Code (enactments effective on or before 2026-01-01, through the 2025 Regular Session, 91st G.A.)
Part of Subchapter V: Commitment, Transfer, and General Supervision of Inmates, Iowa Code.
Full text of Iowa Code § 904.503
Statutory text current through the 2026 Iowa Code (enactments effective on or before 2026-01-01, through the 2025 Regular Session, 91st G.A.). This publication reproduces the statutory text of the official 2026 Iowa Code (Legislative Services Agency); it is not the official publication of the State of Iowa.
1. a. The director may transfer at the expense of the department an inmate of one institution to another institution under the director’s control if the director is satisfied that the transfer is in the best interests of the institutions or inmates.
b. The director may transfer at the expense of the department an inmate under the director’s jurisdiction from any institution supervised by the director to another institution under the control of the director of health and human services with the consent and approval of the director of health and human services and may transfer an inmate to any other institution for mental or physical examination or treatment retaining jurisdiction over the inmate when so transferred.
c. If the juvenile court waives its jurisdiction over a child over thirteen and under eighteen years of age pursuant to section 232.45 so that the child may be prosecuted as an adult and if the child is convicted of a public offense in the district court and committed to the custody of the director under section 901.7, the director may request transfer of the child to the state training school under this section. If the director of health and human services consents and approves the transfer, the child may be retained in temporary custody by the state training school until attaining the age of eighteen, at which time the child shall be returned to the custody of the director of the department of corrections to serve the remainder of the sentence imposed by the district court. If the child becomes a security risk or becomes a danger to other residents of the state training school at any time before reaching eighteen years of age, the director of health and human services may immediately return the child to the custody of the director of the department of corrections to serve the remainder of the sentence.
2. When the director has cause to believe that an inmate in a state correctional institution is mentally ill, the Iowa department of corrections may cause the inmate to be transferred to the Iowa medical and classification center, or to another appropriate facility within the department, for examination, diagnosis, or treatment. The inmate shall be confined at that center or facility or a state mental health institute until the expiration of the inmate’s sentence or until the inmate is pronounced in good mental health. If the inmate is pronounced in good mental health before the expiration of the inmate’s sentence, the inmate shall be returned to the state correctional institution until the expiration of the inmate’s sentence.
3. When the director has reason to believe that a prisoner in a state correctional institution, whose sentence has expired, is mentally ill, the director shall cause examination to be made of the prisoner by competent physicians who shall certify to the director whether the prisoner is in good mental health or mentally ill. The director may make further investigation and if satisfied that the prisoner is mentally ill, the director may cause the prisoner to be transferred to one of the hospitals for persons with mental illness, or may order the prisoner to be confined in the Iowa medical and classification center.
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This reference is informational and is not legal advice.