Iowa statute
Iowa Code § 915.80 — Definitions
Current through 2026 Iowa Code (enactments effective on or before 2026-01-01, through the 2025 Regular Session, 91st G.A.)
Part of Subchapter VII: Victim Compensation, Iowa Code.
Full text of Iowa Code § 915.80
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.
As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. “Compensation” means moneys awarded by the department as authorized in this subchapter.
2. “Crime” means conduct that occurs or is attempted in this state, poses a substantial threat of personal injury or death, and is punishable as a felony or misdemeanor, or would be so punishable but for the fact that the person engaging in the conduct lacked the capacity to commit the crime under the laws of this state. “Crime” does not include conduct arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle, motorcycle, motorized bicycle, train, boat, or aircraft except for violations of section 321.261, 321.277, 321J.2, 462A.7, 462A.12, 462A.14, or 707.6A, or when the intention is to cause personal injury or death. A license revocation under section 321J.9 or 321J.12 shall be considered by the department as evidence of a violation of section 321J.2 for the purposes of this subchapter. A license suspension or revocation under section 462A.14, 462A.14B, or 462A.23 shall be considered by the department as evidence of a violation of section 462A.14 for the purposes of this subchapter.
3. “Department” means the department of justice.
4. “Dependent” means a person wholly or partially dependent upon a victim for care or support and includes a child of the victim born after the victim’s death.
5. “Emergency relocation” means a relocation that takes place within thirty days of the date of a crime or the discovery of a crime, or within thirty days after a crime could reasonably be reported. “Emergency relocation” also includes a relocation that takes place within the thirty days before or after an offender related to the crime is released from incarceration.
6. “Housing assistance” means living expenses associated with owning or renting housing, including essential utilities, intended to maintain or reestablish the living arrangement, health, and safety of a victim impacted by a crime.
7. “Secondary victim” means the victim’s spouse, children, parents, and siblings, and any person who resides in the victim’s household at the time of the crime or at the time of the discovery of the crime. “Secondary victim” does not include persons who are the survivors of a victim who dies as a result of a crime.
8. “Survivor of a deceased victim” means a survivor who, at the time of the crime, is a spouse, former spouse, child, foster child, parent, legal guardian, foster parent, stepparent, sibling, or foster sibling of a victim, or a person cohabiting with, or otherwise related by blood or affinity to, a victim, if the victim dies as a result of a crime, a good faith effort to prevent the commission of a crime, or a good faith effort to apprehend a person suspected of committing a crime.
9. “Victim” means a person who suffers personal injury or death as a result of any of the following:
a. A crime.
b. The good faith effort of a person attempting to prevent a crime.
c. The good faith effort of a person to apprehend a person suspected of committing a crime.
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Legal terms used in this section
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