229A.10 - PETITION FOR DISCHARGE -- PROCEDURE.

        229A.10  PETITION FOR DISCHARGE -- PROCEDURE.
         1.  If the director of human services determines that the person's
      mental abnormality has so changed that the person is not likely to
      engage in predatory acts that constitute sexually violent offenses if
      discharged, the director shall authorize the person to petition the
      court for discharge.  The petition shall be served upon the court and
      the attorney general.  The court, upon receipt of the petition for
      discharge, shall order a hearing within thirty days.  The attorney
      general shall represent the state, and shall have the right to have
      the petitioner examined by an expert or professional person of the
      attorney general's choice.  The hearing shall be before a jury if
      demanded by either the petitioner or the attorney general.  If the
      attorney general objects to the petition for discharge, the burden of
      proof shall be upon the attorney general to show beyond a reasonable
      doubt that the petitioner's mental abnormality or personality
      disorder remains such that the petitioner is likely to engage in
      predatory acts that constitute sexually violent offenses if
      discharged.
         2.  Upon a finding that the state has failed to meet its burden of
      proof under this section, the court shall authorize the committed
      person to be discharged.  
         Section History: Recent Form
         98 Acts, ch 1171, §10; 99 Acts, ch 61, §8, 14; 2002 Acts, ch 1139,
      §15, 27; 2003 Acts, ch 44, §48
         Referred to in § 229A.5B