Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird on Friday declared her support for a measure requiring drivers to use electronic devices in a hands-free mode.

“When someone is on their cell phone and not paying attention to the road they’re endangering innocent people on the road just like drunk drivers do,” she said during a visit to Iowa Central Community College.

“It’s an important issue,” she added.

State Rep. Ann Meyer, R-Fort Dodge, has repeatedly introduced legislation requiring electronic devices to be used in hands-free mode while driving. A version of the bill is working its way through the legislative process this year and Meyer is hopeful that 2025 is the year it becomes law.

Bird came to Iowa Central’s Fort Dodge campus to learn about its law enforcement training program and to meet with area law enforcement personnel. Representatives of the college, including law enforcement students, were joined by officers from the Iowa State Patrol, Fort Dodge Police Department, Gowrie Police Department, Webster County Sheriff’s Office and Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.

“We offer a broad-based career education to prepare students for the rigors of a career in law enforcement,” Joe Wright, the college’s criminal justice program coordinator, told Bird.

Following a discussion with the college and law enforcement representatives, Bird said she has asked the legislature to pass two items this year.

She said the first is a bill that would start the process of amending the state constitution to prevent children who have been victimized by violent crimes from having to be in the courtroom with their accused attacker.

Bird said that for years, such children could testify remotely via a closed circuit television setup. But in the summer of 2024, a Supreme Court ruling made that illegal.

The measure has passed the House Judiciary Committee, she said. It must be approved by the legislature twice and be approved by the voters in order to be added to the state constitution.

The other bill would increase the penalties for assaulting police officers and other public safety and medical personnel.

Under Iowa law, that offense is called assault on persons in certain occupations. Someone who assaults a law enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical personnel or emergency room staffer is charged with that crime.

Bird said the level of the offense and the severity of the punishment depends on what the person is accused of doing. She said under her bill, every offense would “move up one level.” For example, a simple misdemeanor case of assault on persons in certain occupations would become an aggravated misdemeanor with a heavier penalty.

“I feel a lot of support from our legislators for our law enforcement officers,” Bird said.