A bill in the Iowa Legislature would allow more strip searches of inmates in city and county jails, in accordance with a U-S Supreme Court ruling. Under the bill, people arrested for simple misdemeanors such as public intoxication or possession of drug paraphernalia could be searched for contraband even without probable cause. Lisa Davis Cook with the Iowa Association for Justice objects. “It’s still taking their clothes off. You still have people taking their clothes off and to make people take their clothes off you should have probable cause for something such as that,” Davis Cook says. Iowa law already allows so-called visual searches without probably cause for more serious offenses. A-C-L-U attorney Pete McRoberts says the bill should only cover violent offenders.

“And leave the college student who is arrested for public intoxication out of this list,” McRoberts says. Marshall County Sheriff’s Department chief deputy, Steve Hoffman, says that could pose a threat to officers. The college student who is arrested for public intoxication, well perhaps he’s also carrying a weapon on him,” Hoffman says. Law enforcement officers say those arrested for minor crimes can still carry weapons into jails, sometimes at the urging of accused felons temporarily housed at the jail. The bill cleared a three-member House committee after skeptics insisted on exempting those who are in custody for a short time and don’t end up in the jail’s general population.

(Radio Iowa)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa’s three public universities may soon have a more uniform admissions policy for students from the growing number of high schools that do not provide class rankings. The Iowa Board of Regents will consider a new formula next week that would affect students from roughly 40 public and private high schools that don’t rank students.

Students from those schools would be automatically admitted if they score above a 245 on a mathematical formula, which is based on ACT scores, grade point average and number of core courses completed. Students who fall below that number would be subject to individual reviews.

The change addresses inconsistencies in how students without class rankings have been scored for admissions by the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press

OSCEOLA, Iowa (AP) — Officials have identified two people who were found dead in a vehicle in Osceola. The Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner says the bodies found are those of 22-year-old Erick Reyna and 27-year-old Noe Flores Rascon. Autopsy results confirm their deaths as homicides. Authorities charged 38-year-old Richard Ryan Lamb Carson with two counts of first-degree murder. They also charged 47-year-old Lynn Ranean Sutton, 43-year-old Tracy Kay Johnson and 42-year-old Christopher Martin Elben with one count of accessory after the fact.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa State Patrol says it didn’t reduce the speed on a citation given to a high-ranking officer. Capt. Ken Clary was cited for driving 92 in a 70-mph zone this month, following an investigation into a November off-duty incident in which he was pulled over and quickly let go by a trooper. Video doesn’t show the speed clocked on radar and no police report was filed. A patrol spokesman had said he didn’t know whether Clary’s speed was reduced on the citation, which can be done at an officer’s discretion. That’s significant because the penalty for driving 25 over the limit is a license suspension.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrats in the Senate say a bill aimed at curtailing wage theft in Iowa would require businesses to be more direct with workers about employment terms. Sen. Bill Dotzler, a Democrat from Waterloo, is co-sponsor of a bill that would require employers to share a written record of employment terms with an employee at the start of a job. The measure would also define penalty terms and expand protection for whistleblowers.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Governor Terry Branstad is out of the hospital but won’t have any more public appearances for the rest of the week. Branstad was rushed to the hospital Monday and treated for what his doctor says is a mild case of the flu and dehydration.

An apparent, ongoing dispute over who has control of monies raised for the Shelby Volunteer Fire Department has resulted in the City firing all of its volunteer fire fighters and relying on help instead from nearby crews from Avoca and Minden, and other help from within Shelby and Pottawattamie Counties. WOWT Channel 6 in Omaha reported Tuesday the fire department’s building and equipment remain, but only the fire chief was retained.

Mayor Pro Tem, Bob Richmond, wouldn’t comment on the reason the volunteers were fired, but he said the City wants to rebuild the department with volunteers who are willing to work within the accountability of the city. There’s no set date for when the city hopes to have the fire department back together.

Officials with the City of Shelby say anyone can submit an application to the Fire Chief, including those who were fired, but Richmond said they will have to discuss the current situation with the applicants, regardless of whether they are new or former members of the department.

Des Moines, IOWA – The Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) State Fire Marshal Division (SFM) received an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) for $250,000.  With this grant, the State Fire Marshal Division was able to purchase 10,000 smoke detectors and 10,000 ten-year lithium batteries. To date, the State Fire Marshal Division has already received 5,000 of those smoke detectors–2,500 of those smoke detectors have already been picked up from numerous fire departments from across the state.

On January 26, 2015, the State Fire Marshal Division received the second portion of the initial shipment of 5,000 smoke detectors was delivered to the State Fire Marshal Division Headquarters in Des Moines.  Those 2,500 smoke detectors have already been spoken for by numerous other fire departments across the state. Another shipment of 2,500 smoke detectors will be delivered in March and all of that shipment has been spoken for also.

The final shipment of 2,500 smoke detectors, that will fulfill the 10,000 smoke detectors purchase, will arrive this summer and have not been spoken for by any fire departments. Once all 10,000 of these smoke detectors are installed, a total of approximately 35,000 smoke detectors will have been installed across the state since this program started in 2010.