Opinion ID: 2047329
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Alleged Lack of Jurisdiction.

Text: A. Untimely notice. Willis asserts that the district court lacked both jurisdiction and authority to consider the petition filed by the attorney general for his commitment as a sexually violent predator because the notice given to the attorney general by the Henry County Sheriff pursuant to Iowa Code section 229A.3(1) (1999) was given less than ninety days prior to Willis's anticipated discharge. This same contention was considered by this court in the recent case of In re Detention of Huss, 688 N.W.2d 58, 62 (Iowa 2004). In that case, we held that the giving of notice to the attorney general under section 229A.3(1) was not required as a condition for the attorney general to file a petition for commitment of a confined person suspected of being a sexually violent predator. Huss, 688 N.W.2d at 63. We determined that the notice the statute envisions is only intended to be a heads-up to an approaching discharge date in case a determination to file a section 229A.4(1) petition appears to be a possibility. Id. Consequently, a failure to give the statutory notice at least ninety days prior to anticipated discharge does not invalidate the proceedings later taken on the attorney general's petition filed pursuant to section 229A.4(1). Id. The facts of the present case illustrate the wisdom of the holding in Huss. Because of the protracted trial proceedings on Willis's third-degree sexual-abuse prosecution and the ultimate verdict convicting him of only a lesser included offense, there was no opportunity to give ninety-days notice to the attorney general prior to the anticipated date of discharge. It is apparent, however, that notice was given as soon as reasonably possible. B. Lack of conviction. Willis's next contention is that he was not confined as a sexually violent predator at the time the attorney general filed the petition for his commitment. He bases this contention on the fact that the attorney general's petition was filed on December 19, 2000, and sentence on Willis's conviction for assault with intent to commit sexual abuse was not imposed until December 26, 2000. The gist of Willis's argument is that he must have been convicted of the sexually violent offense for which he was being held prior to the filing of a petition by the attorney general. He argues that the jury verdict was not a conviction and that his conviction did not occur until his sentencing on December 26. We are convinced that the gap between the verdict and sentencing does not provide any basis for granting Willis relief from his commitment as a sexually violent predator. Neither the language of section 229A.4(1), nor our interpretation of that statute in In re Detention of Gonzales, 658 N.W.2d 102, 103-04 (Iowa 2003), requires that the subject of a petition for a sexually violent predator adjudication be convicted of a sexually violent offense before the petition is filed under section 229A.4(1). It is only necessary that the subject be presently confined for a sexually violent offense. Gonzales, 658 N.W.2d at 104. The basis for the sheriff's custody of Willis at the time the petition was filed was the fact that he had committed a sexually violent offense. This satisfies the statutory requirement for the filing of the petition by the attorney general.