An Iowa Senate subcommittee advanced a bill Wednesday that would make assaulting referees a Class D felony, in addition to providing civil liability protections to sports officials.

Sen. Jeff Reichman, R-Montrose, said he proposed Senate File 50 in light of the assault of a referee in December at a high school basketball game in Burlington by a parent who disagreed with a call during the game. The alleged assailant had previously pleaded guilty to assaulting a referee at a 2022 basketball game at Fort Madison Middle School and was charged with a serious misdemeanor.

It’s the same guy, so obviously there needs to be some penalties, because he offended once, (he) was charged with that, it didn’t deter him from assaulting again,” Reichman said, adding this situation “definitely shows the reason that these officials need more protections.”

Others, like Jacob Holck, a football official, said the proposal would help stop increasing assaults and threats against people working as sports officials throughout the state.

“I personally have had experiences here in Des Moines metro where I had law enforcement watch me walk out and go to the car and immediately leave,” Holck said. “I think that this is a good bill, and this is a good step forward to give officials protection.”

However, Andrew Mertens with the Iowa Association for Justice said while assaults on sports officials are “real issues” facing Iowa, raising the penalties and providing civil liability protections may not be the best approach to preventing these crimes. He also said the language exempting sports officials from liability in civil cases for injuries or damages for their “actions or inactions” when acting as an officiant could be an issue when problems arise during a sports game.

“So if they fail to keep the peace on the field, then they wouldn’t be responsible for that inaction,” Mertens said. “… I would imagine keeping the peace on the field — certainly the responsibility of the parents and coaches, but also definitely responsibility of officials. To take that responsibility away entirely does not seem like a good move.”

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said he did not support putting sports officials in a special class when judging assaults that would be “above and beyond the protections that are already in place for everybody else in society.” He said Iowa law currently contains higher penalties and protections for people who serve in fields like law enforcement and emergency services — fields “where they are doing their duty to help save or protect the safety of other people” — but that he did not believe sports officials met that criteria.

“If our penalties in general for assault aren’t sufficient to deter, then we should raise the penalties for assault,” Quirmbach said. “… If you want to take that approach, I’m open to considering that, but I don’t see a justification for raising a sports official to that category of a police officer.”

Sen. Scott Webster, R-Bettendorf, said that throughout his time playing sports he has seen referees have “gotten a harder and harder job,” and supported providing additional protections for these officials.

“I think you’re public servants,” Webster said. “Contrary to what other people may believe, I think you’re a public servant. … And what you do — it’s very low pay. You’re a servant to our children, to our teens, and those beyond that. I believe you do have certain circumstances where you need to be protected.”

Reichman and Webster supported the bill moving forward to the full Senate Judiciary Committee, saying that discussions will continue on potential changes to the liability language. A companion bill also advanced Wednesday from a House subcommittee.