On 3/19/10 Governor Culver signed HF 2233 into law, providing some relief for defendants convicted of PAULA offenses.
In a nutshell, the new PAULA law adds a provision that allows defendants to expunge the charge from their records after a period of two years, provided that no additional convictions take place in that period. (There is an exception for traffic-related convictions, to a certain extent.)
The new law modifies the Public Intoxication law as well, removing the undefined use of the word “exonerate” and replaces it with the more common term “expunge.”
Now students in Iowa City actually have a chance to receive a clean criminal history after receiving a PAULA ticket. It just takes 2 years of good behavior to do so.