Heartsill bill helps hunters recover seized property

When Joe Franz shot the largest deer he’d ever seen, he couldn’t believe his luck. In 2014, Franz shot “Palmer,” a record buck on his farm in Marion County. Franz made headlines around the country for bagging the record setting buck. Franz’s good fortune was short lived as the following year he was accused of hunting over bait, a crime in the state of Iowa. Officials from the state’s Department of Natural Resources seized Franz’s trophy buck as evidence.

Franz isn’t the only Iowa hunter who’s had his property seized by the DNR. Rep. Greg Heartsill, R-Columbia, said feedback from numerous constituents prompted him to draft HF 2251. Similar in scope to the changes made to the state’s civil forfeiture legislation passed last year, the bill offers Iowans who’ve had property seized by the DNR a chance to get their possessions back. In researching the bill, Heartsill said he’s heard from several constituents who are unhappy about how the DNR has handled seized property in the past.

The bill received broad bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate and now it’s on Gov. Kim Reynold’s desk, awaiting her signature. Heartsill said he drafted the legislation after he attempted to help several constituents resolve issues with the DNR unsuccessfully. Heartsill said he’s hoping the legislation will help reverse the negative opinion some Iowans have about the agency.

“This perception out there is a real and in order to do your job better you need to handle this internally,” Heartsill said. “Because there’s been a lot of talk and very little action we need to do something to address this.”

There are three main components to the bill. The first section of the bill creates a clear avenue for Iowans who’ve had property seized by the DNR in the course of an investigation have their property returned in the event the charges are dropped, or they are found not guilty in court.

“For anyone who’s had property seized for potential criminal activity without a conviction, it returns their property to them, whether that’s a deer rack, an ATV, a gun, a trap, you name it, anything that’s been seized,” Heartsill said.

The second component will require the DNR to keep accurate records with regards to the items they’ve seized during the course of their investigations. Heartsill said he spoke with several constituents who have had property seized by the DNR that DNR officials were unable to account for. One constituent had a shotgun that was a family heirloom seized by the DNR. After attending the DNR’s annual auction in an attempt to buy the gun back the following year, it was nowhere to be found. Heartsill said the language in the bill was modeled after the same language legislators used last year in drafting the civil forfeiture reform legislation.

“It’s a transparency piece, so the public is able to look into that and see what happens,” Heartsill said. “It’s making sure the general public has access to tracking items that have been seized by the DNR.”

The third component to bill prevents DNR employees or members of their immediate family from participating in the DNR auctions. Heartsill said the legislation is comparable to the provision that prohibits Iowa Lottery employees from participating in the lottery. If someone from the lottery won the lotto it would be “bad optics,” Hearstill said.

While the legislation will bring sweeping reforms to the DNR, Heartsill said he doesn’t believe the agency is rife with corruption. Rather, he’s hoping to create a clear, transparent process that will make it easier for Iowans to hold the department accountable.

“My desire is not to paint all of the DNR with the same brush, what we’re trying to get at is there’s apparently some bad practices happening,” Heartsill said.

Franz may not be the only Iowan who’s had property seized by the DNR, but he may be the most outraged. Without the assistance of Heartsill and other state legislators, Franz said it’s unlikely he would have gotten his property back.

“Another person probably wouldn’t have, or it would have taken them years,” Franz said. “I built some strong relationships with some state legislators that were just appalled by what happened.”

The charges stemmed from an investigation by the DNR that uncovered two mineral sites on Franz’s farm. Salt blocks had been in place at both sites, and over time the minerals had leached into the soil. DNR officials contended that Franz had knowingly used these sites to lure the deer onto his property, a charge that Franz vehemently denied. During the course of the investigation, DNR officials seized Franz’s muzzleloader, crossbow and trophy buck. The stress of the allegations affected his health Franz said, and his family was subjected to harassment and death threats.

“I think this will affect for the rest of my life in a negative fashion, you see it on TV, but you have no idea what it’s like until it happens to you,” Franz said.

Outraged, Franz hired attorney Bill Kutmus of West Des Moines and fought the DNR in court. Franz had previously contacted DNR officials about the mineral sites, who told Franz that he didn’t need to worry about them. After tarping both locations to prevent deer from accessing the mineral laden soil, Franz assumed he’d taken care of the issue.

It wasn’t until 2016 and a lengthy court battle that Franz was exonerated and able to reclaim his property. Despite Franz’s legal success, many other hunters don’t have the same results Franz had. Heartsill said many of constituents who asked him to address this issue have had property seized by the DNR, never to be seen again. Without the assistance of state legislators, Franz said it’s unlikely he would have had his trophy buck returned.

“That’s why Greg (Heartsill) is trying to get these bills passed, to give the average citizen a fighting chance to get their property back,” Franz said. “I had the financial means to fight back but the average hunter in Iowa doesn’t.”

While Franz may have won his case, little about his life is the same. He sold the Marion County farm to cover his legal bills, and he said he’s lost interest in hunting following all of the publicity the case received. Still, he’s happy to see the legislation moving forward. By speaking out, he’s hoping other Iowa hunters won’t face the same harassment he’s endured.

“I will spend every waking moment of every day making sure no other Iowan has to go through what my family and I did,” Franz said. “I am going to be an advocate for Iowa hunters to make sure this never happens again.”

As for “Palmer,” the record setting buck? For Franz, working to protect other hunters is more important than his trophy buck.

“I don’t care about the deer,” Franz said. “I want to protect the good DNR officers and their reputations and the reputations of good law abiding Iowa hunters.”

Contact David Dolmage at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or ddolmage@newtondailynews.com