Iowa legislators reintroduce ‘Sarah’s Law’ on 7-year anniversary of her death

WASHINGTON D.C., Iowa (KCRG) - Tuesday marked 7 years since a western Iowa woman was killed - and lawmakers are renewing their push to pass a bill in her name.

Twenty-one-year-old Sarah Root was killed after she was struck by a man driving drunk.

He was in the country illegally, but due to a gap in federal law, he was able to bond out and fled the country.

Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst and Republican Representative Randy Feenstra reintroduced Sarah’s law on the anniversary of her death. They say they want to make sure something like this never happens again.

”Well, what we would like to see is the mandatory detention of someone if the federal government calls ICE in this case, or call that local official and say detain that individual then that could happen. But right now, we don’t have that ability for a mandatory detention,” said Senator Jodi Ernst.

This is the seventh time lawmakers have tried to pass Sarah’s law.