Bill Text: NY S09387 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Includes within the class D felony of assault in the second degree, the intentional causing of physical injury to an election officer while such person is performing their assigned duties; amends aggravated harassment and obstruction of governmental administration to include election officers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-05-14 - REFERRED TO CODES [S09387 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S09387-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9387 IN SENATE May 14, 2024 ___________ Introduced by Sen. SKOUFIS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Codes AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to increasing penalties for assault, obstruction and harassment of election officers The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 11 of section 120.05 of the penal law, as 2 amended by chapter 233 of the laws of 2022, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 11. With intent to cause physical injury to a train operator, ticket 5 inspector, conductor, signalperson, bus operator, station agent, station 6 cleaner, terminal cleaner, station customer assistant; person whose 7 official duties include the sale or collection of tickets, passes, 8 vouchers, or other revenue payment media for use on a train or bus or 9 the collection or handling of revenues therefrom; a person whose offi- 10 cial duties include the maintenance, repair, inspection, troubleshoot- 11 ing, testing or cleaning of buses, a transit signal system, elevated or 12 underground subway tracks, transit station structure, including fare 13 equipment, escalators, elevators and other equipment necessary to 14 passenger service, commuter rail tracks or stations, train yard, revenue 15 train in passenger service, or a train or bus station or terminal; or a 16 supervisor of such personnel, employed by any transit or commuter rail 17 agency, authority or company, public or private, whose operation is 18 authorized by New York state or any of its political subdivisions, a 19 city marshal, a school crossing guard appointed pursuant to section two 20 hundred eight-a of the general municipal law, a traffic enforcement 21 officer, traffic enforcement agent, prosecutor as defined in subdivision 22 thirty-one of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, sanitation 23 enforcement agent, New York city sanitation worker, public health sani- 24 tarian, New York city public health sanitarian, registered nurse, 25 licensed practical nurse, emergency medical service paramedic, [or] 26 emergency medical service technician, [he or she] or election officer as 27 defined in section 1-104 of the election law, such person causes phys- 28 ical injury to such train operator, ticket inspector, conductor, signal- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01411-02-4S. 9387 2 1 person, bus operator, station agent, station cleaner, terminal cleaner, 2 station customer assistant; person whose official duties include the 3 sale or collection of tickets, passes, vouchers or other revenue payment 4 media for use on a train or bus or the collection or handling of reven- 5 ues therefrom; a person whose official duties include the maintenance, 6 repair, inspection, troubleshooting, testing or cleaning of buses, a 7 transit signal system, elevated or underground subway tracks, transit 8 station structure, including fare equipment, escalators, elevators and 9 other equipment necessary to passenger service, commuter rail tracks or 10 stations, train yard, revenue train in passenger service, or a train or 11 bus station or terminal; or a supervisor of such personnel, city 12 marshal, school crossing guard appointed pursuant to section two hundred 13 eight-a of the general municipal law, traffic enforcement officer, traf- 14 fic enforcement agent, prosecutor as defined in subdivision thirty-one 15 of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, registered nurse, 16 licensed practical nurse, public health sanitarian, New York city public 17 health sanitarian, sanitation enforcement agent, New York city sanita- 18 tion worker, emergency medical service paramedic, [or] emergency medical 19 service technician or election officer, while such employee is perform- 20 ing an assigned duty on, or directly related to, the operation of a 21 train or bus, cleaning of a train or bus station or terminal, assisting 22 customers, the sale or collection of tickets, passes, vouchers, or other 23 revenue media for use on a train or bus, or maintenance or cleaning of a 24 train, a bus, or bus station or terminal, signal system, elevated or 25 underground subway tracks, transit station structure, including fare 26 equipment, escalators, elevators and other equipment necessary to 27 passenger service, commuter rail tracks or stations, train yard or 28 revenue train in passenger service, or such city marshal, school cross- 29 ing guard, traffic enforcement officer, traffic enforcement agent, 30 prosecutor as defined in subdivision thirty-one of section 1.20 of the 31 criminal procedure law, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, 32 public health sanitarian, New York city public health sanitarian, sani- 33 tation enforcement agent, New York city sanitation worker, emergency 34 medical service paramedic, [or] emergency medical service technician, or 35 election officer is performing an assigned duty; or 36 § 2. Subdivision 11 of section 120.05 of the penal law, as amended by 37 section 2 of part Z of chapter 55 of the laws of 2024, is amended to 38 read as follows: 39 11. With intent to cause physical injury to a train operator, ticket 40 inspector, conductor, signalperson, bus operator, station agent, station 41 cleaner, terminal cleaner, station customer assistant, traffic checker; 42 person whose official duties include the sale or collection of tickets, 43 passes, vouchers, or other revenue payment media for use on a train, 44 bus, or ferry the collection or handling of revenues therefrom; a person 45 whose official duties include the maintenance, repair, inspection, trou- 46 bleshooting, testing or cleaning of buses or ferries, a transit signal 47 system, elevated or underground subway tracks, transit station struc- 48 ture, including fare equipment, escalators, elevators and other equip- 49 ment necessary to passenger service, commuter rail tracks or stations, 50 train yard, revenue train in passenger service, a ferry station, or a 51 train or bus station or terminal; or a supervisor of such personnel, 52 employed by any transit or commuter rail agency, authority or company, 53 public or private, whose operation is authorized by New York state or 54 any of its political subdivisions, a city marshal, a school crossing 55 guard appointed pursuant to section two hundred eight-a of the general 56 municipal law, a traffic enforcement officer, traffic enforcement agent,S. 9387 3 1 prosecutor as defined in subdivision thirty-one of section 1.20 of the 2 criminal procedure law, sanitation enforcement agent, New York city 3 sanitation worker, public health sanitarian, New York city public health 4 sanitarian, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, emergency 5 medical service paramedic, [or] emergency medical service technician, 6 [he or she] or election officer as defined in section 1-104 of the 7 election law, such person causes physical injury to such train operator, 8 ticket inspector, conductor, signalperson, bus operator, station agent, 9 station cleaner, terminal cleaner, station customer assistant, traffic 10 checker; person whose official duties include the sale or collection of 11 tickets, passes, vouchers or other revenue payment media for use on a 12 train, bus, or ferry or the collection or handling of revenues there- 13 from; a person whose official duties include the maintenance, repair, 14 inspection, troubleshooting, testing or cleaning of buses or ferries, a 15 transit signal system, elevated or underground subway tracks, transit 16 station structure, including fare equipment, escalators, elevators and 17 other equipment necessary to passenger service, commuter rail tracks or 18 stations, train yard, revenue train in passenger service, a ferry 19 station, or a train or bus station or terminal; or a supervisor of such 20 personnel, city marshal, school crossing guard appointed pursuant to 21 section two hundred eight-a of the general municipal law, traffic 22 enforcement officer, traffic enforcement agent, prosecutor as defined in 23 subdivision thirty-one of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, 24 registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, public health sanitarian, 25 New York city public health sanitarian, sanitation enforcement agent, 26 New York city sanitation worker, emergency medical service paramedic, 27 [or] emergency medical service technician, or election officer, while 28 such employee is performing an assigned duty on, or directly related to, 29 the operation of a train or bus, cleaning of a train or bus station or 30 terminal, assisting customers, checking traffic, the sale or collection 31 of tickets, passes, vouchers, or other revenue media for use on a train, 32 bus, or ferry or maintenance or cleaning of a train, a bus, a ferry, or 33 bus station or terminal, signal system, elevated or underground subway 34 tracks, transit station structure, including fare equipment, escalators, 35 elevators and other equipment necessary to passenger service, commuter 36 rail tracks or stations, train yard or revenue train in passenger 37 service, a ferry station, or such city marshal, school crossing guard, 38 traffic enforcement officer, traffic enforcement agent, prosecutor as 39 defined in subdivision thirty-one of section 1.20 of the criminal proce- 40 dure law, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, public health 41 sanitarian, New York city public health sanitarian, sanitation enforce- 42 ment agent, New York city sanitation worker, emergency medical service 43 paramedic, [or] emergency medical service technician, or election offi- 44 cer is performing an assigned duty; or 45 § 3. Section 195.05 of the penal law, as amended by section 16 of part 46 G of chapter 55 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows: 47 § 195.05 Obstructing governmental administration in the second degree. 48 A person is guilty of obstructing governmental administration when: 49 1. Such person intentionally obstructs, impairs or perverts the admin- 50 istration of law or other governmental function or prevents or attempts 51 to prevent a public servant, including an election officer, from 52 performing an official function, by means of intimidation, physical 53 force or interference, or by means of any independently unlawful act, or 54 by means of interfering, whether or not physical force is involved, with 55 radio, telephone, television or other telecommunications systems owned 56 or operated by the state, or a county, city, town, village, fireS. 9387 4 1 district or emergency medical service or by means of releasing a danger- 2 ous animal under circumstances evincing the actor's intent that the 3 animal obstruct governmental administration; or 4 2. With the intent to violate a closing order, order to seal, tempo- 5 rary closing order, or temporary order to seal issued by a governmental 6 entity to address a public health or safety concern, such person damages 7 or removes any padlock or other device installed for the purpose of 8 effectuating such order. 9 Obstructing governmental administration is a class A misdemeanor. 10 § 4. Section 240.30 of the penal law is amended by adding a new subdi- 11 vision 3-b to read as follows: 12 3-b. With the intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm an election 13 officer, such person strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise subjects 14 another person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the 15 same while such election officer is performing such election officer's 16 official duties; or 17 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that 18 if section 2 of part Z of chapter 55 of the laws of 2024 shall not have 19 taken effect on or before such date then section two of this act shall 20 take effect on the same date and in the same manner as such chapter of 21 the laws of 2024, takes effect.
