Bill Text: NY A01884 | 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 3-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to codes [A01884 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A01884-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1884 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 23, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ, GUNTHER, SILLITTI -- read once and referred 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] EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01411-01-3A. 1884 2 1 emergency medical service technician, or election officer as defined 2 in section 1-104 of the election law, he or she causes physical injury 3 to such train operator, ticket inspector, conductor, signalperson, bus 4 operator, station agent, station cleaner, terminal cleaner, station 5 customer assistant; person whose official duties include the sale or 6 collection of tickets, passes, vouchers or other revenue payment media 7 for use on a train or bus or the collection or handling of revenues 8 therefrom; a person whose official duties include the maintenance, 9 repair, inspection, troubleshooting, testing or cleaning of buses, a 10 transit signal system, elevated or underground subway tracks, transit 11 station structure, including fare equipment, escalators, elevators and 12 other equipment necessary to passenger service, commuter rail tracks or 13 stations, train yard, revenue train in passenger service, or a train or 14 bus station or terminal; or a supervisor of such personnel, city 15 marshal, school crossing guard appointed pursuant to section two hundred 16 eight-a of the general municipal law, traffic enforcement officer, traf- 17 fic enforcement agent, prosecutor as defined in subdivision thirty-one 18 of section 1.20 of the criminal procedure law, registered nurse, 19 licensed practical nurse, public health sanitarian, New York city public 20 health sanitarian, sanitation enforcement agent, New York city sanita- 21 tion worker, emergency medical service paramedic, [or] emergency medical 22 service technician or election officer, while such employee is perform- 23 ing an assigned duty on, or directly related to, the operation of a 24 train or bus, cleaning of a train or bus station or terminal, assisting 25 customers, the sale or collection of tickets, passes, vouchers, or other 26 revenue media for use on a train or bus, or maintenance or cleaning of a 27 train, a bus, or bus station or terminal, signal system, elevated or 28 underground subway tracks, transit station structure, including fare 29 equipment, escalators, elevators and other equipment necessary to 30 passenger service, commuter rail tracks or stations, train yard or 31 revenue train in passenger service, or such city marshal, school cross- 32 ing guard, traffic enforcement officer, traffic enforcement agent, 33 prosecutor as defined in subdivision thirty-one of section 1.20 of the 34 criminal procedure law, registered nurse, licensed practical nurse, 35 public health sanitarian, New York city public health sanitarian, sani- 36 tation enforcement agent, New York city sanitation worker, emergency 37 medical service paramedic, [or] emergency medical service technician, or 38 election officer is performing an assigned duty; or 39 § 2. Section 195.05 of the penal law, as amended by chapter 269 of 40 the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows: 41 § 195.05 Obstructing governmental administration in the second degree. 42 A person is guilty of obstructing governmental administration when he 43 or she intentionally obstructs, impairs or perverts the administration 44 of law or other governmental function or prevents or attempts to prevent 45 a public servant, including an election officer, from performing an 46 official function, by means of intimidation, physical force or interfer- 47 ence, or by means of any independently unlawful act, or by means of 48 interfering, whether or not physical force is involved, with radio, 49 telephone, television or other telecommunications systems owned or oper- 50 ated by the state, or a county, city, town, village, fire district or 51 emergency medical service or by means of releasing a dangerous animal 52 under circumstances evincing the actor's intent that the animal obstruct 53 governmental administration. 54 Obstructing governmental administration is a class A misdemeanor. 55 § 3. Section 240.30 of the penal law is amended by adding a new subdi- 56 vision 3-a to read as follows:A. 1884 3 1 3-a. With the intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm an election 2 officer, he or she strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise subjects another 3 person to physical contact, or attempts or threatens to do the same 4 while such election officer is performing his or her official duties; or 5 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
