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.
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.
LBD01411-02-4
S. 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, fire
S. 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.
