HCS SS SCS SB 429 -- CRIME

SPONSOR:  Gibbons (Stream)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Crime
Prevention and Public Safety by a vote of 9 to 0.

This substitute changes the laws regarding crime.  In its main
provisions, the substitute:

(1)  Adds any moving violation, as defined by Section 302.010,
RSMo, to the list of infractions for which a court may order
payment to the county law enforcement restitution fund;

(2)  Allows the Superintendent of the State Highway Patrol to
direct members and other employees of the patrol to carry out any
public safety duty or service authorized by the General Assembly;

(3)  Authorizes the patrol to conduct criminal background checks
on gubernatorial appointees who are subject to Senate
confirmation.  Information received by the patrol must be kept
confidential and cannot be disclosed to anyone other than the
Governor or members of the Governor's staff as necessary to
determine the appointee's qualifications;

(4)  Removes the requirement that the patrol superintendent
reside in Jefferson City and be a uniformed member of the patrol;

(5)  Authorizes the patrol superintendent to enter into an
agreement with the Missouri Gaming Commission regarding the
enforcement of any law or regulation and conducting background
investigations related to the laws of this state and the
regulation of licensed gaming activities;

(6)  Requires, subject to appropriation, any retired employee of
the patrol who is a witness in any official court proceeding at
least 30 miles from his or her residence to receive a per diem up
to $100 and mileage and travel expense reimbursement;

(7)  Increases the amount an entity requesting criminal history
record information not based on a fingerprint search must pay
from up to $5 per request to up to $9.  After January 1, 2010,
the patrol superintendent may increase this fee up to an
additional $1 per year, not to exceed $15.  Any entity requesting
criminal history record information based on a fingerprint search
will be required to pay a fee of up to $20 per request.  If the
request is for a concealed carry endorsement, the fee will be
$14;

(8)  Allows any state agency to require the fingerprinting of
applicants or employees in specified occupations for the purpose
of positive identification and for receiving criminal history
record information when determining the applicant's or employee's
ability or fitness for a position;

(9)  Authorizes additional compensation or compensatory time off
for overtime, court time, and standby court time in excess of 40
hours for sergeants of the police department of the City of St.
Louis.  Currently, additional compensation and time off are
authorized only for patrol officers and probationary patrol
officers;

(10)  Authorizes college and university police officers to
enforce traffic regulations on college or university property.
The officers will be required to be certified under the Peace
Officer Standards and Training (POST) Program and will have
authority under the fresh pursuit doctrine provisions in Section
544.157;

(11)  Expands the protection of the elderly against financial
exploitation;

(12)  Requires the State Highway Patrol to develop evidentiary
collection kits for the forensic examination of sexual assault
victims and specifies that only licensed physicians and nurses
are allowed to conduct the forensic exams.  The costs cannot be
charged to the victim;

(13)  Creates the crime of possessing or having control of a
restricted natural substance, a class A misdemeanor for the first
offense and a class D felony for each subsequent offense.  No
person will be guilty of the crime if he or she owns, possesses,
manages, or otherwise controls land on which a restricted natural
substance naturally grows unless the person knowingly plants or
cultivates the restricted natural substance, harvests the
substance for any person to drink, inhale, or otherwise ingest,
or allows or authorizes another person to drink, inhale, or
ingest the substance;

(14)  Specifies that it will be unlawful for any person to
distribute, deliver, manufacture, produce, or cultivate a
restricted natural substance or to attempt to or possess with
intent to distribute, deliver, manufacture, produce, or cultivate
a restricted natural substance.  A person who commits any of
these crimes will be guilty of a felony with a minimum of four
years' imprisonment for the first offense and a minimum of 10
years for each subsequent offense;

(15)  Adds Zopiclone, its salts, isomers, and salts of isomers to
the list of Schedule IV controlled substances and Pregabalin to
the list of Schedule V controlled substances;

(16)  Requires the Department of Health and Senior Services to
develop a program, subject to appropriation, to monitor the
prescribing and dispensing of all Schedule II through Schedule V
controlled substances by all licensed professionals who prescribe
or dispense these substances in Missouri.  The dispenser is
required to electronically submit to the department information
for each prescription and the frequency of the submissions is
specified.  The department is allowed to issue a waiver to a
dispenser who is unable to submit the required information
electronically.  If a waiver is obtained, a dispenser can submit
the required information in paper format or by other approved
means.  All submitted prescription information is confidential.
Exceptions to this requirement include violations of the law or
breaches of professional standards which result in an
investigation and the submission or the release of prescription
information to authorized persons.  The release of non-personal,
general information is authorized for statistical, educational,
and research purposes;

(17)  Authorizes the department to contract with other state
agencies or private vendors to implement the provisions of the
Drug Monitoring Act and requires the department to develop an
educational course about the act and, when appropriate, to work
with associations for impaired professionals to ensure the
intervention, treatment, and ongoing monitoring of patients who
have been identified as addicted to substances monitored by the
act;

(18)  Specifies that the Amber Alert System is to aid in the
location of abducted children rather than adults and defines
"abducted child" as an individual younger than 18 years of age
whose whereabouts are unknown and is reasonably believed to be a
victim of kidnaping or an individual at least 14 years of age but
younger than 18 years of age who would be reasonably believed to
be a victim of child kidnaping if the person was younger than 14
years of age;

(19)  Requires a photograph to be taken of an incarcerated
individual upon release and made available to the victim upon his
or her request;

(20)  Allows offenders to appear before the Board of Probation
and Parole by means of a video conference, rather than personal
appearance, at the discretion of the board;

(21)  Specifies that sheriffs and jailers are not required to
take custody of a prisoner from an arresting officer until that
prisoner has been examined by a physician or medical personnel if
he or she appears to be unconscious, suffering from a serious
illness or injury, or is seriously impaired by drugs or alcohol.
The prisoner will be responsible for the cost of the examination;

(22)  Allows paid police officers of a paid police department to
be eligible for workers' compensation benefits for an injury due
to psychological stress;

(23)  Makes provisions regarding boating while intoxicated
consistent with provisions regarding driving while intoxicated;

(24)  Increases the length of a driver's license suspension for
failing to stop for a school bus from 90 to 120 days for the
first offense and from 120 to 180 days for a second or subsequent
offense;

(25)  Specifies that any person convicted of criminal securities
fraud will be fined up to $1 million, be sentenced to a term of
imprisonment not to exceed 10 years, or both.  If the violation
was committed against a disabled or elderly person, the offender
will be fined up to $50,000, be sentenced to a term of
imprisonment not to exceed five years, or both;

(26)  Requires rape crisis centers to maintain the
confidentiality of individuals they serve;

(27)  Allows a judge to order a probationer, as a condition of
probation, to be vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B at his or her
local health department with the costs to be paid by the
probationer;

(28)  Removes the provision of law which allows a judgment to be
entered against the prosecutor for the trial costs if the
defendant is acquitted of the prosecution or the case is
dismissed;

(29)  Specifies that any person who unlawfully distributes or
delivers any controlled substance to any person whose injection,
inhalation, or ingestion of the controlled substance causes his
or her death will be guilty of involuntary manslaughter;

(30)  Revises the definitions of "domestic assault offense" and
"intoxication-related offense" to include any offense committed
in another state or any federal or military offense which, if
committed in Missouri, would be considered a domestic assault
offense or an intoxication-related offense;

(31)  Expands the crime of assault of a law enforcement officer,
emergency personnel, or probation and parole officer in the
first, second, or third degree to include corrections officers;

(32)  Establishes "Ashley's Law" which creates the crime of
transporting a child without parental consent when a person
transports a child younger than 17 years of age out of the state,
without the written consent of the child's parent or legal
guardian, for the purpose of committing a crime with the child as
the victim or a participant of that crime.  The crime will be a
class C felony;

(33)  Prohibits certain sexual offenders from being physically
present or loitering within 500 feet of or approaching,
contacting, or communicating with any child younger than 18 years
of age in any child care facility building or the real property
comprising any child care facility when children younger than 18
years of age are present in the building unless the person is the
parent, guardian, or custodian of a child in the building or on
the grounds.  Any person who violates these provisions will be
guilty of a class A misdemeanor;

(34)  Changes the term "stealing-related offense" to include
robbery and clarifies that a person who has pled guilty to or
been found guilty of two separate stealing offenses, which were
committed on two separate occasions, will be guilty of a class B
felony;

(35)  Increases the penalty for the crime of possessing child
pornography from a class C felony to a class B felony;

(36)  Creates the crime of false identification if a prisoner or
offender knowingly and with the purpose to mislead gives a false
name, date of birth, or Social Security number when identifying
himself or herself to a person who is an employee of a jail or
correctional center.  False identification will be a class C
felony;

(37)  Increases the penalty for the crime of making a false
report from a class B misdemeanor to a class A misdemeanor;

(38)  Creates the crime of disarming a peace or correctional
officer if a person intentionally removes from or deprives the
peace or correctional officer of the use of his or her firearm or
other deadly weapon while the officer is acting within the scope
of his or her official duties.  The crime, a class C felony, does
not include situations in which the person does not know or could
not reasonably have known that the person was a peace or
correctional officer or if the officer was engaged in felonious
conduct at the time of the disarmament;

(39)  Expands the crime of tampering with a judicial proceeding
to include a person whose purpose is to influence the official
actions of a state prosecuting or circuit attorney;

(40)  Increases the penalty for the crime of assault on a police
animal from a class C to a class A misdemeanor;

(41)  Transfers all powers, duties, and functions of
administering the testing of blood-alcohol content from the
Department of Health and Senior Services to the Department of
Transportation;

(42)  Allows a court to order a person's vehicle impounded for up
to one year as part of a penalty for driving while intoxicated if
the vehicle is not jointly owned or leased.  The offender will be
responsible for all costs associated with towing and storing the
vehicle.  Before ordering impoundment, the court must examine
whether the impoundment would result in the loss of employment,
an inability to attend school, or an inability to obtain medical
care for the offender or a member of the offender's family.  An
owner who refuses to pay the impoundment fees or who fails to
retrieve the vehicle within 30 days after the impoundment period
will be considered to have abandoned the vehicle.  When the
vehicle is being leased and the lease expires in less than a
year, the impoundment period terminates at the conclusion of the
lease;

(43)  Prohibits the use or possession of an alcohol beverage
vaporizer.  Any substance that has been approved by the federal
Food and Drug Administration as an over-the-counter or
therapeutic drug product administered by an authorized medical
practitioner is exempt;

(44)  Establishes the Address Confidentiality Program,
administered by the Secretary of State, to protect victims of
domestic violence by establishing a designated address for
victims and their minor children.  Knowingly submitting a
misrepresented application will be a class D felony;

(45)  Prohibits an individual who is required to register on the
sexual offender registry from owning or operating a sexual
offender treatment facility for more than one person.  Previously
established facilities and those contracted through government
bodies are exempt.  Violation of this provision will be a class A
misdemeanor;

(46)  Requires the Peace Officer Standards Training (POST)
Commission to make instruction available to peace officers on the
investigation of crimes involving the use of a computer, the
Internet, or both;

(47)  Requires peace officers who make traffic stops to receive
three hours of training within the law enforcement continuing
education three-year reporting period.  All continuing education
requirements will be waived for any peace officer who is
activated for military duty;

(48)  Expands the number of members on the POST Commission from
nine to 11 by including two members who are peace officers at or
below the rank of sergeant employed by a political subdivision.
No more than two members of the commission can reside in the same
congressional district or be employees of the same law
enforcement agency;

(49)  Allows the Director of the Department of Public Safety to
establish rules to implement the POST Program;

(50)  Requires crime victims to be paid up to $250 from the Crime
Victims' Compensation Fund to replace clothing, bedding, or other
personal items seized by law enforcement as evidence of a crime;

(51)  Establishes the Shawn Hornbeck Educational Reimbursement
Program within the Crime Victims' Compensation Fund;

(52)  Allows victims to be represented by an appointed person
instead of appearing in person during the offender's parole and
probation revocation hearings.  The victim's appointee who honors
any subpoena to testify in or attend a criminal proceeding is
protected from discharge by any employer or from using vacation,
personal, or sick leave to attend any criminal proceeding;

(53)  Allows records and documents pertaining to internal
investigations by a law enforcement agency on the fitness and
conduct of a law enforcement officer employed by the agency used
solely in connection with matters relating to the employment of
the officer to remain confidential unless the records and
documents are used in a criminal investigation;

(54)  Allows the Department of Public Safety to establish rules
recommending procedures for issuing missing/endangered person
advisories;

(55)  Revises the continuing education training requirements of
911 telecommunicators from 16 hours in a two-year period to 24
hours every three years;

(56)  Specifies that the members of the Missouri Medal of Valor
Board will be appointed by the Governor from a list submitted by
the department director; and

(57)  Creates the Reverend Nathaniel Cole Memorial Pursuit
Reduction Grant in the state treasury to be administered by the
department director.  Any money appropriated or donated to the
fund will be used to provide grants, in the amount of a 50%
match, to urban police departments who purchase real-time tagging
and tracking pursuit management systems.

FISCAL NOTE:  Estimated Cost on General Revenue Fund of More than
$1,496,540 to More than $3,648,560 in FY 2008, More than
$1,068,436 to More than $3,728,333 in FY 2009, and More than
$1,187,894 to More than $3,827,588 in FY 2010.  Estimated Income
on Other State Funds of Less than $683,198 to $2,871,938 in
FY 2008, Less than $749,096 to $3,445,713 in FY 2009, and Less
than $1,014,910 to $3,791,324 in FY 2010.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that victims face many challenges
when reporting crimes of sexual assault.  The bill eliminates
some of those challenges, allows victims to access the Crime
Victims' Compensation Fund, and prevents perpetrators from using
public documents to further injure victims.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Gibbons; Missouri Coalition
Against Domestic Violence; St. Luke's Health System; Missouri
Sheriffs Association; and Office of the Secretary of State.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Missouri House of Representatives
94th General Assembly, 1st Regular Session
Last Updated July 25, 2007 at 11:22 am