Bill Caption

Relating to the punishment for a criminal offense committed against a person because of bias or prejudice on the basis of status as a peace officer; increasing a criminal penalty.

Fiscal Notes

The probable impact of implementing the bill is indeterminate because data collected at the statewide level do not reveal the number of trial cases involving peace officers, information necessary to determine the impact of the enhancement provision. Additionally, data collected at the statewide level do not distinguish between peace officers and other public servants, information necessary to determine the impact associated with the increases in punishment.

Bill Analysis

Under the provisions of the bill, certain offenses committed against peace officers would be enhanced to the punishment prescribed for the next higher category offense if a bias is proven in court. The bill would also increase the punishment for certain offenses if those offense are committed against a peace judge.

Vote Recommendation Notes

HB 2908 would seek to include peace officers in the code as a special protected class when considering increased penalties for crimes committed. Our system of justice is supposed to be blind which means that all have equal protection under the law and that the penalty for crimes committed is based on the crime and not on those it was committed against. We support our law enforcement officers and judges and we believe they should be afforded the same protections under the law as everyone else. For violating limited government by enhancing a penalty based on the status of the victim, we oppose HB 2809.