Possession of dogs by certain felony offenders and providing a penalty

This bill prohibits, for a specified period of time, certain felony offenders from possessing, controlling, or residing with a vicious dog, as determined by a humane officer or a law enforcement officer, and from possessing a dog that does not have an identification microchip implanted in it. These prohibitions apply to persons whose status as felony offenders is based on the commission of an act that is classified under the bill as a serious felony (serious felony offenders). A serious felony offender who violates any of the prohibitions may be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for up to nine months, or both. If a serious felony offender violates the prohibition against possessing, controlling, or residing with a vicious dog and a person or an animal suffers great bodily harm or death due to the violation, the serious felony offender may be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for up to three years and six months, or both. If a serious felony offender violates the prohibition against possessing, controlling, or residing with a vicious dog and a person suffers great bodily harm or death due to the violation and the person knowingly allowed the dog to run loose or failed to take steps to control the dog, the serious felony offender may be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for up to six years, or both.

Unless the serious felony offender is on extended supervision or another supervised status (extended supervision), these prohibitions apply to the serious felony offender for a period of ten years following: 1) any period of incarceration for the serious felony; 2) the conviction for the serious felony if the sentence does not include a period of incarceration; 3) the delinquency adjudication for the serious felony; or 4) the finding of not guilty of the serious felony by reason of insanity or mental disease, defect, or illness. If the serious felony offender is on extended supervision, the prohibition period applies until he or she is no longer on extended supervision.

Under this bill, a serious felony offender may request an exemption from the prohibitions if the exemption is reasonably needed to earn a livelihood or as a condition of employment and will not endanger public safety. A serious felony offender seeking an exemption must file a motion in the circuit court for the county in which he or she will possess, control, or reside with the vicious dog or possess a dog without an identification microchip. The serious felony offender must provide a copy of the motion to the district attorney for that county, who must in turn make a reasonable attempt to contact local law enforcement agencies to inform them of the request and to solicit any information that may be relevant to whether the request should be granted.

Because this bill creates a new crime or revises a penalty for an existing crime, the Joint Review Committee on Criminal Penalties may be requested to prepare a report concerning the proposed penalty and the costs or savings that are likely to result if the bill is enacted.