SB 514

This bill increases the penalties for fleeing an officer.

Under current law, no operator of a vehicle, after having received a visual or

audible signal from a traffic officer, federal law enforcement officer, or marked or

unmarked police vehicle that the operator knows or reasonably should know is being

operated by a law enforcement officer, may knowingly flee so as to endanger other

vehicles or pedestrians. Under the bill:

1. The penalty for fleeing an officer is increased from a Class I felony to a Class

H felony.

2. The penalty for fleeing an officer and causing bodily harm to another or

damage to the property of another is increased from a Class H felony to a Class G

felony.

3. The penalty for fleeing an officer and causing great bodily harm to another

is increased from a Class F felony to a Class E felony, with a mandatory minimum

of 1.5 years imprisonment.

4. The penalty for fleeing an officer and causing death to another is increased

from a Class E felony to a Class D felony, with a mandatory minimum of 2.5 years

imprisonment.

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.