Plain English Breakdown
The official source does not provide an effective date for when this law begins.
Increasing Penalties for Sexual Battery in Homes
This law makes sexual battery punishable as either a misdemeanor or a felony if the offender enters an inhabited home, trailer, or building without consent and commits the act inside.
What This Bill Does
- Defines existing sexual battery as touching an intimate part against someone's will for sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse, which is currently punishable only as a misdemeanor.
- Makes this crime punishable as either a misdemeanor or a felony if the person enters an inhabited dwelling house, trailer coach, or other building without consent and commits the act inside.
- Creates a new crime category that imposes a state-mandated local program on agencies.
- States that no reimbursement is required from the state for costs related to this act.
Who It Names or Affects
- People who commit sexual battery after entering an inhabited home, trailer, or building without permission.
- Local agencies and school districts responsible for handling crimes mandated by the state.
Terms To Know
- Misdemeanor
- A less serious crime that is currently how sexual battery is punished under existing law.
- Felony
- A more serious crime level that becomes a possible punishment for this act if it happens inside an inhabited building entered without consent.
- Inhabited dwelling house or trailer coach
- A home, trailer, or part of another building where people live, as defined by the law.
Limits and Unknowns
- The source text states that no reimbursement is required for a 'specified reason' but does not explain what that specific reason is.
- The bill mentions making other technical and conforming changes to laws, but it does not list exactly which other laws are changed.