Read the full stored bill text
SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2109
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE ROBER TS.
4957H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 575.270, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to
victims of crime, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 575.270, RSMo, is repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as sections 455.400 and 575.270, to read as follows:
455.400. 1. As used in this section, "family justice center" means a multiagency ,
2 multidisciplinary center in which governmental and nongovernmental organizations
3 pr ovide co-located on-site and off-site services to persons seeking assistance as a res ult
4 of victimization rel ated to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking as defined in
5 section 455.010, child abuse or neglect, abuse of an eligible adult as defined in section
6 192.2400, and victims of trafficking as defined in 566.200.
7 2. A family justice center shall:
8 (1) Requir e persons employed by or volunteering dir ectly for the family justice
9 center to maintain confidentiality of any information that would identify individuals
10 served by the center and any information or r ecords that ar e r elated to the services
11 pr ovided to such individuals;
12 (2) Prior to pr oviding any services, inform any person served by the family
13 justice center of the natur e and scope of the confidentiality requi rem ents of subdivision
14 (1) of this subsection; and
15 (3) Not requ ire persons served by the family justice center to participate in the
16 criminal justice system or cooperate with law enfor cement in order to receiv e advocacy ,
17 counseling, medical car e, or other services pr ovided at a family justice center .
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
18 3. A family justice center may include, but is not limited to, personnel and
19 volunteers fr om the following governmental and nongovernmental organizations or
20 pr oviders:
21 (1) Law enforc ement personnel;
22 (2) Medical personnel;
23 (3) Pr osecuting and circui t attorneys;
24 (4) V ictim-witness pr ogram personnel;
25 (5) Domestic violence shelter service staff;
26 (6) Rape crisis centers;
27 (7) Human trafficking advocates;
28 (8) The department of social services, including the children's division;
29 (9) County health department staff;
30 (10) W elfar e and public assistance workers;
31 (1 1) Counseling profes sionals;
32 (12) Civil legal service pr oviders; and
33 (13) Other pr ofessionals pr oviding services.
34 4. Any person employed by or serving as a volunteer of a family justice center
35 shall be incompetent to testify concerning any confidential information in subsection 2
36 of this section unless the confidentiality req uirements are waived in writing by the
37 person served by the family justice center .
38 5. Any person pr oviding services to another person at a family justice center
39 under the pr ovisions of this section shall not be liable for civil damages while acting in
40 the official scope of his or her duties if the person, in good faith, makes a
41 r ecommendation, gives an opinion, or rel eases or uses information for the purposes of
42 pr otecting or pr oviding services to the other person. Such limitation of civil liability
43 does not apply if the person pr oviding services acted with gross negligence or in bad
44 faith.
45 6. A city , county , or nonpr ofit agency may individually or collectively establish a
46 family justice center .
575.270. 1. A person commits the of fense of tampering with a witness or victim if:
2 (1) W ith the purpose to induce a witness or a prospective witness to disobey a
3 subpoena or other legal process, absent himself or herself, avoid subpoena or other legal
4 process, withhold evidence, information, or documents, or testify falsely , he or she:
5 (a) Threatens or causes harm to any person or property; or
6 (b) Uses force, threats or deception; or
7 (c) Offers, confers or agrees to confer any benefit, direct or indirect, upon such
8 witness; or
HB 2109 2
9 (d) Conveys any of the foregoing to another in furtherance of a conspiracy; or
10 (2) He or she purposely prevents or dissuades or attempts to prevent or dissuade any
11 person who has been a victim of any crime or a person who is acting on behalf of any such
12 victim from:
13 (a) Making any report of such victimization to any peace officer , state, local or federal
14 law enforcement of ficer , prosecuting agency , or judge;
15 (b) Causing a complaint, indictment or information to be sought and prosecuted or
16 assisting in the prosecution thereof;
17 (c) Arresting or causing or seeking the arrest of any person in connection with such
18 victimization.
19 2. The offense of tampering with a witness or victim is a class A misdemeanor , unless
20 the original char ge is a felony , in which case tampering with a witness or victim is a class D
21 felony . Persons convicted under this section shall not be eligible for prob ation, parole ,
22 conditional r elease, or suspended imposition or execution of sentence .
23 3. It is the intent of the legislatur e to rej ect and abr ogate earlier case law
24 interpr etations of subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of this section including, but not be
25 limited to, State v . Owens, 270 S.W .3d 533 (Mo. App. W .D. 2008), that r equir es the state
26 to prov e the underlying criminal offense to pro ve an offense under this section.
27 4. As used in this section, a "victim of any crime" shall be interpret ed br oadly to
28 include any person who:
29 (1) Attempted to re port such a victimization;
30 (2) Reported such a victimization;
31 (3) Caused a complaint, indictment, or information to be sought; or
32 (4) Is alleged as the victim in a felony complaint, indictment, misdemeanor
33 information, or felony information.
✔
HB 2109 3