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SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 2271
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE LEWIS.
5768H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o amend chapter 407, RSMo, by adding thereto one new section relating to commercial
cheating services, with a penalty provision.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Chapter 407, RSMo, is amended by adding thereto one new section, to be
2 known as section 407.2351, to read as follows:
407.2351. 1. As used in this section, the following terms mean:
2 (1) "Assigned task", any task assigned, dir ected, or otherwise given to a learner
3 by a sponsor or such sponsor's r epresent atives, the learner's performance on which will
4 be evaluated for cred it including, but not limited to:
5 (a) Writing a term paper , thesis, dissertation, essay , or r eport;
6 (b) Pr oviding res ponses to, participating in, or otherwise engaging in an exam;
7 (c) Pr eparing any other work prod uct in res ponse to an assignment; or
8 (d) Attending classes or other instructional interactions;
9 (2) "Assignment", anything in written, electr onic, re corded, pictorial, artistic, or
10 any other form issued by a sponsor or such sponsor's rep res entatives setting forth,
11 conveying, or soliciting learner performance of or on one or mor e assigned tasks
12 including, but not limited to:
13 (a) Materials, whether pr esented on paper or a computer , setting forth pr oblems
14 for the learner to solve;
15 (b) Questions for the learner's res ponse;
16 (c) Exam content;
17 (d) Scenarios to which the learner is to react ; or
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 (e) Similar tasks;
19 (3) "Confidential exam or assignment", any assignment including, but not
20 limited to, any exam that a sponsor pr ovides to a learner under confidential conditions;
21 (4) "For credit", for evaluation by a sponsor or such sponsor's repr esentatives in
22 connection with issuance of any grade, evaluation, degr ee, diploma, certification,
23 certificate, cr edential, exam scor e, or pro fessional license;
24 (5) "Learner", an individual whose performance on one or mor e assigned tasks
25 will be evaluated for cred it including, but not limited to, students, candidates for
26 pr ofessional certification and licensur e, test takers, examinees, and workfor ce skills
27 trainees;
28 (6) "Organization", a company , partnership, corporation, institution,
2 9 association, body , state department, or other entity;
30 (7) "Prepa re", to put into condition for use or assist another in doing so;
31 (8) "Sale" or "sell", any transfer , exchange, or barter , in any manner , for any
32 consideration or by any agreement;
33 (9) "Sponsor", any of the following:
34 (a) A public school or private school in this state;
35 (b) A public or nonpublic institution of higher education operating in this state
36 that pr ovides an educational progr am:
37 a. For which such institution grants, awards, or otherwise issues an associate's
38 degr ee, bachelor's degree , graduate degr ee, pro fessional degr ee, or any other degr ee,
39 cr edential, certification, or certificate; or
40 b. That is acceptable for credi t toward an associate's degr ee, bachelor's degr ee,
41 graduate degr ee, profes sional degr ee, or any other degr ee, cred ential, certification, or
42 certificate;
43 (c) An organization that owns, sponsors, grants, awards, or otherwise issues
44 pr ofessional licenses to individuals or organizations in this state bearing such
45 organization's name or trademark and signifying completion of a set of r equir ements
46 associated with such license;
47 (d) An organization that owns, sponsors, grants, awards, or otherwise issues
48 cr edentials or certifications bearing such organization's name or trademark to
49 individuals or organizations in this state and signifying completion of a set of
50 r equir ements associated with such cred ential or certification; or
51 (e) An organization that owns, sponsors, administers, or otherwise delivers
52 exams bearing such organization's name or trademark to individuals or organizations
53 in this state;
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54 (10) "W ork product", anything in written, electr onic, r ecorded, pictorial,
55 artistic, or any other form that is submitted to a sponsor showing full or partial
56 completion of an assigned task including, but not limited to, a term paper , thesis,
57 dissertation, essay , rep ort, or r esponse to an exam.
58 2. No organization or individual shall, for a fee or other compensation, whether
59 in whole or in part, with the knowledge or under circums tances in which such
60 organization or individual should r easonably have known that such work product or the
61 completion of such assigned task will be submitted by or on behalf of the learner as the
62 learner's own work for cre dit, perform the following:
63 (1) Pr epar e, advertise to prepa re, offer to prepa re, or cause to be prep ared any
64 work prod uct for or on behalf of a learner;
65 (2) Sell, advertise to sell, offer to sell, or cause to be sold any work prod uct to a
66 learner; or
67 (3) Complete or otherwise perform an assigned task for or on behalf of a learner .
68 3. No organization or individual shall advertise the sale or other distribution of,
69 or sell or otherwise distribute, a confidential exam or assignment, any portion ther eof,
70 or any detailed description of the contents ther eof, with the knowledge or under
71 cir cumstances in which such organization or individual should reas onably have known
72 that such actions are in violation of the rights of a sponsor .
73 4. No disclaimers or contractual language between an organization or individual
74 pr oviding services to a learner under this section shall exempt such organization or
75 individual fr om being deemed in violation of this section. Such disclaimers or
76 contractual language includes, but is not limited to, statements that:
77 (1) The learner will not use any work pr oduct in completing all or part of the
78 assigned tasks;
79 (2) The learner has not been re quir ed to complete the assigned tasks personally;
80 or
81 (3) The provi sion of the work pr oduct or completion of the assigned tasks by
82 such individual or organization has been appr oved by the sponsor .
83 5. No pr ovision of this section shall pr event any individual or organization fr om
84 pr oviding tutorial assistance, res ear ch material, information, or other assistance to
85 learners, provi ded that the pr ovision of such items is expr essly permitted by the sponsor
86 and the individual or organization pr oviding such assistance has reas onable belief that
87 the work pro duct will not be repr esented as the learner's own work.
88 6. (1) Actions for violations of this section may be br ought:
89 (a) In the name of the people of the state by the attorney general or by the
90 pr osecuting attorney or cir cuit attorney for the judicial district in which the violation
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91 took place, and an organization or individual found in such action to have violated any
92 pr ovision of this section shall be:
93 a. Subject to a civil penalty of no mor e than five thousand dollars per violation;
94 and
95 b. At the discr etion of the court, guilty of a misdemeanor , except that if the
96 organization or individual has been previ ously convicted under this section or a statute
97 of another state of similar content and purpose, violation of this section may , at the
98 discr etion of the court, be deemed a felony; or
99 (b) By any sponsor aggrieved by a violation of this section in a state court or as a
100 supplemental claim in federal district court against an offending organization or
101 individual.
102 (2) The preva iling party may recove r the following for each violation against an
103 individual or organization that violates a pr ovision of this section:
104 (a) Liquidated damages of two thousand five hundr ed dollars or actual damages,
105 whichever is great er;
106 (b) Reasonable attorney's fees and costs including, but not limited to, expert
107 witness fees and other litigation expenses; and
108 (c) Such other reli ef including, but not limited to, an injunction and punitive
109 damages, as the state or federal court may deem appr opriate.
110 (3) Any court of competent jurisdiction may grant such relief as is necessary to
111 enfor ce the pro visions of this section including, but not limited to, the issuance of an
112 injunction to prev ent ongoing violations and disrupt the operations of violators.
113 (4) In an action br ought under this section, a court shall pr eserve the secr ecy of
114 an alleged confidential exam or assignment by rea sonable means, which may include,
115 but are not limited to:
116 (a) Granting pr otective orders in connection with discovery proce edings;
117 (b) Holding in camera hearings;
118 (c) Sealing the records of the action; or
119 (d) Ordering any individual or entity involved in the litigation not to disclose an
120 alleged confidential exam or assignment without prior court appr oval.
121 7. The pr ovisions of this section are not exclusive. Nothing in this section shall be
122 construed to pr eempt or in any other way limit, diminish, or imply the absence of rights
123 of any party , public or private, against any individual or entity in connection with any of
124 the acts described in this section.
✔
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