Bill focusing on cyberstalking, penalties on celebratory gunfire goes into effect Wednesday
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A new Missouri bill will officially go into effect on Wednesday that will make a variety of modifications to public safety laws in the Show Me State.
Senate Bill 754 was signed into law by Gov. Mike Parson in July. Some of the biggest changes in the bill include increasing the minimum age a juvenile can be tried as an adult, establishing a “Stop Cyberstalking and Harassment Task Force” and tougher penalties on a variety of crimes.
Two of these changes include establishing Blair’s Law and Max’s Law. Blair’s Law, named after Blair Shanahan Lane, a Kansas City girl who was killed by gunfire in 2011, makes celebratory gunfire a class A misdemeanor for the first offense, a class E felony for the second offense, and a class D felony for any third or subsequent offenses.
Max’s Law, named after a St. Joseph Police K-9 officer who was shot and killed in 2021, increases the penalty of an assault on a law enforcement animal from a misdemeanor to a felony.
St. Joseph police officer Lucas Winder told ABC 17 News in July that she was serving a high-risk warrant in 2021 with his K-9, Max when Max was shot and killed.
"He sacrificed his life in order for us to continue to be here, and I'm forever thankful that he was there that day," Winder said.
Before SB 754, police K-9s were treated as property under the law.
The bill also includes Valentine's Law, which makes fleeing a vehicle stop a class D felony if it creates a serious risk of physical injury or death to another person, a class B felony if a person is injured due to the fleeing vehicle, and class A felony if the fleeing vehicle kills another person.
It also excludes any juvenile convicted of second-degree murder from getting earlier parole eligibility.
One of the biggest additions included in the bill is the creation of the “Stop Cyberstalking Task Force.”
The Task Force is expected to elect a chairperson and hold an initial meeting before Oct. 1. According to the bill, the goal of the Task Force is to collect feedback from victims, law enforcement, victim advocates and digital and forensic experts. It will then make recommendations on resources and tools the state needs to add to stop cyberstalking and harassment. The Task Force is required to submit a report to the Governor and General Assembly each year before it expires in 2026. The General Assembly does have the authority to extend the Task Force until 2028.
According to the Rand Institute, cyberstalking is defined as the use of communications technology to conduct acts of surveillance, make threats, and express intent to injure, harass, or intimidate victims to the point that they reasonably fear for their safety or feel significant emotional distress.
In 2019, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that roughly 1.5 million people age 16 or older fell victim to cyberstalking.
The new Senate Bill will also have some ripple effects that trickle down to the local level. Columbia’s legal staff said in July that it believes part of the bill could have a major impact on the Citizens Police Review Board.
Section 590.653 of the bill focuses on civilian review boards, stating the act “provides that civilian review boards established by political subdivisions shall solely be limited to reviewing, investigating, making findings and recommending disciplinary action against law enforcement officers.”
CPRB Chair Doug Hunt wrote in an email that the city’s legal staff in July that he believes the bill “will make it unlawful for the CPRB to perform most of its present functions, including making any recommendation on police policy and holding regularly scheduled meetings or any meetings that are open to the public and the press.”
“Senate Bill 754 creates a very tight box about what boards like the citizen's review board is able to do,” Hunt told ABC 17 before Wednesday’s CPRB meeting on July 10. “It eliminates most of the functions we presently serve.”
