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| Georgia General Assembly |
HB1299.html
02 LC 29 0303
House Bill 1299
By: Representatives
Jenkins of the 110th, Snow of the 2nd, Lucas of the
124th and McKinney of the 51st
A BILL TO BE
ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 2 of Chapter 5 of Title 16 of the Official
Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to assault and battery, so as to provide for
increased penalties for committing the offenses of simple assault, simple
battery, and battery against persons operating public transit vehicles and
occupied school buses; to provide for an effective date and applicability; to
provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 2 of Chapter 5 of Title 16 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to assault and battery, is amended in Code Section
16_5_20, relating to simple assault, by striking subsection (c) and inserting in
its place a new subsection to read as
follows:
"(c)(1)
Any person who commits the offense of simple assault against a person
operating in a public transit vehicle or
station school bus with passengers on board at the time of
the assault shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than one year and not more than
five years.
(2) Any person who commits the
offense of simple assault against a person operating a public transit vehicle or
station, other than the circumstance described in paragraph (1) of this
subsection, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished for a misdemeanor of
a high and aggravated nature.
(3) For purposes
of this Code section, 'public transit vehicle' means a bus, van, or rail car
used for the transportation of passengers within a system which receives a
subsidy from tax revenues or is operated under a franchise contract with a
county or municipality of this
state."
SECTION 2.
Said article is further amended in Code Section 16_5_23,
relating to simple battery, by striking subsection (d) and inserting in its
place a new subsection to read as follows:
"(d)(1) Any
person who commits the offense of simple battery in a public transit vehicle or
station school bus with passengers on board at the time of
the simple battery shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than one year and not
more than five years.
(2) Any person who
commits the offense of simple battery against a person operating a public
transit vehicle or station, other than the circumstance described in paragraph
(1) of this subsection, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished for a
misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.
(3) For purposes of this Code section, 'public
transit vehicle' has the same meaning as in paragraph (3) of subsection
(c) of Code Section
16_5_20."
SECTION 3.
Said article is further amended in Code Section 16_5_23.1,
relating to battery, by striking subsection (g) and inserting in its place a new
subsection to read as
follows:
"(g)(1)
Any person who commits the offense of battery in a public transit vehicle or
station school bus with passengers on board at the time of
the battery shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof,
be punished by imprisonment of not less than one year and not more than five
years.
(2) Any person who commits the offense
of battery against a person operating a public transit vehicle or station, other
than the circumstance described in paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall, upon
conviction thereof, be punished for a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated
nature.
(3) For purposes of this Code section,
'public transit vehicle' has the same meaning as in paragraph (3) of
subsection (c) of Code Section
16_5_20."
SECTION 4.
This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2002, and shall
apply to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2001.
SECTION 5.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are
repealed.