S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8993
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              August 13, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. K. BROWN -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Codes
 
 AN  ACT  to amend the penal law, in relation to increasing penalties for
   assaulting, stalking, or harassing an elected official
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   Section 1. Section 120.09 of the penal law, as amended by section 3 of
 part F of chapter 55 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
 § 120.09 Assault on a judge OR ELECTED OFFICIAL.
   A  person  is  guilty of assault on a judge OR ELECTED OFFICIAL when[,
 with]:
   1. WITH intent to prevent a judge from  performing  official  judicial
 duties,  such  person  causes serious physical injury to such judge. For
 the purposes of this [section] SUBDIVISION,  the  term  [judge]  "JUDGE"
 shall mean a judge of a court of record or a justice court; OR
   2. WITH INTENT TO PREVENT AN ELECTED OFFICIAL FROM PERFORMING OFFICIAL
 DUTIES, SUCH PERSON CAUSES SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY TO SUCH ELECTED OFFI-
 CIAL.  FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBDIVISION, THE TERM "ELECTED OFFICIAL"
 SHALL  MEAN AN ELECTED OFFICIAL OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK OR OF ANY COUN-
 TY, CITY, TOWN, VILLAGE, OR OTHER POLITICAL SUBDIVISION THEREOF, INCLUD-
 ING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANYONE ELECTED TO A TOWN BOARD, LIBRARY  BOARD,
 OR SCHOOL BOARD.
   Assault on a judge OR ELECTED OFFICIAL is a class C felony.
   §  2. Section 120.09-a of the penal law, as added by section 4 of part
 F of chapter 55 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
 § 120.09-a Aggravated assault on a judge OR ELECTED OFFICIAL.
   A person is guilty of aggravated assault on a judge OR  ELECTED  OFFI-
 CIAL when[, with]:
   1.  WITH  intent  to cause serious physical injury and prevent a judge
 from performing official judicial duties,  such  person  causes  serious
 physical injury to such judge. For the purposes of this [section] SUBDI-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13578-01-5
              

 A. 8993                             2
 
 VISION, the term [judge] "JUDGE" shall mean a judge of a court of record
 or a justice court; OR
   2. WITH INTENT TO CAUSE SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURY AND PREVENT AN ELECTED
 OFFICIAL  FROM  PERFORMING  OFFICIAL  DUTIES, SUCH PERSON CAUSES SERIOUS
 PHYSICAL INJURY TO SUCH ELECTED OFFICIAL.   FOR  THE  PURPOSES  OF  THIS
 SUBDIVISION,  THE TERM "ELECTED OFFICIAL" SHALL MEAN AN ELECTED OFFICIAL
 OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK OR OF ANY COUNTY, CITY, TOWN, VILLAGE, OR OTHER
 POLITICAL SUBDIVISION THEREOF, INCLUDING, BUT  NOT  LIMITED  TO,  ANYONE
 ELECTED TO A TOWN BOARD, LIBRARY BOARD, OR SCHOOL BOARD.
   Aggravated assault on a judge OR ELECTED OFFICIAL is a class B felony.
   §  3.  The penal law is amended by adding a new section 120.59 to read
 as follows:
 § 120.59 STALKING A JUDGE OR ELECTED OFFICIAL.
   A PERSON IS GUILTY OF STALKING A JUDGE OR ELECTED OFFICIAL  WHEN  THEY
 COMMIT  THE CRIME OF STALKING IN THE THIRD DEGREE AS DEFINED IN SUBDIVI-
 SION THREE OF SECTION 120.50 OR STALKING IN THE SECOND DEGREE AS DEFINED
 IN SECTION 120.55 OF THIS ARTICLE AND THE VICTIM  OF  SUCH  CRIME  IS  A
 JUDGE  OR  ELECTED OFFICIAL OR A MEMBER OF SUCH JUDGE'S OR ELECTED OFFI-
 CIAL'S IMMEDIATE FAMILY. NOTHING IN THIS SECTION SHALL RESTRICT COMMUNI-
 CATION WITH AN ELECTED OFFICIAL REGARDING THEIR  CAPACITY  AS  A  PUBLIC
 SERVANT.
   FOR  THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, THE TERM "JUDGE" SHALL MEAN A JUDGE
 OF A COURT OF RECORD OR A  JUSTICE  COURT.  FOR  THE  PURPOSES  OF  THIS
 SECTION,  THE  TERM "ELECTED OFFICIAL" SHALL MEAN AN ELECTED OFFICIAL OF
 THE STATE OF NEW YORK OR OF ANY CITY, COUNTY,  TOWN,  VILLAGE  OR  OTHER
 POLITICAL  SUBDIVISION  THEREOF,  INCLUDING,  BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANYONE
 ELECTED TO A TOWN BOARD, LIBRARY BOARD, OR SCHOOL BOARD.
   STALKING A JUDGE OR ELECTED OFFICIAL IS A CLASS D FELONY.
   § 4. Section 240.33 of the penal law, as added by section 5 of part  F
 of chapter 55 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
 § 240.33 Aggravated harassment of a judge OR ELECTED OFFICIAL.
   A  person  is  guilty  of  aggravated harassment of a judge OR ELECTED
 OFFICIAL when:
   1. With intent to harass another person, the actor either:
   (a) communicates, anonymously or otherwise, by telephone, by  computer
 or  any other electronic means, or by mail, or by transmitting or deliv-
 ering any other form of communication, a threat to cause  physical  harm
 to,  or  unlawful  harm  to the property of, a person the actor knows or
 reasonably should know is a judge OR ELECTED OFFICIAL, or  a  member  of
 such judge's OR ELECTED OFFICIAL'S immediate family, and the actor knows
 or  reasonably should know that such communication will cause such judge
 OR ELECTED OFFICIAL to reasonably fear harm  to  such  judge's  physical
 safety or property, or to the physical safety or property of a member of
 such judge's OR ELECTED OFFICIAL'S immediate family; or
   (b)  causes  a communication to be initiated anonymously or otherwise,
 by telephone, by computer or any other electronic means, or by mail,  or
 by  transmitting or delivering any other form of communication, a threat
 to cause physical harm to, or unlawful harm to the property of, a person
 the actor knows  or  reasonably  should  know  is  a  judge  OR  ELECTED
 OFFICIAL,  or  a  member of such judge's OR ELECTED OFFICIAL'S immediate
 family, and the actor knows or reasonably should know that such communi-
 cation will cause such judge OR ELECTED OFFICIAL to reasonably fear harm
 to such person's physical safety or property, or to the physical  safety
 or  property of a member of such judge's OR ELECTED OFFICIAL'S immediate
 family; or
 A. 8993                             3
 
   2. With intent to harass or threaten  a  person  the  actor  knows  or
 reasonably  should  know  is  a judge OR ELECTED OFFICIAL or a member of
 such judge's OR ELECTED OFFICIAL'S immediate family, the actor  makes  a
 telephone call, whether or not a conversation ensues, with no purpose of
 legitimate communication; or
   3.  With  the  intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm a person the
 actor knows or reasonably should know is a judge OR ELECTED OFFICIAL  or
 a  member  of  such  judge's OR ELECTED OFFICIAL'S immediate family, the
 actor strikes, shoves, kicks, or otherwise subjects  another  person  to
 physical  contact,  or attempts or threatens to do the same because of a
 belief or perception  regarding  such  person's  race,  color,  national
 origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, reli-
 gious  practice,  age,  disability  or sexual orientation, regardless of
 whether the belief or perception is correct; or
   4. With the intent to harass, annoy, threaten or alarm  a  person  the
 actor  knows or reasonably should know is a judge OR ELECTED OFFICIAL or
 a member of such judge's OR ELECTED  OFFICIAL'S  immediate  family,  the
 actor  strikes,  shoves,  kicks  or otherwise subjects another person to
 physical contact thereby causing physical injury to such person or to an
 immediate family member of such person; or
   5. WITH THE INTENT TO HARASS, ANNOY, THREATEN OR ALARM  A  PERSON  THE
 ACTOR  KNOWS OR REASONABLY SHOULD KNOW IS A JUDGE OR ELECTED OFFICIAL OR
 A MEMBER OF SUCH JUDGE'S OR ELECTED  OFFICIAL'S  IMMEDIATE  FAMILY,  THE
 ACTOR  COMMITS  THE  CRIME  OF  CRIMINAL TRESPASS IN THE THIRD DEGREE AS
 DEFINED BY SECTION 140.10 OF THIS CHAPTER AGAINST  A  PERSON  THE  ACTOR
 KNOWS  OR  REASONABLY  SHOULD  KNOW  IS A JUDGE OR ELECTED OFFICIAL OR A
 MEMBER OF SUCH JUDGE'S OR ELECTED OFFICIAL'S IMMEDIATE FAMILY; OR
   6. The actor commits the crime  of  harassment  in  the  first  degree
 against a person the actor knows or reasonably should know is a judge OR
 ELECTED OFFICIAL or a member of such judge's OR ELECTED OFFICIAL'S imme-
 diate  family  and has previously been convicted of the crime of harass-
 ment in the first degree as defined by section 240.25  of  this  article
 within the preceding ten years.
   For purposes of this section:
   (A)  "judge"  shall  mean  a  judge  of a court of record or a justice
 court[; and].
   (B) "immediate family" shall have  the  same  meaning  as  defined  in
 section 120.40 of this chapter.
   (C)  "ELECTED OFFICIAL" SHALL MEAN AN ELECTED OFFICIAL OF THE STATE OF
 NEW YORK OR OF ANY COUNTY,  CITY,  TOWN,  VILLAGE,  OR  OTHER  POLITICAL
 SUBDIVISION  THEREOF, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANYONE ELECTED TO A
 TOWN BOARD, LIBRARY BOARD, OR SCHOOL BOARD.
   Aggravated harassment of a judge OR ELECTED  OFFICIAL  is  a  class  E
 felony.
   §  5.  This  act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law.