NY State Senate Bill 2025-S8476

Senate Bill S8476

2025-2026 Legislative Session

Increases criminal penalties for aggravated harassment of an elected official and criminal trespass of an elected official's residence

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Rules Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Aug 13, 2025	referred to rules

2025-S8476 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Rules
Law Section:: Penal Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§240.33 & 140.17, Pen L

2025-S8476 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Increases criminal penalties for aggravated harassment of an elected official and criminal trespass of an elected official's residence; provides that aggravated harassment of an elected official shall be a class E felony and criminal trespass of an elected official's residence shall be included in criminal trespass in the first degree and shall be a class D felony.

2025-S8476 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8476

SPONSOR: WEIK
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to increasing criminal penal-
ties for aggravated harassment of an elected official and criminal tres-
pass of an elected official's residence

 
PURPOSE:

To protect public officials and their families from rising threats and
politically motivated intimidation by enhancing criminal penalties for
harassment and trespass offenses specifically targeting elected offi-
cials.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends Penal Law § 240.33 to add "elected official" to the
scope of the aggravated harassment statute and to classify this crime as
a class E felony.

Section 2 amends § 140.17 of the Penal Law to make it first-degree crim-
inal trespass, to unlawfully enter a building known to be the residence
of an elected official or their immediate family.

Section 3 establishes the effective date of the act as immediate upon
enactment.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Recent violent events against elected officials have underscored the
growing risks public servants face due to their roles. In a recent trag-
ic incident, members of the Minnesota State Legislature were attacked,
resulting in two deaths and serious injuries to two others.  These acts
of political violence are not isolated.

A Chapman University study found a steady increase in threats against
public officials since 2017, corresponding with rising political polari-
zation and an increasing acceptance of violence as a means of
expression. Thousands of threats have been reported nationwide.

In New York, intimidation has escalated at the local level. A recent
incident in Smithtown involved persistent harassment of a candidate and
their family at their home, during both day and night. These actions,
while deeply disturbing, may currently only qualify as misdemeanors
under state law, namely aggravated harassment in the second degree and
criminal trespass in the third degree.

This legislation seeks to address that gap by increasing the penalties
for those who intentionally target elected officials or their families.
These targeted acts of harassment and invasion of privacy pose a serious
threat to the democratic process and the personal safety of public serv-
ants. Elevating these offenses to felonies reflects the severity of
these crimes and affirms New York State's commitment to protecting those
who serve the public.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New Bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S8476 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8476
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                              August 13, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  WEIK  --  read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
 
 AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to increasing criminal penal-
   ties for aggravated harassment of an  elected  official  and  criminal
   trespass of an elected official's residence

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. 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  OR  ELECTED
 OFFICIAL'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-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD13515-01-5

 S. 8476                             2
 
 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
   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.  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: "judge" shall mean a judge of a court of
 record or a justice court; and "immediate family" shall  have  the  same
 meaning as defined in section 120.40 of this chapter.
   Aggravated  harassment  of  a  judge  OR ELECTED OFFICIAL is a class E
 felony.
   § 2. Section 140.17 of the penal law, as added by chapter 341  of  the
 laws of 1969, is amended to read as follows:
 § 140.17[.] Criminal trespass in the first degree.
   A  person is guilty of criminal trespass in the first degree when [he]
 SUCH PERSON knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in  a  building,  and
 when, in the course of committing such crime, [he] SUCH PERSON:
   1.   Possesses,  or  knows  that  another  participant  in  the  crime
 possesses, an explosive or a deadly weapon; or
   2. Possesses a firearm, rifle or shotgun, as those terms  are  defined
 in section 265.00 OF THIS PART, and also possesses or has readily acces-
 sible a quantity of ammunition which is capable of being discharged from
 such firearm, rifle or shotgun; or
   3.  Knows  that  another participant in the crime possesses a firearm,
 rifle or shotgun under circumstances described in subdivision two[.]  OF
 THIS SECTION; OR
   4. KNOWS THAT AN ELECTED OFFICIAL OR SUCH ELECTED OFFICIAL'S IMMEDIATE
 FAMILY  RESIDES  IN SUCH BUILDING. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBDIVISION,
 "IMMEDIATE FAMILY" SHALL HAVE THE SAME MEANING  AS  DEFINED  IN  SECTION
 120.40 OF THIS PART.
   Criminal trespass in the first degree is a class D felony.
   § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.

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