Enrolled HB 307: Relating to cruelty to animals and promoting an exhibition of fighting animals; and penalizing certain misdemeanor assaults as felonies.
00Enrolled HB 307 01 Relating to cruelty to animals and promoting an exhibition of fighting animals; and penalizing 02 certain misdemeanor assaults as felonies. 03 _______________ 04 * Section 1. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section 05 to read: 06 INTENT. It is the intent of the legislature that the courts and the Department of Law 07 should ensure that the enhanced penalty under AS 11.41.220(a)(5), added by sec. 2 of this 08 Act, is applied to the perpetrators of domestic violence and not to innocent victims of 09 domestic violence. 10 * Sec. 2. AS 11.41.220(a) is amended to read: 11 (a) A person commits the crime of assault in the third degree if that person 12 (1) recklessly 13 (A) places another person in fear of imminent serious physical 14 injury by means of a dangerous instrument;
01 (B) causes physical injury to another person by means of a 02 dangerous instrument; or 03 (C) while being 18 years of age or older 04 (i) causes physical injury to a child under 10 years of 05 age and the injury would cause a reasonable caregiver to seek medical 06 attention from a health care professional in the form of diagnosis or 07 treatment; 08 (ii) causes physical injury to a child under 10 years of 09 age on more than one occasion; 10 (2) with intent to place another person in fear of death or serious 11 physical injury to the person or the person's family member makes repeated threats to 12 cause death or serious physical injury to another person; 13 (3) while being 18 years of age or older, knowingly causes physical 14 injury to a child under 16 years of age but at least 10 years of age and the injury 15 reasonably requires medical treatment; [OR] 16 (4) with criminal negligence causes serious physical injury under 17 AS 11.81.900(b)(56)(B) to another person by means of a dangerous instrument; or 18 (5) commits a crime that is a violation of AS 11.41.230(a)(1) or (2) 19 and, within the preceding 10 years, the person was convicted on two or more 20 separate occasions of crimes under 21 (A) AS 11.41.100 - 11.41.170; 22 (B) AS 11.41.200 - 11.41.220, 11.41.230(a)(1) or (2), 23 11.41.280, or 11.41.282; 24 (C) AS 11.41.260 or 11.41.270; 25 (D) AS 11.41.410, 11.41.420, or 11.41.425(a)(1); or 26 (E) a law or ordinance of this or another jurisdiction with 27 elements similar to those of an offense described in (A) - (D) of this 28 paragraph. 29 * Sec. 3. AS 11.41.220 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 30 (e) In (a)(5) of this section, when considering whether a conviction has 31 occurred in the preceding 10 years, the date that sentence is imposed is the date that a
01 previous conviction has occurred. 02 * Sec. 4. AS 11.61.140(a) is amended to read: 03 (a) A person commits cruelty to animals if the person 04 (1) knowingly inflicts severe and prolonged physical pain or suffering 05 on an animal; 06 (2) with criminal negligence, fails to care for an animal and, as a result, 07 causes the death of the animal or causes severe physical pain or prolonged suffering to 08 the animal; 09 (3) kills or injures an animal by the use of a decompression chamber; 10 [OR] 11 (4) intentionally kills or injures a pet or livestock by the use of poison; 12 or 13 (5) knowingly kills or injures an animal, other than as provided in 14 (1) or (3) of this subsection, with the intent to intimidate, threaten, or terrorize 15 another person. 16 * Sec. 5. AS 11.61.140(b) is amended to read: 17 (b) Each animal that is subject to cruelty to animals under (a) [(a)(1) - (4)] of 18 this section shall constitute a separate offense. 19 * Sec. 6. AS 11.61.140(f) is amended to read: 20 (f) Except as provided in (g) of this section, cruelty [CRUELTY] to animals 21 is a class A misdemeanor. The court may also 22 (1) require forfeiture of any animal affected to the state or to a 23 custodian that supplies shelter, care, or medical treatment for the animal; 24 (2) require the defendant to reimburse the state or a custodian for all 25 reasonable costs incurred in providing necessary shelter, care, veterinary attention, or 26 medical treatment for any animal affected; 27 (3) prohibit or limit the defendant's ownership, possession, or custody 28 of animals for up to 10 years. 29 * Sec. 7. AS 11.61.140 is amended by adding a new subsection to read: 30 (g) Cruelty to animals is a class C felony if the person has been previously 31 convicted on two or more separate occasions within 10 years of the date of the present
01 offense of a crime under this section, AS 11.61.145(a)(1) or (2), or a law or ordinance 02 of another jurisdiction having elements similar to those offenses. The court may also 03 (1) require forfeiture of any animal affected to the state or to a 04 custodian that supplies shelter, care, or medical treatment for the animal; 05 (2) require the defendant to reimburse the state or a custodian for all 06 reasonable costs incurred in providing necessary shelter, care, veterinary attention, or 07 medical treatment for any animal affected; 08 (3) prohibit or limit the defendant's ownership, possession, or custody 09 of animals for up to 10 years. 10 * Sec. 8. AS 11.61.145(d) is amended to read: 11 (d) Promoting an exhibition of fighting animals 12 (1) under (a)(1) or (2) of this section is a class C felony; 13 (2) under (a)(3) of this section is a violation for the first offense, 14 [AND] a class B misdemeanor for the second offense, and a class A misdemeanor 15 for the third and each subsequent offense. 16 * Sec. 9. The uncodified law of the State of Alaska is amended by adding a new section to 17 read: 18 APPLICABILITY. AS 11.41.220(a)(5), added by sec. 2 of this Act, applies to 19 offenses committed on or after the effective date of this Act. References to previous 20 convictions apply to convictions for offenses committed on or after the effective date of this 21 Act.