| 6 | 4 | | 95th General Assembly A Bill 2 |
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| 7 | 5 | | Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 355 3 |
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| 8 | 6 | | 4 |
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| 9 | 7 | | By: Senator J. Bryant 5 |
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| 10 | 8 | | By: Representative Underwood 6 |
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| 11 | 9 | | 7 |
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| 12 | 10 | | For An Act To Be Entitled 8 |
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| 13 | 11 | | AN ACT TO AMEND THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF OBSTRUCTING 9 |
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| 14 | 12 | | GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 10 |
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| 15 | 13 | | 11 |
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| 16 | 14 | | 12 |
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| 17 | 15 | | Subtitle 13 |
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| 18 | 16 | | TO AMEND THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF 14 |
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| 19 | 17 | | OBSTRUCTING GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS. 15 |
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| 20 | 18 | | 16 |
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| 21 | 19 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 17 |
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| 22 | 20 | | 18 |
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| 23 | 21 | | SECTION 1. Arkansas Code § 5-54-102 is amended to read as 19 |
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| 24 | 22 | | follows: 20 |
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| 25 | 23 | | 5-54-102. Obstructing governmental operations. 21 |
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| 26 | 24 | | (a) A person commits the offense of obstructing governmental 22 |
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| 27 | 25 | | operations if the person: 23 |
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| 28 | 26 | | (1) Knowingly obstructs, impairs, or hinders the performance of 24 |
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| 29 | 27 | | any governmental function; 25 |
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| 30 | 28 | | (2) Knowingly refuses to provide information requested by an 26 |
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| 31 | 29 | | employee of a governmental agency relating to the investigation of a case 27 |
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| 32 | 30 | | brought under Title IV -D of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq., 28 |
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| 33 | 31 | | and is the physical custodian of the child in the case; 29 |
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| 34 | 32 | | (3) Fails to submit to court -ordered scientific testing by a 30 |
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| 35 | 33 | | noninvasive procedure to determine the paternity of a child in a case brought 31 |
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| 36 | 34 | | under Title IV-D of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.; or 32 |
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| 37 | 35 | | (4) Falsely identifies himself or herself to a law enforcement 33 |
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| 38 | 36 | | officer or a code enforcement officer ; or 34 |
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| 42 | | - | 2 03-20-2025 09:44:50 CEB196 |
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| 43 | | - | |
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| 44 | | - | |
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| 45 | | - | court hearing in a criminal matter . 1 |
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| 46 | | - | (b)(1) Obstructing governmental operations by using or threatening to 2 |
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| 47 | | - | use physical force is a Class A misdemeanor. 3 |
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| 48 | | - | (2) A second or subsequent offense of obstructing governmental 4 |
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| 49 | | - | operations under subdivision (a)(4) of this section is a Class A misdemeanor. 5 |
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| 50 | | - | (3) The offense of obstructing governmental operations under 6 |
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| 51 | | - | subdivision (a)(5) of this section is a Class C misdemeanor. 7 |
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| 52 | | - | (4) Otherwise, obstructing governmental operations is a Class C 8 |
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| 53 | | - | misdemeanor. 9 |
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| 54 | | - | (c) This section does not apply to: 10 |
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| 55 | | - | (1) Unlawful flight by a person charged with an offense; 11 |
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| 56 | | - | (2) Refusal to submit to arrest; 12 |
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| 57 | | - | (3) Any means of avoiding compliance with the law not involving 13 |
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| 58 | | - | affirmative interference with a governmental function unless specifically set 14 |
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| 59 | | - | forth in this section; or 15 |
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| 60 | | - | (4) Obstruction, impairment, or hindrance of what a person 16 |
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| 61 | | - | reasonably believes is a public servant's unlawful action. 17 |
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| 62 | | - | (d)(1) As used in this section, “code enforcement officer” means an 18 |
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| 63 | | - | individual charged with the duty of enforcing a municipal code, municipal 19 |
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| 64 | | - | ordinance, or municipal regulation as defined by a municipal code, municipal 20 |
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| 65 | | - | ordinance, or municipal regulation. 21 |
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| 66 | | - | (2) “Code enforcement officer” includes a municipal animal 22 |
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| 67 | | - | control officer. 23 |
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| 40 | + | 2 03/02/2025 6:04:38 PM CEB196 |
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| 41 | + | (b)(1) Obstructing governmental operations by using or threatening to 1 |
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| 42 | + | use physical force is a Class A misdemeanor. 2 |
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| 43 | + | (2) A second or subsequent offense of obstructing governmental 3 |
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| 44 | + | operations under subdivision (a)(4) of this section is a Class A misdemeanor. 4 |
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| 45 | + | (3) The offense of obstructing governmental operations under 5 |
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| 46 | + | subdivision (a)(5) of this section is a Class C misdemeanor. 6 |
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| 47 | + | (4) Otherwise, obstructing governmental operations is a Class C 7 |
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| 48 | + | misdemeanor. 8 |
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| 49 | + | (c) This section does not apply to: 9 |
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| 50 | + | (1) Unlawful flight by a person charged with an offense; 10 |
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| 51 | + | (2) Refusal to submit to arrest; 11 |
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| 52 | + | (3) Any means of avoiding compliance with the law not involving 12 |
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| 53 | + | affirmative interference with a governmental function unless specifically set 13 |
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| 54 | + | forth in this section; or 14 |
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| 55 | + | (4) Obstruction, impairment, or hindrance of what a person 15 |
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| 56 | + | reasonably believes is a public servant's unlawful action. 16 |
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| 57 | + | (d)(1) As used in this section, “code enforcement officer” means an 17 |
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| 58 | + | individual charged with the duty of enforcing a municipal code, municipal 18 |
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| 59 | + | ordinance, or municipal regulation as defined by a municipal code, municipal 19 |
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| 60 | + | ordinance, or municipal regulation. 20 |
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| 61 | + | (2) “Code enforcement officer” includes a municipal animal 21 |
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| 62 | + | control officer. 22 |
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| 63 | + | 23 |
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