Impact Assessment for SB337
Sponsored by Senator Caldwell
Subtitle TO AUTHORIZE A PENALTY FOR THREATENING A STATE EMPLOYEE IN THE COURSE
OF HIS OR HER JOB DUTIES; AND TO AUTHORIZE A PENALTY FOR ALERTING AN INDIVIDUAL
OR ENTITY OF A STATE INVESTIGATION.
Impact Summary 1 Cannot be determined.
Change from Current Law 2 Amends Arkansas Code Title 21, Chapter 1, Subchapter 1, to add an additional
section, § 21-1-107, Penalties for certain actions by or against state employee. Under the proposed bill, penalties
for certain actions by or against state employee occur (1) if an individual threatens physical injury or property
damage to a state employee while the state employee is acting in the course of his or her job duties and knows,
or should know, that the person is a state employee or (2) if for a purpose other than a legitimate investigatory
need a state employee alerts an individual or entity to an investigation by a state agency of the individual or
entity.
Under the proposed bill, the penalty for a first conviction for A.C.A. § 21-1-107 is an unclassified misdemeanor.
Second and subsequent convictions for occurrences of A.C.A. § 21-1-107 are Class D felonies.
Impact Information The proposed bill creates a new criminal offense for which the likely number of
occurrences is unknown. For this reason, the projected impact of the proposed bill cannot be determined.
The following data on provisions criminalizing similar conduct is provided for informational purposes only.
The Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) reports that for the three (3) year period beginning on 1/1/2020
and ending on 12/31/2022, there were 477 misdemeanor convictions of A.C.A. § 5-13-301(b), Terroristic
threatening, second degree. [See attached for complete reproduction of A.C.A. § 5-13-301].
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1 This impact assessment was prepared 3/6/2023 7:34 AM by the staff of the Arkansas Sentencing Commission pursuant to A. C. A. § 16-90-
802(d)(6) with data supplied by the Arkansas Department of Corrections and the Administrative Office of the Courts. A micro-simulation
model may be used for bills which have the potential for significant impact on correctional resources. The following designations will be
used: “minimal” = less than 10 offenders per year will be affected; “medium” = would require budgetary increases for ADC inmate costs;
and “major” = would require budgetary increases for ADC inmate costs and construction costs for additional beds.
2 Standard punishment ranges: Misdemeanors
Class Y 10-40 years or life Class C 3-10 years; up to $10,000 Class A Up to 1 year; up to $2,500
Class A 6-30 years; up to $15,000 Class D 0-6 years; up to $10,000 Class B Up to 90 days; up to $1,000
Class B 5-20 years; up to $15,000 Unclassified As specified in statute Class C Up to 30 days; up to $500
A.C.A. § 5-13-301. Terroristic threatening.
(a)
(1) A person commits the offense of terroristic threatening in the first degree if:
(A) With the purpose of terrorizing another person, the person threatens to cause death or
serious physical injury or substantial property damage to another person; or
(B) With the purpose of terrorizing another person, the person threatens to cause physical
injury or property damage to a teacher or other school employee acting in the line of duty.
(2) Terroristic threatening in the first degree is a Class D felony.
(b)
(1) A person commits the offense of terroristic threatening in the second degree if, with the purpose of
terrorizing another person, the person threatens to cause physical injury or property damage to another
person.
(2) Terroristic threatening in the second degree is a Class A misdemeanor.
(c)
(1)
(A) Upon pretrial release of the defendant, a judicial officer shall:
(i) Enter a no contact order in writing consistent with Rules 9.3 and 9.4 of the Arkansas
Rules of Criminal Procedure; and
(ii) Give notice to the defendant of penalties contained in Rule 9.5 of the Arkansas
Rules of Criminal Procedure.
(B) The no contact order under subdivision (c)(1)(A) of this section remains in effect during
the pendency of any appeal of a conviction under this section.
(C) The judicial officer or prosecuting attorney shall provide a copy of the no contact order
under subdivision (c)(1)(A) of this section to the victim and arresting agency without
unnecessary delay.
(2) If the judicial officer has reason to believe that mental disease or defect of the defendant will or has
become an issue in the cause, the judicial officer shall enter orders consistent with § 5-2-327 or § 5-2-
328, or both.
History
Acts 1975, No. 280, § 1608; 1979, No. 753, § 1; A.S.A. 1947, § 41-1608; Acts 1993, No. 379, § 4; 1993, No. 388, § 4;
1993, No. 1189, § 3; 1995, No. 1302, § 2; 2017, No. 472, § 18.