Existing law defines a battery as any willful and unlawful use of force or violence upon the person of another. Existing law defines stalking as willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly following or willfully and maliciously harassing another person and making a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear for the person's safety, or the safety of the person's immediate family.
Existing law provides that when a battery is committed against the person of an operator, driver, or passenger on a bus, taxicab, streetcar, cable car, trackless trolley, or other motor vehicle, as specified, and the person who commits the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is engaged in the performance of their duties, the penalty is imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, a fine not exceeding $10,000, or both the fine and imprisonment. Existing law also provides that if the victim is injured, the offense would be punished by a fine not exceeding $10,000, by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year or in the state prison for 16 months, 2, or 3 years, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
This bill would expand this crime to apply to an employee, public transportation provider, or contractor of a public transportation provider. By expanding the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law authorizes any employer or collective bargaining representative whose employee has suffered harassment, unlawful violence, or a credible threat of violence from any individual, which can reasonably be construed to be carried out or to have been carried out at the workplace, to seek a temporary restraining order and an injunction on behalf of the employee and other employees of the employer.
This bill would require a temporary restraining order issued pursuant to a violation of the above provision to be enforceable across the entirety of any public transit system, as defined. The bill would authorize a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the area where the public transit system is located to enforce the temporary restraining order, as specified. The bill would require a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the area where the public transit system is located to notify the public transit system of the issuance of an order in order to obtain the transit system's assistance with enforcement.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Statutes affected:
AB 394: 243.3 PEN
02/03/25 - Introduced: 243.3 PEN
03/24/25 - Amended Assembly: 243.3 PEN
03/27/25 - Amended Assembly: 243.3 PEN
04/10/25 - Amended Assembly: 243.3 PEN