HOUSE BILL NO. 2109 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVE ROBERTS.
4957H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT To repeal section 575.270, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof two new sections relating to victims of crime, with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 575.270, RSMo, is repealed and two new sections enacted in lieu 2 thereof, to be known as sections 455.400 and 575.270, to read as follows: 455.400. 1. As used in this section, "family justice center" means a multiagency, 2 multidisciplinary center in which governmental and nongovernmental organizations 3 provide co-located on-site and off-site services to persons seeking assistance as a result 4 of victimization related to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking as defined in 5 section 455.010, child abuse or neglect, abuse of an eligible adult as defined in section 6 192.2400, and victims of trafficking as defined in 566.200. 7 2. A family justice center shall: 8 (1) Require persons employed by or volunteering directly for the family justice 9 center to maintain confidentiality of any information that would identify individuals 10 served by the center and any information or records that are related to the services 11 provided to such individuals; 12 (2) Prior to providing any services, inform any person served by the family 13 justice center of the nature and scope of the confidentiality requirements of subdivision 14 (1) of this subsection; and 15 (3) Not require persons served by the family justice center to participate in the 16 criminal justice system or cooperate with law enforcement in order to receive advocacy, 17 counseling, medical care, or other services provided at a family justice center.
EXPLANATION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is intended to be omitted from the law. Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language. HB 2109 2
18 3. A family justice center may include, but is not limited to, personnel and 19 volunteers from the following governmental and nongovernmental organizations or 20 providers: 21 (1) Law enforcement personnel; 22 (2) Medical personnel; 23 (3) Prosecuting and circuit attorneys; 24 (4) Victim-witness program personnel; 25 (5) Domestic violence shelter service staff; 26 (6) Rape crisis centers; 27 (7) Human trafficking advocates; 28 (8) The department of social services, including the children's division; 29 (9) County health department staff; 30 (10) Welfare and public assistance workers; 31 (11) Counseling professionals; 32 (12) Civil legal service providers; and 33 (13) Other professionals providing services. 34 4. Any person employed by or serving as a volunteer of a family justice center 35 shall be incompetent to testify concerning any confidential information in subsection 2 36 of this section unless the confidentiality requirements are waived in writing by the 37 person served by the family justice center. 38 5. Any person providing services to another person at a family justice center 39 under the provisions of this section shall not be liable for civil damages while acting in 40 the official scope of his or her duties if the person, in good faith, makes a 41 recommendation, gives an opinion, or releases or uses information for the purposes of 42 protecting or providing services to the other person. Such limitation of civil liability 43 does not apply if the person providing services acted with gross negligence or in bad 44 faith. 45 6. A city, county, or nonprofit agency may individually or collectively establish a 46 family justice center. 575.270. 1. A person commits the offense of tampering with a witness or victim if: 2 (1) With the purpose to induce a witness or a prospective witness to disobey a 3 subpoena or other legal process, absent himself or herself, avoid subpoena or other legal 4 process, withhold evidence, information, or documents, or testify falsely, he or she: 5 (a) Threatens or causes harm to any person or property; or 6 (b) Uses force, threats or deception; or 7 (c) Offers, confers or agrees to confer any benefit, direct or indirect, upon such 8 witness; or HB 2109 3
9 (d) Conveys any of the foregoing to another in furtherance of a conspiracy; or 10 (2) He or she purposely prevents or dissuades or attempts to prevent or dissuade any 11 person who has been a victim of any crime or a person who is acting on behalf of any such 12 victim from: 13 (a) Making any report of such victimization to any peace officer, state, local or federal 14 law enforcement officer, prosecuting agency, or judge; 15 (b) Causing a complaint, indictment or information to be sought and prosecuted or 16 assisting in the prosecution thereof; 17 (c) Arresting or causing or seeking the arrest of any person in connection with such 18 victimization. 19 2. The offense of tampering with a witness or victim is a class A misdemeanor, unless 20 the original charge is a felony, in which case tampering with a witness or victim is a class D 21 felony. Persons convicted under this section shall not be eligible for probation, parole, 22 conditional release, or suspended imposition or execution of sentence. 23 3. It is the intent of the legislature to reject and abrogate earlier case law 24 interpretations of subdivision (2) of subsection 1 of this section including, but not be 25 limited to, State v. Owens, 270 S.W.3d 533 (Mo. App. W.D. 2008), that requires the state 26 to prove the underlying criminal offense to prove an offense under this section. 27 4. As used in this section, a "victim of any crime" shall be interpreted broadly to 28 include any person who: 29 (1) Attempted to report such a victimization; 30 (2) Reported such a victimization; 31 (3) Caused a complaint, indictment, or information to be sought; or 32 (4) Is alleged as the victim in a felony complaint, indictment, misdemeanor 33 information, or felony information. ✔
Statutes affected: