Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Criminal Law topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate updates 1893 law, makes firing at trains a Class A misdemeanor
Summary
The Arkansas Senate passed Senate Bill 16 to reclassify and stiffen penalties for discharging a firearm at a train, updating an 1893 statute; sponsors said the change reflects modern penalties and could include jail time.
Senator Boyd of the Arkansas Senate on Tuesday won approval for legislation that updates an 1893 statute to make discharging a firearm at a train a Class A misdemeanor, increasing punishments and bringing the law in line with modern penalties.
The bill, Senate Bill 16, passed by a roll call vote reported as 31 ayes, 2 nays and 2 not voting and will be transmitted to the House. Senator Boyd, sponsor of the bill, told colleagues the change came from the legislative task force and related subcommittees and reflected a consensus.
"So senate bill 16, again, we go back to the Arkansas legislative task force, our game and fish subcommittee, the second amendment task force, and this is a bill that came out of there with, consensus. So this bill or this statute that we're working to amend was originally done in 1893," Senator Boyd said on the floor.
The sponsor noted the historic penalty structure was small by modern standards. "So what this does is it it's never been updated. So the fine today would be a minimum of $25 and up to $250, for, you know, discharge of a firearm at a train," Boyd said, adding the group recommended reclassifying the offense to a Class A misdemeanor.
Senator Flowers asked whether the reclassification would expose defendants to jail time as well as fines. "In the bill that says a class a misdemeanor, not only is that a fine, like you said, of the 2,500, subject to jail time too. Is that correct?" Flowers asked.
Boyd replied: "Yes. So the the current law does subject people to jail time as well, but it just Yes. But but currently, the the statute could include jail too."
Senate Bill 16 sponsors said the change was intended to modernize the penalty range; the explicit statutory classification as a Class A misdemeanor was the primary substantive change described on the floor. No amendments or changes to the bill text were recorded during floor debate.
The motion to pass the bill was made by Senator Boyd; a second was not specified on the record. The clerk reported the final tally as 31 yay, 2 nay, 2 not voting. The measure passed and will be transmitted to the House for consideration.
