House perfects bill making damage or theft of wired telecom infrastructure a felony
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Summary
Lawmakers approved amendments and perfected HB 2383 to add wired telecommunications infrastructure (including copper and fiber) to critical-infrastructure protections, scale penalties by value and service interruption, and make scrap-dealer provisions enforceable.
Representative from Franklin presented HB 2383, a bill targeting theft and vandalism of critical utility infrastructure, and offered a floor amendment to align the House text with a senate version.
Sponsor explanation: The Representative from Franklin said wired copper infrastructure was omitted decades ago from the statute and the bill restores that explicit protection. "We discovered that wired infrastructure, copper wire was for some reason in that statute ... was left out," he said, arguing the proposal clarifies penalties by the value of damage and by whether service was interrupted.
Debate and concerns: Members of the House questioned whether the measure would criminalize low-level theft and whether judges should have discretion for diversion and treatment instead of incarceration. "A lot of these people who steal copper are down on their luck," a Representative from Saint Louis City said, urging alternatives such as treatment courts and community service in lieu of automatic incarceration. The sponsor said the bill creates restitution and community-service pathways and that the grade of the offense depends on amounts and on whether service interruption occurred.
Dealer and demand-side provisions: Members asked about scrap dealers and whether knowingly accepting stolen telecommunications materials would subject dealers to penalties. The sponsor confirmed language holds dealers liable "if they knowingly knew" they were in possession of stolen material and described the bill as including dealer and possession provisions to remove the demand side for stolen infrastructure.
Action taken: The House approved a sponsor amendment to align with the senate language and then perfected and printed HB 2383 on the floor. The sponsor said the amended bill would allow courts flexibility and prioritize restitution and community-service responses for some first-time or low-value offenders while elevating penalties for conduct that causes service outages or large-scale damage.
What's next: HB 2383, as amended, is perfected and headed to the next stage of the legislative process.