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House raises penalties for impersonating peace officers to felonies, citing June 14 attacks; bill passes unanimously
Summary
House File 34, authored by Representative Klevorn, toughens penalties for impersonating law enforcement — creating aggravated felonies for impersonation with firearms or unauthorized access and enhancing repeat-offense penalties; the House passed the bill unanimously on April 22, 2026.
The Minnesota House unanimously approved a public-safety bill on April 22 that increases criminal penalties for impersonating peace officers and adds multiple aggravated offenses and sentencing enhancements.
Representative Klevorn, the bill’s sponsor, said the measure responds to the June 14, 2025 incident but is designed to address the broader problem of people creating convincing impersonations of law-enforcement officers. "The bill itself is pretty simple and pretty clear in what it does," Klevorn said on the floor, listing changes: raising the base offense from a gross misdemeanor to a felony; creating aggravated offenses for gaining unauthorized access, issuing commands while impersonating an officer, making vehicles resemble law-enforcement vehicles and for impersonation in possession of a firearm; and enhancing repeat-offense penalties from a two-year to a 10-year maximum in specified circumstances.
Sponsor and supporters stressed the bill’s public-safety rationale and noted it was developed with stakeholder input from police chiefs, sheriffs and peace-officer associations. Representative Novotny and others described the bill as the result of cross-aisle work and urged a green vote.
Representative Bahner gave an emotional floor statement recalling the June 14 events and the danger posed when people exploit uniforms and public trust. "That is the particularly heinous nature of what happened on June 14th — that this individual used that uniform...to gain access to us to do heinous things," Bahner said.
The measure also adds a duty-to-identify provision requiring Minnesota law-enforcement officers to provide their last name, employing agency and identification number, with exceptions for undercover work, the sponsor said. Representative Klevorn told members agencies agreed to absorb the administrative costs associated with the bill. The clerk recorded 134 ayes and 0 nays; the bill passed and its title was agreed to.
What’s next: The measure will proceed to the Senate for consideration. Sponsors said the bill was developed with police and labor stakeholders and intended to provide both deterrence and clarity for enforcement.
