Assault of an off-duty law enforcement officer felony under bill passed out of Senate last week

A bill concerning law enforcement officer protection has already passed out of the Senate in the second week of the 2024 Legislative session. SB 5299, sponsored by Sen. John Braun (R–Centralia), was introduced last year and:

• Classifies assault of an off-duty law enforcement officer as a class C felony;
• Modifies the sentencing enhancement for assaulting a law enforcement officer with a firearm to include assaulting a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon;
• Requires law enforcement agencies to report any incident where a law enforcement officer employed by the agency is physically harmed by a citizen while performing duties.

A recent amendment clarifies data collection requirements when a person assaults a law enforcement officer.

Last year’s version of the bill also created a civil action for “doxing” a police officer – posting an officer's personally identifiable information without consent, knowing that publishing the information would be reasonably likely to result in harassment, bodily injury, or death of the person identified, or if the posting of the information causes the person identified to experience substantial life disruption, harassment, bodily injury, or death. This provision was removed from SB 5299, but HB 1335 passed last year creating a new civil remedy for doxing. Read last year’s coverage of the bill.