Summary — HB 4918 (Proposed MCL 750.81g): Assault of Public Transit Operators and Related Employees
Status and effective date
- Adds section 81g to Chapter 14 (Assaults) of the Michigan Penal Code (proposed MCL 750.81g).
- Tie‑barred to HB 4917 (which would add the new offenses to the sentencing guidelines).
- Each bill would take effect 90 days after enactment.
- Legislative history: passed the House (with substitute), reported favorably by committee, the Senate adopted a substitute (S‑1) and returned the bill to the House. (See bill record for full chronology.)
Purpose / intent
- To create distinct criminal penalties for assaults on public transit operators (and, in certain versions, employees or contractors of bus/street railway/railroad services), with enhanced penalties for assaults that cause serious injury, involve weapons, or follow prior convictions. Also requires transit owners to post notice of the law and potential enhanced penalties.
Key provisions
- New offenses (proposed section 81g) targeting assaults committed while the victim is:
- performing duties as an operator of a bus, street railway vehicle, or train; and (in the House-passed text) assaults because of a person’s status as an employee or contractor of a bus service, street railway service, or railroad.
- Penalties (as reflected in the Senate substitute S‑1 and House-passed substitute):
- Simple assault/assault and battery: misdemeanor — up to 93 days imprisonment and/or up to $1,000 fine.
- Aggravated (no weapon) assault causing serious or aggravated injury (without intent to murder or cause great bodily harm): misdemeanor — up to 1 year imprisonment and/or up to $2,000 fine.
- Assault with a dangerous weapon (specified examples: gun, knife, iron bar, club, brass knuckles, etc.): felony — up to 4 years imprisonment and/or up to $4,000 fine.
- Enhanced penalties for repeat offenders:
- Prior conviction elevates simple assault to misdemeanor up to 180 days/$2,000.
- Prior conviction elevates aggravated (serious injury) assault to felony up to 2 years/$4,000.
- Prior conviction elevates weapon assault to felony up to 8 years/$8,000.
- Owners/operators required to post a prominent sign in each vehicle advising that assaulting the operator may result in prosecution and enhanced penalties.
- Does not preclude charging or convicting a person under any other law arising from the same transaction.
Definitions
- “Bus,” “street railway vehicle,” “train,” “railroad,” and “street railway service” are defined by reference to existing Michigan statutes (vehicle code, railroad code, and related definitions used in the substitute language).
Who is affected
- Transit operators (bus drivers, streetcar/trolley operators, train engineers/conductors) and other employees/contractors covered by the House-passed version.
- Transit agencies and vehicle owners (required to post signage).
- Persons who assault transit workers (face new/heightened criminal penalties).
- Criminal justice system: law enforcement, prosecutors, courts, jail/prison and community supervision systems.
Procedural / fiscal notes
- HB 4917 is tie‑barred to HB 4918 to address guideline classification; however, under People v. Lockridge the sentencing guidelines are advisory, so adding the offenses to the guidelines has an indeterminate effect.
- Fiscal impact: indeterminate but potentially negative — more arrests/convictions could increase demands on police, courts, probation, jails, and prisons. Representative cost estimates used in analyses: ~ $4,600/year per felony probationer and roughly $48,000–$49,000/year per state prison intake (approximate figures cited in committee reports). Local signage costs expected to be minimal.
For more detail
- Proposed statutory text appears as proposed MCL 750.81g; HB 4917 would amend MCL 777.16d (sentencing guidelines). See committee reports and the bill text for precise statutory language and the most recent legislative actions.
