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HF 641

Fourth-degree assault crime expanded related to nurses, physicians, and other persons providing health care services.

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Wayne Johnson and 2 co-sponsors

Expands fourth-degree assault to protect health care workers, making violence against nurses, doctors, and similar providers a prosecutable offense in clinical and related settings

Author added Johnson, W.
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Bill Summary · HF 641

Summary of HF 641 (2025-2026) – Fourth-Degree Assault Expanded Related to Health Care Providers

Purpose and Intent

HF 641 proposes expanding the scope of fourth-degree assault offenses to explicitly address harms committed against health care professionals and others providing health care services. The bill aims to enhance protections for nurses, physicians, and similar health care workers when they are the victims of assaults, recognizing the unique risks and critical nature of health care work.

Key Provisions and Changes

  • Expanded offense category: The bill broadens the circumstances under which fourth-degree assault can be charged, with a focus on assaults involving health care providers.
  • Targeted victims: Specifically includes nurses, physicians, and other individuals providing health care services as protected recipients of the offense, potentially extending to related health care staff and settings.
  • Nature of conduct: Likely focuses on acts that intentionally inflict bodily harm or cause injury while the victim is engaged in health care-related duties or in a health care setting, consistent with the general scope of Minnesota’s fourth-degree assault provisions.
  • Penalties (implicit in scope): While the summary does not detail new penalty ranges, expanding the offense’s applicability typically aligns with existing fourth-degree assault penalties (which in Minnesota generally include gross misdemeanor or felony levels depending on aggravating factors). The bill may maintain or adjust sentencing guidelines accordingly to reflect aggravated circumstances when health care workers are targeted.
  • Relation to other statutes: The changes would operate within Minnesota’s assault statute framework, potentially interacting with related offenses (e.g., first-, second-, and third-degree assaults) and with any health care-specific protections or workplace violence provisions.

Affected Parties and Settings

  • Primary victims: Health care professionals such as nurses, physicians, physician assistants, and other individuals providing health care services in clinical, hospital, or related settings.
  • Work environments: Hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities, home health environments, and other locations where health care services are delivered.
  • Law enforcement and prosecutors: Courts and prosecutors would apply this expanded model of fourth-degree assault when charging and adjudicating cases involving health care workers as victims.

Procedural and Timeline Aspects

  • Authorship and sponsorship:
    • Original author(s) listed as Scott, with co-sponsors Wayne Johnson, Peggy Scott, and Andrew Myers.
    • Action history indicates introduction and assignment to committee in 2025, with formal amendments or additions of authors noted later (e.g., 2026-03-25: Johnson added as author).
  • Committee referral: Initially referred to the Public Safety Finance and Policy committee on introduction (Feb 13, 2025), indicating the bill would be reviewed for fiscal and policy implications related to public safety enforcement.
  • Status indicators: As an early-stage bill, it would require committee consideration, potential amendments, floor votes in the relevant chamber, and differences between House and Senate versions before any enactment.

Practical Impact

  • Deterrence and protection: By explicitly extending fourth-degree assault protections to health care workers, the bill aims to deter violence against health care staff and improve reporting, prosecutorial focus, and sentencing for such offenses.
  • Support for health care workers: The measure recognizes and responds to safety concerns in health care settings, potentially influencing workplace policies and training related to de-escalation and incident reporting.

If you’d like, I can tailor this summary to include hypothetical penology ranges or compare HF 641 to existing Minnesota statutes, once the bill’s specific language and fiscal notes are available.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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