Employers must report attacks on health care and school workers

Employers must report covered workplace assaults to the state. The reports cover assaults on health care and school workers while working, commuting, or facing retaliation for their work. Employers must report even if no one is charged. Acts by people detained or committed under a separate state law are excluded. Reporting begins July 1, 2027, with one report for each half of the year.

A person who deliberately touches a covered worker in a rude or angry way commits a Class A misdemeanor; bodily injury can make it a felony. The rule covers health care workers whose jobs involve patient contact and school workers who have direct, ongoing contact with students. The act must happen during work, during a commute, or in retaliation for work. The penalties do not apply to acts by people detained or committed under a separate state law. These penalties take effect July 1, 2026.

Police must offer a chemical test that includes a blood test after a fatal crash. The rule covers people believed to have driven a vehicle involved in a fatal crash. An officer must have reason to believe the person drove a vehicle involved in the crash. Officers need not offer a test to an unconscious person. Any chemical test given under this rule must happen within three hours of the crash. The rule takes effect July 1, 2026.

A person who uses a drone for the listed acts commits a Class A misdemeanor; a prior unrelated conviction under this rule raises it to a Level 6 felony. The rule covers intentional harassment, knowingly spraying another person’s property without consent, and reckless flight over that property without consent that endangers another aircraft or drone. Mechanical or electronic failure and avoiding greater harm are defenses. Unintentional spray drift onto adjacent property is also a defense if the operator took reasonable, good faith precautions to limit it. The rule takes effect July 1, 2026.

Counties cannot require the covered workers to live in the county. The rule covers public defense and prosecution staff, court workers, emergency medical providers, and employees of agencies that employ those providers. Chief public defenders are excluded from this rule. This rule takes effect upon passage.