S.F. _____ Section 1. Section 708.3A, subsections 1, 2, 3, and 4, Code 1 2026, are amended to read as follows: 2 1. A person who commits an assault, as defined in section 3 708.1 , against a peace officer, jailer, correctional or 4 juvenile detention staff, member or employee of the board 5 of parole, health care provider, employee of the department 6 of health and human services, employee of the department of 7 inspections, appeals, and licensing who conducts investigations 8 or inspections, employee of the department of revenue, national 9 guard member engaged in national guard duty or state active 10 duty, civilian employee of a law enforcement agency, civilian 11 employee of a fire department, or fire fighter, whether paid 12 or volunteer, or employee or contractor of a public utility 13 engaged in the performance of a public utility responsibility, 14 with the knowledge that the person against whom the assault 15 is committed is a peace officer, jailer, correctional or 16 juvenile detention staff, member or employee of the board 17 of parole, health care provider, employee of the department 18 of health and human services, employee of the department of 19 inspections, appeals, and licensing who conducts investigations 20 or inspections, employee of the department of revenue, national 21 guard member engaged in national guard duty or state active 22 duty, civilian employee of a law enforcement agency, civilian 23 employee of a fire department, or fire fighter , or employee or 24 contractor of a public utility and with the intent to inflict 25 a serious injury upon the peace officer, jailer, correctional 26 or juvenile detention staff, member or employee of the board 27 of parole, health care provider, employee of the department 28 of health and human services, employee of the department of 29 inspections, appeals, and licensing who conducts investigations 30 or inspections, employee of the department of revenue, national 31 guard member engaged in national guard duty or state active 32 duty, civilian employee of a law enforcement agency, civilian 33 employee of a fire department, or fire fighter, or employee 34 or contractor of a public utility, is guilty of a class “C” 35 -1- LSB 6661XC (2) 91 as/js 1/ 5

S.F. _____ felony. 1 2. A person who commits an assault, as defined in section 2 708.1 , against a peace officer, jailer, correctional or 3 juvenile detention staff, member or employee of the board 4 of parole, health care provider, employee of the department 5 of health and human services, employee of the department of 6 inspections, appeals, and licensing who conducts investigations 7 or inspections, employee of the department of revenue, national 8 guard member engaged in national guard duty or state active 9 duty, civilian employee of a law enforcement agency, civilian 10 employee of a fire department, or fire fighter, whether paid 11 or volunteer, or employee or contractor of a public utility 12 engaged in the performance of a public utility responsibility, 13 who knows that the person against whom the assault is committed 14 is a peace officer, jailer, correctional or juvenile detention 15 staff, member or employee of the board of parole, health care 16 provider, employee of the department of health and human 17 services, employee of the department of inspections, appeals, 18 and licensing who conducts investigations or inspections, 19 employee of the department of revenue, national guard member 20 engaged in national guard duty or state active duty, civilian 21 employee of a law enforcement agency, civilian employee of a 22 fire department, or fire fighter , or employee or contractor of 23 a public utility and who uses or displays a dangerous weapon in 24 connection with the assault, is guilty of a class “C” felony. 25 3. A person who commits an assault, as defined in section 26 708.1 , against a peace officer, jailer, correctional or 27 juvenile detention staff, member or employee of the board 28 of parole, health care provider, employee of the department 29 of health and human services, employee of the department of 30 inspections, appeals, and licensing who conducts investigations 31 or inspections, employee of the department of revenue, national 32 guard member engaged in national guard duty or state active 33 duty, civilian employee of a law enforcement agency, civilian 34 employee of a fire department, or fire fighter, whether paid 35 -2- LSB 6661XC (2) 91 as/js 2/ 5

S.F. _____ or volunteer, or employee or contractor of a public utility 1 engaged in the performance of a public utility responsibility, 2 who knows that the person against whom the assault is committed 3 is a peace officer, jailer, correctional or juvenile detention 4 staff, member or employee of the board of parole, health care 5 provider, employee of the department of health and human 6 services, employee of the department of inspections, appeals, 7 and licensing who conducts investigations or inspections, 8 employee of the department of revenue, national guard member 9 engaged in national guard duty or state active duty, civilian 10 employee of a law enforcement agency, civilian employee of a 11 fire department, or fire fighter, or employee or contractor 12 of a public utility, and who causes bodily injury or mental 13 illness, is guilty of a class “D” felony. 14 4. Any other assault, as defined in section 708.1 , including 15 an assault causing another to come into contact with saliva 16 by throwing, tossing, spitting, or expelling the fluid, 17 committed against a peace officer, jailer, correctional or 18 juvenile detention staff, member or employee of the board 19 of parole, health care provider, employee of the department 20 of health and human services, employee of the department of 21 inspections, appeals, and licensing who conducts investigations 22 or inspections, employee of the department of revenue, national 23 guard member engaged in national guard duty or state active 24 duty, civilian employee of a law enforcement agency, civilian 25 employee of a fire department, or fire fighter, whether paid 26 or volunteer, or employee or contractor of a public utility 27 engaged in the performance of a public utility responsibility, 28 by a person who knows that the person against whom the assault 29 is committed is a peace officer, jailer, correctional or 30 juvenile detention staff, member or employee of the board 31 of parole, health care provider, employee of the department 32 of health and human services, employee of the department of 33 inspections, appeals, and licensing who conducts investigations 34 or inspections, employee of the department of revenue, national 35 -3- LSB 6661XC (2) 91 as/js 3/ 5

S.F. _____ guard member engaged in national guard duty or state active 1 duty, civilian employee of a law enforcement agency, civilian 2 employee of a fire department, or fire fighter, or employee or 3 contractor of a public utility, is an aggravated misdemeanor. 4 A person convicted of violating this subsection shall serve a 5 minimum term of seven days of the sentence imposed by law, and 6 shall not be eligible for suspension of the minimum sentence. 7 Sec. 2. Section 708.7, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2026, 8 is amended by adding the following new subparagraph: 9 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH . (5) Harassment that occurs against an 10 employee or contractor of a public utility while engaged in the 11 performance of a public utility responsibility. 12 EXPLANATION 13 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 14 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 15 This bill relates to assaults on persons engaged in certain 16 occupations and harassment against public utility employees or 17 contractors. 18 The bill adds an employee or contractor of a public utility 19 engaged in the performance of a public utility responsibility 20 to the list of occupations that are protected by enhanced 21 assault penalties. The penalty for assault against an employee 22 or contractor of a public utility ranges from an aggravated 23 misdemeanor to a class “C” felony depending on the nature of 24 the assault. A class “C” felony is punishable by confinement 25 for no more than 10 years and a fine of at least $1,370 but 26 not more than $13,660. A class “D” felony is punishable by 27 confinement for no more than five years and a fine of at least 28 $1,025 but not more than $10,245. An aggravated misdemeanor is 29 punishable by confinement for no more than two years and a fine 30 of at least $855 but not more than $8,540. 31 The bill provides that harassment that occurs against an 32 employee or contractor of a public utility while engaged in the 33 performance of a public utility responsibility is harassment 34 in the first degree. Harassment in the first degree is an 35 -4- LSB 6661XC (2) 91 as/js 4/ 5