HB179 Summary

• Authorizes the Attorney General or district attorney to request a court order requiring a material witness to testify when the witness refuses on grounds of self-incrimination privilege.

• Grants compelled witnesses immunity from prosecution for the offenses at issue, related or lesser included offenses, and any other crimes directly or indirectly derived from their testimony, with exceptions for perjury and false statements.

• Makes failure to comply with a court order to testify punishable as contempt.

• Allows district attorneys or the Attorney General to grant transactional immunity or use and derivative use immunity to grand jury witnesses, with state bearing burden of proving evidence obtained from independent sources.

• Provides that grand jury witnesses who refuse to testify after receiving immunity shall be held in contempt by the presiding circuit judge; effective the first day of the third month following passage and approval.