HB 407: Criminal Gang Prevention

• Enhances criminal penalties for trespassing in school safety zones by persons previously convicted of gang-related offenses, elevating the charge from second-degree to first-degree misdemeanor.

• Creates new felony offense for intentionally causing, encouraging, or recruiting anyone under 13 years of age to join a criminal gang where membership requires committing a crime; second or subsequent violations are elevated to first-degree felonies.

• Authorizes county and municipal detention facilities to designate individuals to assess inmate gang membership or association status using established criteria and transmit information to law enforcement agencies on a biweekly basis.

• Establishes offense severity rankings for gang recruitment violations and updates sentencing guidelines to allow courts to apply a 1.5x sentencing multiplier for offenses committed to benefit criminal gangs, unless doing so would exceed the statutory maximum sentence.

• Effective October 1, 2013.