HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3574 FILED ON: 1/15/2009
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2234
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the Year Two Thousand Nine
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An Act for the Protection of Gaming Officials..
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Chapter 272 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following sections:-
Section 105.
When a battery is committed against a sports official immediately prior to, during, or immediately following an interscholastic, intercollegiate, or any other organized amateur or professional athletic contest in which the sports official is participating, and the person who commits the offense knows or reasonably should know that the victim is engaged in the performance of his or her duties, the offense shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding Two Thousand Dollars ($2,000), or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by both that fine and imprisonment. (b) For the purposes of this section, "sports official" means nay individual who serves as a referee, umpire, linesman, or who serves in similar capacity but may be known by a different title or name and is duly registered by, or a member of a local, state, regional or national organization engaged in part in providing education and training to sports officials.
No person shall require any athletic official to remain on the playing surface of an athletic contest after the expiration of any interscholastic, intercollegiate or any other organized amateur or sporting contest. For the purposes of this section the term “athletic official” means an individual who officiates, referees, or umpires an interscholastic, intercollegiate, or any other amateur athletic contest conducted by a nonprofit corporation or governmental body. Whoever violates the provisions of this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than $200 or by imprisonment for not more than 30 days.