Amendment #34 to H4517

establishes a minimum and increases the maximum penalty for filing a false ERPO petition

Representatives McKenna of Webster, Berthiaume of Spencer, Jones of North Reading, Kane of Shrewsbury, Gifford of Wareham, Diehl of Whitman, Dooley of Norfolk, Muradian of Grafton, DeCoste of Norwell, O'Connell of Taunton, Crocker of Barnstable, Vieira of Falmouth, Whelan of Brewster, Kuros of Uxbridge, Orrall of Lakeville and Frost of Auburn move to amend the bill in section 12, by striking out subsection 131V in its entirety and substituting in place thereof the following new section:  “Section 131V. (a) Any person who files a petition for an extreme risk protection order, knowing the information in the petition to be materially false or with an intent to harass the respondent, shall be subject to a harassment prevention order pursuant to chapter 258E and shall be punished by a fine of no less than $2,500 and no more than $10,000 or by imprisonment for no more than 2 ½ years in the house of correction.”