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Crimes Against Persons

Offenses involving violence, threats, restraint, homicide, stalking, and harm to persons.
Every charge below uses the same title, classification, fine, jail value, citation status, and legal description as the generated MDT SQL.

Charging Guide

  • Assault = credible imminent threat or attempt; physical contact is not required.
  • Battery = unlawful physical contact.
  • Aggravated Battery = serious bodily injury or injury caused with a deadly weapon.
  • Attempted Murder requires a specific intent to kill plus a direct and substantial step; severe injury alone does not automatically prove intent to kill.
  • Unlawful Imprisonment is restraint; Kidnapping requires substantial movement or secret confinement; Hostage Taking requires use of the victim as leverage.

Quick Reference


§12 — Simple Assault

Class C Misdemeanor · Fine: $350 · Jail: 5 months · Cite & Release: Eligible A person commits Simple Assault when they intentionally attempt to make harmful or offensive physical contact with another person, but no contact occurs and no deadly weapon is used.
Charging & stacking: Use Assault when the conduct is primarily a credible threat placing another in fear of imminent harm. Use Battery when unlawful physical contact actually occurs.

§13 — Assault

Class B Misdemeanor · Fine: $500 · Jail: 10 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Assault when, by words or conduct, they intentionally place another person in reasonable fear of imminent unlawful physical harm and have the apparent present ability to carry out the threat. Physical contact is not required.
Charging & stacking: A vague future threat is not Assault; consider Criminal Threats when its elements are met. If physical contact occurs, use Battery. If a deadly weapon is used or threatened, use Assault with a Deadly Weapon or Aggravated Assault as appropriate.

§14 — Aggravated Assault

Class B Felony · Fine: $2,500 · Jail: 30 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Aggravated Assault when they intentionally place another person in reasonable fear of imminent serious bodily injury or death under aggravating circumstances, including extreme violence or conduct capable of causing great bodily harm.
Charging & stacking: If the aggravation is solely the use or threatened use of a deadly weapon, Assault with a Deadly Weapon is the more specific charge. Do not charge both for the same act unless separate conduct supports each offense.

§15 — Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer

Class A Felony · Fine: $4,000 · Jail: 35 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer when they knowingly commit Aggravated Assault against a peace officer whom they know or reasonably should know is performing lawful official duties.
Charging & stacking: The protected status must be known or reasonably apparent. This offense replaces Aggravated Assault for the same act; do not stack both solely because the victim is an officer.

§16 — Assault with a Deadly Weapon

Class B Felony · Fine: $3,000 · Jail: 40 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Assault with a Deadly Weapon when they intentionally use, display, or attempt to use a firearm, knife, vehicle, or other deadly weapon in a manner that places another person in reasonable fear of imminent serious bodily injury or death. Actual injury is not required.
Charging & stacking: If actual serious bodily injury results, consider Aggravated Battery. If the evidence establishes a specific intent to kill and a direct substantial step toward killing, consider Attempted Murder.

§17 — Battery

Class B Misdemeanor · Fine: $500 · Jail: 10 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Battery when they intentionally and unlawfully cause harmful or offensive physical contact with another person.
Charging & stacking: Battery requires actual contact. If the contact causes serious bodily injury or is accomplished with a deadly weapon, use Aggravated Battery. Do not stack Battery with Aggravated Battery for the same contact.

§18 — Aggravated Battery

Class B Felony · Fine: $3,500 · Jail: 35 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Aggravated Battery when they intentionally and unlawfully cause serious bodily injury to another person, or intentionally cause bodily injury by means of a deadly weapon or other dangerous instrument.
Charging & stacking: This offense requires actual physical contact and injury. It replaces Battery for the same act. If the evidence establishes a specific intent to kill, consider Attempted Murder instead of relying solely on Aggravated Battery.

§19 — Aggravated Battery on a Police Officer

Class A Felony · Fine: $5,000 · Jail: 45 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Aggravated Battery on a Police Officer when they knowingly commit Aggravated Battery against a peace officer whom they know or reasonably should know is performing lawful official duties.
Charging & stacking: This offense replaces Aggravated Battery for the same act. Separate acts against separate officers may be charged as separate counts.

§20 — Involuntary Manslaughter

Class B Felony · Fine: $5,000 · Jail: 40 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Involuntary Manslaughter when, without an intent to kill, they cause the death of another through criminal negligence or reckless conduct creating a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death.
Charging & stacking: Ordinary negligence is insufficient. Use Vehicular Manslaughter when the death results primarily from operation of a vehicle. Use Murder only when the required intent or extreme malice is supported.

§22 — Attempted Murder

Class A Felony · Fine: $9,000 · Jail: 60 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Attempted Murder when they specifically intend to unlawfully kill another person and take a direct and substantial step toward accomplishing the killing, but the victim does not die. Mere preparation, anger, or threats alone are insufficient.
Charging & stacking: Attempted Murder does not stack with Murder for the same victim and act. Where intent to kill cannot be established, charge the applicable assault or battery offense.

§23 — Second Degree Murder

Class X Felony · Fine: $12,000 · Jail: 100 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Second Degree Murder when they unlawfully cause the death of another person with intent to kill but without proven premeditation, or when they knowingly engage in conduct demonstrating an extreme disregard for human life and death results.
Charging & stacking: Use First Degree Murder when premeditation is established. Use Voluntary or Involuntary Manslaughter when the required murder intent is not established. For player-character deaths, server rules governing permanent death remain controlling.

§24 — Accessory to Second-Degree Murder

Class A Felony · Fine: $7,500 · Jail: 50 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Accessory to Second-Degree Murder when, knowing another intends to commit Second Degree Murder, they intentionally provide substantial aid, planning, transportation, weapons, lookout assistance, or other material support before or during the offense without personally committing the killing.
Charging & stacking: Mere presence or association is insufficient. Do not stack this offense with Second Degree Murder against the same defendant for the same participation.

§25 — First Degree Murder

Class X Felony · Fine: $18,000 · Jail: 150 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits First Degree Murder when they unlawfully and intentionally cause the death of another person with premeditation and deliberation. Premeditation may be shown by planning, lying in wait, procurement of a weapon or victim, contract killing, or other evidence demonstrating a considered decision to kill before the fatal act.
Charging & stacking: The amount of time required for premeditation may be short, but it must be more than a purely impulsive decision formed simultaneously with the killing.

§26 — Accessory to First-Degree Murder

Class A Felony · Fine: $12,000 · Jail: 75 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Accessory to First-Degree Murder when, knowing another plans a premeditated killing, they intentionally provide substantial aid, planning, transportation, weapons, financing, lookout assistance, or other material support before or during the murder without personally committing the killing.
Charging & stacking: Mere presence, knowledge, or association is insufficient. Do not stack this offense with First Degree Murder against the same defendant for the same participation.

§27 — Murder of a Public Servant or Police Officer

Class X Felony · Fine: $25,000 · Jail: 175 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Murder of a Public Servant or Police Officer when they intentionally and unlawfully kill a peace officer, firefighter, emergency medical worker, judge, prosecutor, correctional officer, or other designated public servant because of, or while the victim is engaged in, lawful official duties, and the defendant knows or reasonably should know the victim’s protected status.
Charging & stacking: This is the controlling homicide offense when protected status is the aggravating basis; do not stack it with First or Second Degree Murder for the same death unless a court specifically permits alternative counts.

§28 — Attempted Murder of a Public Servant or Police Officer

Class X Felony · Fine: $15,000 · Jail: 120 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Attempted Murder of a Public Servant or Police Officer when they specifically intend to unlawfully kill a protected public servant, know or reasonably should know the victim’s protected status, and take a direct and substantial step toward the killing, but the victim survives.
Charging & stacking: This offense replaces ordinary Attempted Murder for the same act when the protected-status element is established.

§29 — Accessory to the Murder of a Public Servant or Police Officer

Class A Felony · Fine: $10,000 · Jail: 70 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Accessory to the Murder of a Public Servant or Police Officer when, knowing another intends to murder a protected public servant because of or during lawful official duties, they intentionally provide substantial material aid before or during the offense.
Charging & stacking: Mere presence or association is insufficient. Do not stack with the principal protected-person murder charge against the same defendant for the same participation.

§30 — Unlawful Imprisonment

Class A Misdemeanor · Fine: $750 · Jail: 15 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Unlawful Imprisonment when, without lawful authority or consent, they intentionally restrain or confine another person’s movement by force, threat, restraint, deception, or physical barriers. Substantial movement of the victim is not required.
Charging & stacking: Use Kidnapping when the victim is substantially moved or secretly confined under the circumstances required by that offense. Use Hostage Taking when the victim is held as leverage, ransom, or bargaining power.

§31 — Kidnapping

Class B Felony · Fine: $4,000 · Jail: 35 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Kidnapping when, without lawful authority or consent, they intentionally seize or confine another person and move that person a substantial distance or secretly hold them through force, threat, intimidation, or deception.
Charging & stacking: Brief restraint incidental to another offense is normally Unlawful Imprisonment unless the movement or confinement meaningfully increases the victim’s risk or isolation.

§32 — Accessory to Kidnapping

Class C Felony · Fine: $2,500 · Jail: 30 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Accessory to Kidnapping when, knowing another intends to commit Kidnapping, they intentionally provide substantial aid such as transportation, restraints, weapons, lookout assistance, planning, concealment, or a location for confinement.
Charging & stacking: Mere presence or association is insufficient. Do not stack with Kidnapping against the same defendant for the same participation.

§33 — Attempted Kidnapping

Class C Felony · Fine: $2,000 · Jail: 30 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Attempted Kidnapping when they intend to commit Kidnapping and take a direct and substantial step toward seizing, moving, or secretly confining the intended victim, but the kidnapping is not completed.
Charging & stacking: Preparation alone is insufficient. Attempted Kidnapping does not stack with completed Kidnapping for the same victim and course of conduct.

§34 — Hostage Taking

Class A Felony · Fine: $6,000 · Jail: 45 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Hostage Taking when they intentionally seize, confine, or hold another person against their will by force, threat, or intimidation and use, or intend to use, that person’s safety or release as leverage for escape, ransom, negotiation, exchange, or another demand.
Charging & stacking: Hostage Taking is more specific than Unlawful Imprisonment. Kidnapping may be separately charged only when substantial movement or separate confinement is not merely incidental to the hostage offense.

§35 — Accessory to Hostage Taking

Class B Felony · Fine: $4,000 · Jail: 30 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Accessory to Hostage Taking when, knowing another intends to hold a person as a hostage, they intentionally provide substantial aid before or during the offense, including weapons, transportation, restraints, planning, lookout assistance, or a location for confinement.
Charging & stacking: Mere presence is insufficient. Do not stack with Hostage Taking against the same defendant for the same participation.

§36 — Unlawful Imprisonment of a Public Servant or Police Officer

Class B Felony · Fine: $3,500 · Jail: 30 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Unlawful Imprisonment of a Public Servant or Police Officer when, without lawful authority, they intentionally restrain or confine a peace officer, firefighter, EMS worker, judge, correctional officer, or other designated public servant whom they know or reasonably should know is performing lawful official duties.
Charging & stacking: This protected-person offense replaces ordinary Unlawful Imprisonment for the same restraint.

§37 — Criminal Threats

Class A Misdemeanor · Fine: $1,000 · Jail: 15 months · Cite & Release: No Criminal Threats becomes a crime when one threatens to kill or physically harm another person. Specifically, criminal threats are threats of death or great bodily injury that are intended to, and actually do, place victims in reasonable and sustained fear for their safety or that of their family.
A criminal threat is when you threaten to kill or physically harm someone and that person is thereby placed in a state of reasonably sustained fear for their safety or for the safety of their immediate family. The threat is specific and unequivocal and you communicate the threat verbally, in writing, or via an electronically transmitted device such as mobile phones or other devices that are similar.
Examples:
Threatening to shoot another person while you are holding a gun.
Calling out something like “You better watch your back” directly to a person or through a device.
Texting your ex that you are going to set fire to her apartment or property.
Charging & stacking: If the threat is immediate and creates fear of imminent harm, Assault may apply; do not duplicate punishment for the same threat unless separate conduct supports each offense.

§38 — Reckless Endangerment

Class A Misdemeanor · Fine: $1,250 · Jail: 15 months · Cite & Release: No Engaging in conduct that recklessly creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury to another person. The offender need not intend harm, but must act with conscious or blatant disregard for the foreseeable consequences of their actions.
If the conduct results in actual physical injury, additional charges such as Assault or Felony Reckless Endangerment may apply. Reckless Endangerment requires more than mere negligence - it must involve a conscious disregard for obvious risks.
Examples of Offense:
Firing a weapon into the air or into a crowd.
Dropping or throwing heavy objects from an overpass onto moving vehicles.
Participating in street races on public roads or highways.
Charging & stacking: If the conduct actually causes serious injury or death, charge the resulting injury/homicide offense and avoid duplicating the same risk as an additional count unless distinct conduct supports it.

§40 — Desecration of a Corpse

Class C Felony · Fine: $1,500 · Jail: 25 months · Cite & Release: No Any intentional act committed upon a deceased human body that shows willful disrespect, abuse, or violation of the remains. This includes, but is not limited to, dismemberment, disfigurement, mutilation, burning, concealment, or any act intended to cause the corpse to be devoured, scattered, or dissipated.
Charging & stacking: Concealment of a corpse for the separate purpose of obstructing an investigation may also support Evidence Tampering when independently established.

§41 — Torture

Class A Felony · Fine: $7,500 · Jail: 50 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Torture when they intentionally inflict severe physical pain or serious bodily injury upon a restrained, controlled, or otherwise vulnerable person for punishment, coercion, intimidation, revenge, information, or another sadistic purpose.
Charging & stacking: Ordinary assaultive conduct is insufficient. Torture may accompany Kidnapping or Unlawful Imprisonment when the restraint and torture are distinct acts, but lesser assault/battery offenses based solely on the same injuries should not also be stacked.

§87 — Violation of a Restraining Order

Class A Misdemeanor · Fine: $1,000 · Jail: 20 months · Cite & Release: No A person who knowingly and intentionally violates the conditions or parameters of a restraining order issued against them is guilty under this code section.
Charging & stacking: Separate assault, stalking, or trespass charges may be filed for distinct conduct that independently satisfies those offenses.

§99 — Harassment

Class B Misdemeanor · Fine: $750 · Jail: 10 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Harassment when they intentionally engage in repeated unwanted communications, following, contact, or conduct directed at a specific person that serves no legitimate purpose and would cause a reasonable person substantial alarm, distress, or intimidation.
Charging & stacking: Use Stalking when the repeated course of conduct causes reasonable fear for safety or involves credible threats.

§111 — Stalking

Class C Felony · Fine: $2,500 · Jail: 25 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Stalking when they intentionally engage in a repeated course of following, monitoring, surveillance, unwanted contact, or harassment directed at a specific person and the conduct causes a reasonable person to fear death, bodily injury, kidnapping, or another serious threat to safety.
Charging & stacking: A single isolated contact ordinarily does not constitute Stalking.

§216 — Voluntary Manslaughter

Class A Felony · Fine: $9,000 · Jail: 55 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Voluntary Manslaughter when they intentionally cause the death of another under circumstances that substantially mitigate, but do not justify, the killing, including a sudden heat of passion caused by legally adequate provocation before a reasonable cooling period.
Charging & stacking: Mere anger, insult, jealousy, or revenge is insufficient by itself. Use Murder when the required murder intent and absence of mitigation are established; use Involuntary Manslaughter when there was no intent to kill.

§217 — Domestic Battery

Class A Misdemeanor · Fine: $1,250 · Jail: 20 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Domestic Battery when they commit Battery against a spouse, former spouse, intimate partner, cohabitant, former cohabitant, or close household/family member.
Charging & stacking: This offense replaces ordinary Battery for the same contact. Use Aggravated Battery when serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon is involved.

§233 — Felony Reckless Endangerment

Class C Felony · Fine: $3,000 · Jail: 30 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Felony Reckless Endangerment when they consciously disregard an extreme and unjustifiable risk of death or serious bodily injury to multiple persons or use an inherently dangerous instrument in a manner creating an imminent risk of catastrophic harm, but no serious injury or death results.
Charging & stacking: Use ordinary Reckless Endangerment for lower-level risk. If serious injury or death results, charge the applicable injury or homicide offense rather than duplicating the same risk without distinct conduct.

§242 — Battery on a Police Officer or Public Servant

Class A Misdemeanor · Fine: $1,500 · Jail: 20 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Battery on a Police Officer or Public Servant when they intentionally and unlawfully make harmful or offensive physical contact with a peace officer, firefighter, EMS worker, correctional officer, judge, prosecutor, or other designated public servant whom they know or reasonably should know is performing lawful official duties.
Charging & stacking: This offense replaces ordinary Battery for the same contact. Use Aggravated Battery on a Police Officer when serious bodily injury or a deadly weapon is involved.

§243 — Assault on a Police Officer or Public Servant

Class A Misdemeanor · Fine: $1,500 · Jail: 20 months · Cite & Release: No A person commits Assault on a Police Officer or Public Servant when they intentionally place a protected public servant in reasonable fear of imminent unlawful physical harm, know or reasonably should know the victim is performing lawful official duties, and have the apparent present ability to carry out the threat.
Charging & stacking: This offense replaces ordinary Assault for the same threat. Use Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer when the aggravated elements are established.

General Provisions

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