18-5811. ACTION REQUIRED TO AVOID ACCIDENT OR INJURY TO INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES — PROHIBITED INTENTIONAL ACTIONS — PENALTIES. (1) Any person, whether a pedestrian, operating a vehicle or otherwise, who approaches an individual appearing to be an individual with a disability or lawfully using an assistance device or a service dog, and who:

(a) Intentionally fails to stop, change course, speak, or take such other action as is necessary to avoid any accident or injury to the individual with a disability, the assistance device, or the service dog is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both.

(b) Intentionally startles or frightens such person’s service dog is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both.

(2) Any person who, without justification, intentionally interferes with the use of a service dog or an assistance device by obstructing, battering, or intimidating the user or the service dog is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six (6) months, or by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500), or by both.

History:

[18-5811, added 1997, ch. 267, sec. 2, p. 764; am. 2019, ch. 213, sec. 1, p. 645.]