No railroad company owning or operating a railroad wholly or partly within this state shall, directly or indirectly, issue or give a free ticket, free pass, or free transportation for passengers, except to:

(A) Its employees and their families, its officers, agents, surgeons, physicians, and attorneys at law;

(B) Ministers of religion, traveling secretaries of railroad young men's or young women's Christian associations, inmates of hospitals and charitable institutions, and persons exclusively engaged in charitable work;

(C) Indigent, destitute, and homeless persons, and to such persons when transported by charitable societies or hospitals, and the necessary agents employed in such transportation;

(D) Residents of the national homes or state homes for disabled volunteer soldiers, and residents of veterans' homes, including those about to enter and those returning home after discharge, and boards of managers of such homes;

(E) Necessary caretakers of livestock, poultry, and fruit;

(F) Employees on sleeping cars or express cars;

(G) Line workers of telephone companies;

(H) Railway mail service employees, post-office inspectors, custom inspectors, and immigration inspectors;

(I) News carriers on trains, baggage agents, witnesses attending any legal investigation in which the railroad is interested, persons injured in wrecks, and physicians and nurses attending such persons.

As used in this section, "employee" includes furloughed, pensioned, and superannuated employees, persons who have become disabled or infirm in the service of any such common carrier, the remains of a person killed in the employment of a carrier, and ex-employees traveling for the purpose of entering the service of any such common carrier, and "families" includes the families of such persons and also the surviving spouses and dependent children of employees who died while in the service of any common carrier.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.43, SB 162, §1, eff. 9/13/2010.

Effective Date: 08-29-1979 .