Bill Proposes Stiffer Penalties for School Bus Trespassing

By: The Associated Press

Posted: Sat 2:19 PM, Jan 12, 2013

One of the first bills proposed in reaction to the Connecticut school shootings would strengthen penalties for trespassing on Alabama school buses.

The bill pre-filed by Republican Senator Cam Ward of Alabaster would establish a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison if convicted.

The bill would make it a crime for an unauthorized adult to board a school bus. The bill also would make it a crime to vandalize a bus or to enter a bus for the purpose of doing damage. Ward says the proposed law would make it harder for someone to harm children on a school bus.

Ward says there is currently very little penalty for an unauthorized adult entering a school bus.

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