unlawful alert; arrests
SB 1635 makes it a class 1 misdemeanor to intentionally warn someone about an imminent or ongoing arrest with the goal of hindering, delaying, or preventing that arrest. It directly affects people who alert suspects during active law enforcement operations, such as by phone, gesture, or sound signals. The law excludes attorneys giving legal advice, responses to law enforcement requests, accidental communications, or warnings without intent to obstruct arrest. Violations could result in fines or jail time, as the bill defines "unlawful alerting" to include electronic messages, verbal warnings, or intentional signaling like bells or whistles.
Bill status
passed both
4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
House Passage
May 2026
Governor
Introduced Feb 3, 2026
Last action May 5, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced Version
→
Senate Engrossed Version (03/02/2026)
·
2 edits
·
Mar 2, 2026
MINOR
The bill was reformatted from a standard introduced draft to a formal Senate engrossed version, updating the header information and correcting minor text inconsistencies. The core legal content, including the new crime of unlawfully alerting someone to avoid arrest and its specific exemptions, remains substantively unchanged.
Scope change
The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; no new exemptions, penalties, or definitions were added or removed.
TECHNICAL
The document structure was updated to reflect the official 'Senate Engrossed' status with corrected headers and page numbering.
Minor text formatting adjustments were made, such as changing 'A PERSON' to 'A person' and 'COMMUNICATES' to 'Communication' for consistency.
Floor votes · House May 5, 2026
How they voted
This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
14
Key actions
6
Committee
2
Amendments
2
May 5, 2026
Lower · Passed
PASSED
lower
Apr 14, 2026
Lower · Passed
DPA
lower
Mar 18, 2026
Lower · Passed
DP
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
PASSED
upper
Mar 2, 2026
Upper · Passed
DPA
upper
Feb 18, 2026
Upper · Passed
DP
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
John Kavanagh
RRepublican
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