Establishing criminal penalties for abuse or neglect of incapacitated adults

Removed the legal requirement of 'malice' from the definition of abuse and neglect, meaning prosecutors no longer need to prove the caregiver intended to harm the victim to secure felony charges.

Added a specific provision stating that offenses under this bill are separate and distinct from other crimes, preventing them from being absorbed into lesser charges.

Increased the maximum prison sentence for a caregiver causing the death of an incapacitated adult through intentional abuse from 15 years to 40 years.

Increased the maximum prison sentence for gross neglect causing death from 15 years to 25 years.

Reorganized and slightly altered the definitions of abuse, neglect, and caregiver to ensure clarity and consistency across the new statutory language.

All formal legislative text, including the bill title, specific definitions of abuse and neglect, and criminal penalty schedules, was removed.

Website navigation elements such as 'Skip navigation', 'Senate', 'House', and 'Bill Status' links were added, indicating this is a web page rather than the bill text itself.

The content was replaced with a website footer containing contact forms, copyright notices, and links to other legislative resources.

Removed the legal requirement of 'malice' for felony charges, allowing prosecution for reckless or intentional acts that cause death or serious injury without proof of specific intent to harm.

Expanded liability from only 'caregivers' to 'any person,' meaning anyone who causes harm to an incapacitated adult can be charged, regardless of their formal relationship to the victim.

Increased maximum prison sentences for causing death, raising the limit for abuse-related deaths to 40 years and for gross neglect-related deaths to 25 years.

Added a specific provision stating that offenses under this new act are separate and distinct from other crimes in the code.

Clarified and consolidated definitions to explicitly include 'gross neglect' and ensure the term 'any person' covers all potential offenders.