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HF 340 Minnesota House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Crime of fleeing peace officer in motor vehicle modified to add heightened penalty for fleeing in culpably negligent manner, and crime of fleeing in motor vehicle and failing to obey certain traffic laws established.

HF 340 modifies Minnesota's law on fleeing police in vehicles by adding two new offenses. It creates a felony for fleeing while driving recklessly (subdivision 3a), risking death or serious harm, punishable by up to 4 years in prison or a $8,000 fine. It also establishes a separate felony for fleeing while violating specific traffic laws like ignoring road signs or lane markings (subdivision 3b), with penalties of up to 5 years or $10,000. The bill increases license revocation periods for these offenses and allows police to use tracking devices on fleeing vehicles. These changes directly affect drivers who flee law enforcement while engaging in reckless or traffic-law-violating behavior.
Issues: ✗ Criminal JusticeOpposes Criminal JusticeAdds two new felonies for reckless fleeing and traffic violations, increasing penalties to up to 5 years; expands criminalization and harsher sentencing.92% confidence ✓ TransportationSupports TransportationBill increases penalties for reckless driving and traffic law violations, enhancing transportation safety through stricter enforcement of vehicle regulations.85% confidence
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 13, 2025 Last action Mar 24, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduction → 1st Engrossment · 4 edits · Feb 24, 2025
MODERATE
The bill was reclassified from 'Introduction' to '1st Engrossment' with an updated posting date, indicating it has been amended and formally adopted. The core substantive change involves modifying the penalties for fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle: the maximum prison sentence for the most serious offense (culpably negligent fleeing) was increased from four to five years, and the maximum fine was raised from $8,000 to $10,000. Additionally, the penalty for a separate offense involving fleeing and failing to obey traffic laws was reduced from five years to four years and $10,000 to $8,000. Several sections detailing these penalties were renumbered to reflect the text adjustments.
Scope change
The scope of the bill's applicability remains focused on public safety and traffic laws, but the severity of penalties for specific offenses has been adjusted to increase punishment for the most dangerous fleeing behaviors while slightly reducing penalties for lesser offenses.
ENFORCEMENT

Increased the maximum prison sentence for culpably negligent fleeing of a peace officer from four to five years and raised the maximum fine from $8,000 to $10,000.

Reduced the maximum prison sentence for fleeing a peace officer without culpable negligence from five to four years and lowered the maximum fine from $10,000 to $8,000.

TECHNICAL

Reclassified the bill status from 'Introduction' to '1st Engrossment' and updated the posting date to reflect legislative progress.

Renumbered penalty clauses within the statute to accommodate the addition of new penalty tiers.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
4
Key actions
2
Committee
2
Mar 20, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report, to adopt and re-refer to Judiciary Finance and Civil Law
lower
Feb 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report, to adopt as amended and re-refer to Transportation Finance and Policy
lower
Feb 13, 2025
Introduced
Introduction and first reading, referred to Public Safety Finance and Policy
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Terry Stier
Terry Stier
RRepublican
MN
22B