Jaleeyah's Law.

The definition of 'criminal gang member' was expanded from six criteria to ten, adding possession of photographs, written/electronic communications, tattoos, and gang-specific language as qualifying evidence.

A new effective date of December 1, 2026, was added for the criminal gang activity section, clarifying that the law applies to offenses committed on or after that date.

Drafting artifacts such as committee substitute labels, edition numbers, and internal amendment markers were removed to reflect the final ratified text.

Minor formatting and spacing adjustments were made throughout the document to align with the final legislative style.

All text appropriating funds to hire two resource prosecutors and one district attorney investigator was deleted.

A new section was added requiring courts to assess specific costs against defendants in criminal cases, including a fee for the support of the General Court of Justice.

The definition of 'criminal gang activity' was updated to include offenses under Chapter 14 of the General Statutes, broadening the range of crimes that can be prosecuted as gang-related.

The effective date for the new court cost assessments was set to December 1, 2026, while the original funding section's effective date was removed.

The bill version number was updated from Edition 3 to Edition 4, and the document title was changed to 'Fourth Edition Engrossed' to reflect the latest legislative status.

The criteria for being classified as a 'criminal gang member' were changed from meeting three criteria to meeting three criteria where at least one must be an admission, reliable identification by a source like a parent, or possession of physical evidence like ledgers or rosters.

The definition of a 'criminal gang leader' was updated to explicitly include supervising or directing the actions of other gang members during criminal activity.

The list of offenses excluded from the bill's application was modified, removing specific references to certain statutes and adding new ones.

The criteria for 'criminal gang member' status were restructured to prioritize specific types of evidence (admission, identification, physical evidence) over general associations like tattoos or social media presence.

The definition of the offense was split into two separate sections based on the age of the victim: one for persons under 16 and one for persons 16 or older.

The penalty for soliciting a minor (under 16) was increased from a Class F felony to a Class D felony.

The penalty for soliciting an adult (16 or older) was reduced from a Class H felony to a Class F felony.

The original text contained a contradictory clause stating a violation is a 'Class H Class F felony,' which has been corrected by separating the offenses.

Added provisions to hire two additional resource prosecutors and one district attorney investigator, funded by approximately $533,000 in recurring and nonrecurring funds starting in fiscal year 2026-2027.

Updated the definition of a criminal gang member to include having adopted language or terminology associated with a gang, and added social media promotion as a criterion for gang membership.

Increased the penalty for soliciting or coercing anyone 18 years of age or older to participate in criminal gang activity from a Class H felony to a Class F felony.

Established specific effective dates: funding provisions begin July 1, 2026, while new criminal definitions apply to offenses committed on or after December 1, 2026.

The document header was updated to reflect that the bill is now 'ADOPTED' and includes amendment signature lines, while the original 'Filed' date and session information were removed.

New pages were added containing signature blocks for the amendment sponsor, committee chair, and adoption/failure/tabling status indicators.

The bill title and sponsor information were reorganized, removing the previous 'Short Title' and 'Referred to' sections in favor of a cleaner adopted format.