Proposed legislation would make spitting in jail a felony

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Some Missouri prisoners have been spitting on guards, and state legislators are trying to stop them with the threat of more time behind bars.

The House gave initial approval Tuesday to legislation making it a felony for an inmate to expose a prison employee, visitor or another inmate to bodily fluids such as saliva, blood, urine, feces or semen.

Sponsoring Rep. Danie Moore said the penalty is needed to quell what she described as a problem in Missouri prisons.

"Offenders are throwing, in a premeditated way, a Styrofoam cup of spit they have accumulated all day long" at prison guards, said Moore, chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee for Public Safety and Corrections.

The legislation needs a final House vote to move to the Senate.

The bill would allow Class D felony charges -- punishable by up to four years in prison -- for inmates who expose others to bodily fluids. Inmates who know they have HIV, hepatitis B or hepatitis C and expose others to their bodily fluids could face Class C felony charges, punishable by up to seven years in prison.

As amended, the bill also would allow the state to charge parolees up to $60 per month based on their ability to pay. The money would help fund programs for offenders, including drug treatment, counseling and employment placement services.