§34.5.1. Battery of a bus operator

            A. Battery of a bus operator is a battery committed without the consent of the victim when the offender has reasonable grounds to believe the victim is a bus operator.

            B. For the purposes of this Section, a "bus operator" means any person employed by a public transit system who operates a bus, as defined in R.S. 32:1, or who operates an electronically operated cable car while that person is on duty in the course and scope of his or her employment, regardless of whether the bus is in motion at the time of the offense. "Bus operator" shall not include any person who operates a school bus.

            C. Whoever commits the crime of battery on a bus operator while the operator is operating a bus shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars and imprisoned for not less than seventy-two hours nor more than one year, with or without hard labor, without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence.

            Acts 2003, No. 1244, §1; Acts 2024, No. 367, §1.