A bill that protects businesses from liability for unpreventable criminal acts on their premises passed the Senate on Feb. 22 and now moves to the House.<\/p>\n
Under Senate Bill 608<\/a>, a business is only responsible for guarding against crimes on its property when it knows or has reason to know a crime is being committed or about to be committed by an identifiable person that poses an imminent probability of injury to another identifiable person, and there is enough time to prevent the crime.<\/p>\n Additionally, the bill protects businesses from a lawsuit if they implemented reasonable security measures or if the claimant was a trespasser, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or committing or attempting to commit a felony.<\/p>\n The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry continues to be a strong supporter of the legislation.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout this, companies continue to be at risk of being held liable for crimes by third parties beyond their control. We\u2019re grateful to Sen. Denny Hoskins<\/a> for sponsoring this important protection for our state\u2019s businesses,\u201d said Justin Arnold, general counsel for the Missouri Chamber. \u201cWe\u2019d like to thank the Senate for voting it through, and look forward to working with legislators in the House to advance this bill into law.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information, contact Arnold at\u00a0jarnold@mochamber.com<\/a>\u00a0or 573.634.3511.<\/p>\n