Emergencies: crimes.

Senators Archuleta, Arreguín, and Valladares anchor a measure that retools emergency-related crime provisions by adding a sentencing enhancement for looting tied to impersonating emergency personnel, creating a standalone offense to deter impersonation of first responders during evacuations and online, and updating the thresholds and sunset timing for aggravated arson. The package moves in three directions at once: it expands penalties, broadens definitions around who qualifies as emergency personnel, and introduces conditions that gate when these changes take effect.

In sentencing terms, the bill would allow a court to consider, as an aggravating factor, that a looting offense was committed while impersonating emergency personnel, if pled and proven. The definition of “emergency personnel” spans peace officers, fire department personnel and related public-safety roles, public utility or district employees, local government staff, search-and-rescue units, military components, and emergency medical technicians, with the term “impersonating” defined as willfully wearing or using a genuine uniform or insignia to fraudulently convey emergency-status. Separately, a new standalone offense targets impersonation of a first responder during an evacuation order or online impersonation during the evacuation period or within 30 days after its termination, punishable by up to one year in a county jail and a fine up to $2,000, or both; or by imprisonment under felony sentencing provisions with fines up to $20,000. The definitions for “evacuation order” and “first responder” align with existing government and federal frameworks, including FEMA.

The measure also rewrites the aggravated arson framework to raise the threshold for a conviction and to require consideration of fire suppression costs in calculating total losses, with the threshold set at more than $10.1 million in property damage excluding inhabited dwellings and a separate factor for damage to five or more inhabited dwellings. A conviction carries a prison term of 10 years to life, and parole eligibility would be deferred for 10 years. Amendments are to be applied prospectively, not retroactively, and the section remains in effect only until January 1, 2029 unless renewed. These changes sit alongside a provision that creates a new section allowing sentencing courts to treat impersonation as an aggravating factor in looting cases, reinforcing how emergency-context offenses interact with penalties for arson-type conduct.

Implementation hinges on a gating condition: the act becomes operative only if another measure is enacted and takes effect by January 1, 2026. The fiscal note and local-program language state that no state reimbursement is required for local costs, even as the measure characterizes the changes as creating a state-mandated local program. The operative provisions are thus time-bound and contingent, with inflation-aware adjustments to thresholds subject to a five-year review and a sunset for the arson-related changes, shaping how prosecutors, judges, and local agencies plan and apply the new rules in practice.