HB 2292 — An Act amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in obstructing governmental operations, further providing for obstructing administration of law or other governmental function.

PRINTER'S NO.   3002

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                         HOUSE BILL
                         No. 2292
                                               Session of
                                                 2026

     INTRODUCED BY SHUSTERMAN, MAYES, HANBIDGE, VENKAT, PIELLI, HILL-
        EVANS, RIVERA, SANCHEZ, KINKEAD, WAXMAN, KAZEEM, D. WILLIAMS,
        BOROWSKI, BOYD, CEPEDA-FREYTIZ, PROBST, GUENST AND
        HOHENSTEIN, MARCH 16, 2026

     REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY, MARCH 16, 2026


                                    AN ACT
 1   Amending Title 18 (Crimes and Offenses) of the Pennsylvania
 2      Consolidated Statutes, in obstructing governmental
 3      operations, further providing for obstructing administration
 4      of law or other governmental function.
 5      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 6   hereby enacts as follows:
 7      Section 1.    Section 5101 of Title 18 of the Pennsylvania
 8   Consolidated Statutes is amended to read:
 9   § 5101.   Obstructing administration of law or other governmental
10                function.
11      [A] (a)   Offense defined.--Except as defined under subsection
12   (b), a person commits a misdemeanor of the second degree if he
13   intentionally obstructs, impairs or perverts the administration
14   of law or other governmental function by force, violence,
15   physical interference or obstacle, breach of official duty, or
16   any other unlawful act, except that this section does not apply
17   to flight by a person charged with crime, refusal to submit to
18   arrest, failure to perform a legal duty other than an official
 1   duty, or any other means of avoiding compliance with law without
 2   affirmative interference with governmental functions.
 3      (b)   Exceptions.--The owner, operator or an employee of a
 4   health care facility, including an emergency department, located
 5   within this Commonwealth may, through nonviolent means, deny or
 6   otherwise obstruct the entry of a law enforcement officer acting
 7   in the officer's official capacity onto the premises of the
 8   facility, including a parking lot owned by the facility, unless
 9   the law enforcement officer:
10            (1)   can demonstrate probable cause that a person to be
11      detained, arrested or otherwise taken into custody is on the
12      premises of the facility; and
13            (2)   possesses on the officer's person a judicial warrant
14      that clearly demonstrates that the person to be detained,
15      arrested or otherwise taken into custody is the subject of
16      the judicial warrant.
17      (c)   Definitions.--As used in this section, the following
18   words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this
19   subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
20      "Emergency department."     An entity within a hospital that is
21   organizationally distinct from other outpatient facilities and
22   whose primary function is to provide emergency accident or
23   emergency medical or surgical care.
24      "Health care facility."     As defined in 35 Pa.C.S. § 3302
25   (relating to definitions).
26      "Judicial warrant."    A written order signed by a judicial
27   officer from a Federal Article III court or a state court that
28   directs a law enforcement agency or some other person who is
29   specifically named in the order to arrest an individual.
30      "Law enforcement officer."     A member of the Pennsylvania

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1   State Police Force, an individual employed in a position
2   requiring certification under 53 Pa.C.S. Ch. 21 (relating to
3   employees), an officer or employee of a Federal agency or an
4   individual acting on behalf of a Federal agency in an official
5   capacity, temporarily or permanently in the service of the
6   United States, whether with or without compensation.
7      Section 2.   This act shall take effect in 60 days.




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