§ 22–712. Prohibited acts; penalty.

(a) A person commits the offense of bribery if that person:

(1) Corruptly offers, gives, or agrees to give anything of value, directly or indirectly, to a public servant; or

(2) Corruptly solicits, demands, accepts, or agrees to accept anything of value, directly or indirectly, as a public servant;

in return for an agreement or understanding that an official act of the public servant will be influenced thereby or that the public servant will violate an official duty, or that the public servant will commit, aid in committing, or will collude in or allow any fraud against the District of Columbia.

(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting concurrence in official action in the course of legitimate compromise between public servants.

(c) Any person convicted of bribery shall be fined not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01 or twice the monetary equivalent of the thing of value, whichever is greater, or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.

(Dec. 1, 1982, D.C. Law 4-164, § 302, 29 DCR 3976; June 11, 2013, D.C. Law 19-317, §§ 111(a)(3), 205(v), 60 DCR 2064.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 22-712.

Section References

This section is referenced in § 23-546.

Effect of Amendments

The 2013 amendment by D.C. Law 19-317, in (c), substituted “not more than the amount set forth in § 22-3571.01” for “not more than $25,000,” and “twice” for “3 times”.

Emergency Legislation

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see §§ 111(a)(3) and 205(v) of the Criminal Fine Proportionality Emergency Amendment Act of 2013 (D.C. Act 20-45, April 1, 2013, 60 DCR 5400, 20 DCSTAT 1300).

Editor's Notes

Applicability of D.C. Law 19-317: Section 401 of D.C. Law 19-317 provided that the act shall apply only to offenses committed on or after June 11, 2013.