578.385. Perjury--committed when obtaining public assistance, penalty. - Missouri Statutes

Perjury--committed when obtaining public assistance, penalty.

578.385. 1. A person commits the crime of perjury for the purpose ofthis section if he knowingly makes a false or misleading statement ormisrepresents a fact material for the purpose of obtaining publicassistance if the false or misleading statement is reduced to writing andverified by the signature of the person making the statement and by thesignature of any employee of the Missouri department of social services.The same person may not be charged with unlawfully receiving publicassistance benefits and perjury pursuant to this section when both offensesarise from the same application for benefits.

2. A statement or fact is material, regardless of its admissibilityunder rules of evidence, if it could substantially affect or didsubstantially affect the granting of public assistance.

3. Knowledge of the materiality of the statement or fact is not anelement of this crime, and it is no defense that:

(1) The defendant mistakenly believed the fact to be immaterial; or

(2) The defendant was not competent, for reasons other than mentaldisability, to make the statement.

4. Perjury committed as part of a transaction involving the making ofan application to obtain public assistance is a class D felony unless thevalue of the public assistance unlawfully obtained or unlawfully attemptedto be obtained is less than five hundred dollars in which case it is aclass A misdemeanor.

(L. 1987 S.B. 259 § 6, A.L. 2002 H.B. 1888)