Nevertheless, that section becomes ambiguous when the statute is read as a whole because the two crimes are treated in exactly the same manner throughout the rest of the statute. Accordingly, the statute is ambiguous and we must construe it to determine the legislature s intent. The primary rule of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the legislature. The court may look not only to the language of the statute but also to the reason and necessity for the law, the evils the legislature sought to remedy, and the objects and purposes the legislature sought to accomplish. In construing a statute, every part, including its title, must be considered together.
Penal statutes are to be strictly construed in favor of the accused.
However, they must not be construed so rigidly as to defeat the intent of the legislature. The judiciary has the authority to read into a statute language omitted through legislative oversight. We believe that the State s construction of the statute is correct and that it was a legislative oversight that the words or disabled were omitted from the classification section of the statute. As stated above, we must construe the statute as a whole in determining the legislature s intent. The title of the statute is Criminal Neglect of an Elderly or Disabled person.