Researcher: MGS Page 1 4/29/21
OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 954 (File 191, as amended by Senate "A")*
AN ACT REQUIRING THE REPORTING OF INCIDENTS THAT
RESULTED IN SERIOUS PHYSICAL INJURIES OR DEATH AT
INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION.
SUMMARY
This bill adds a new reporting requirement to the annual uniform
campus crime report that all Connecticut colleges and universities
prepare. It renames the report the “uniform campus crime and safety
incident report” and requires the institutions’ reports to include the
number of accidents that occurred in the immediately preceding
calendar year on the property that they own or control and result in (1)
serious physical injury and (2) death. This property includes campuses
or dormitories in another country that an institution owns or controls
for purposes of an international studies or international exchange
program (i.e., study abroad).
Under the bill, “serious physical injury” means physical injury that
creates substantial risk of death or causes serious disfigurement,
serious impairment of health, or serious loss or impairment of a bodily
organ’s function.
Additionally, the bill removes the requirement that the Connecticut
State Colleges and Universities’ president determine how institutions
must prepare their uniform campus crime reports. It also makes other
technical and conforming changes.
*Senate Amendment “A” renames the uniform campus crime
report; requires institutions to report accidents, rather than incidents,
resulting in serious physical injury and death; expands the definition
of institutional property to include international campuses and
dormitories; and makes additional technical and conforming changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021 2021SB-00954-R01-BA.DOCX
Researcher: MGS Page 2 4/29/21
BACKGROUND
Uniform Campus Crime Reports
Every Connecticut college and university must annually prepare a
uniform campus crime report for each of its campuses with the help of
state, local, and special campus police forces. The report must contain
crimes committed in the immediately preceding calendar year on the
property that the institution owns or controls, limited to the following
offenses: (1) those published in the most recent edition of the FBI and
Department of Justice’s Uniform Crime Reports for the United States,
part I, and (2) sexual assault, stalking, and family violence, as defined
in state law.
Additional details that must appear in the annual report include (1)
the number of full-time equivalent students and employees, (2) the
number of students and employees living on campus, and (3) the
number of reported incidents and the crime rate for each category of
offense (CGS § 10a-55a(a)-(b)).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 22 Nay 0 (03/11/2021)