LCO No. 5264 1 of 2
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7070
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 5264
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE DUTY TO RETREAT IN A HOUSE OF
RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 53a-19 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2025): 3
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, a 4
person is not justified in using deadly physical force upon another 5
person if he or she knows that he or she can avoid the necessity of using 6
such force with complete safety (1) by retreating, except that the actor 7
shall not be required to retreat (A) if he or she is in (i) a house of religious 8
worship owned by, or held in trust for the use of, any religious 9
organization, (ii) his or her dwelling, as defined in section 53a-100, or 10
(iii) his or her place of work and was not the initial aggressor, or (B) if 11
he or she is a peace officer or a private person assisting such peace officer 12
at his or her direction, and acting pursuant to section 53a-22, [or] (2) by 13
surrendering possession of property to a person asserting a claim of 14
right thereto, or (3) by complying with a demand that he or she abstain 15
Raised Bill No. 7070
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from performing an act which he or she is not obliged to perform. 16
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 53a-19(b)
Statement of Purpose:
To eliminate the requirement that a person in a house of religious
worship retreat before using deadly physical force to defend himself or
herself or a third person.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]