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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1327
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 4769
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE REDUCTION OF A SENTENCE BY THE
SENTENCING COURT OR A JUDGE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 53a-39 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2025): 2
(a) [Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, at] At any 3
time during an executed period of incarceration, the sentencing court or 4
judge may, after hearing and for good cause shown, reduce the sentence, 5
order the defendant discharged, or order the defendant discharged on 6
probation or conditional discharge for a period not to exceed that to 7
which the defendant could have been originally sentenced. 8
[(b) On and after October 1, 2021, at any time during the period of a 9
sentence in which a defendant has been sentenced prior to, on or after 10
October 1, 2021, to an executed period of incarceration of more than 11
seven years as a result of a plea agreement, including an agreement in 12
which there is an agreed upon range of sentence, upon agreement of the 13
defendant and the state's attorney to seek review of the sentence, the 14
sentencing court or judge may, after hearing and for good cause shown, 15
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reduce the sentence, order the defendant discharged, or order the 16
defendant discharged on probation or conditional discharge for a period 17
not to exceed that to which the defendant could have been originally 18
sentenced.] 19
[(c)] (b) If, after a hearing pursuant to this section, the sentencing 20
court or judge denies or grants in full [a motion] an application to reduce 21
a defendant's sentence or discharge the defendant, including pursuant 22
to probation or conditional discharge, the defendant may not file a 23
subsequent [motion] application for relief under this section until [five] 24
two years have elapsed from the date of the most recent decision 25
denying such defendant relief pursuant to this section. If, after a hearing 26
pursuant to this section, the sentencing court or judge grants in part [a 27
motion] an application to reduce a defendant's sentence, the defendant 28
may not file a subsequent [motion] application for relief under this 29
section until [three] two years from the date of the most recent decision 30
granting such defendant relief pursuant to this section. 31
[(d) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any portion of a 32
sentence imposed that is a mandatory minimum sentence for an offense 33
which may not be suspended or reduced by the court.] 34
(c) Notwithstanding any mandatory minimum term of imprisonment 35
that a person who is incarcerated is required to serve pursuant to a 36
provision of the general statutes, the sentencing court or judge may 37
modify a sentence below the prescribed mandatory minimum term of 38
imprisonment. 39
[(e)] (d) At the time the defendant files [a motion] an application with 40
the court, the defendant shall provide the state with a copy of the 41
[motion] application and any materials and documentation filed with 42
the court in support of such [motion] application. Not later than ninety 43
days after the receipt of the application, the sentencing court or a judge 44
shall schedule a hearing on the application or may reject the application 45
on technical grounds. If an application is rejected on technical grounds, 46
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for reasons that include, but are not limited to, the use of an incorrect 47
form, missing information, missing signatures or other errors or 48
omissions of a clerical nature, the sentencing court or judge shall make 49
a record of the reasons for the rejection and the defendant, upon 50
receiving notice of the rejection, may submit an amended application to 51
cure the defects in the initial application. The sentencing court or judge 52
shall render a decision on the defendant's application not later than 53
thirty days after the date of the hearing. Such decision shall be provided 54
to the defendant not later than forty-five days after the date of the 55
hearing and shall set forth the reasons for denying, granting or granting 56
in part the application. 57
[(f)] (e) At a hearing held by the sentencing court or judge under this 58
section, such court or judge shall permit any victim of the crime to 59
appear before the court or judge for the purpose of making a statement 60
for the record concerning whether or not the sentence of the defendant 61
should be reduced, the defendant should be discharged or the 62
defendant should be discharged on probation or conditional discharge 63
pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this section. In lieu of such 64
appearance, the victim may submit a written statement to the court or 65
judge and the court or judge shall make such statement a part of the 66
record at the hearing. For the purposes of this subsection, "victim" 67
means the victim, the legal representative of the victim or a member of 68
the deceased victim's immediate family. 69
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2025 53a-39
Statement of Purpose:
To expand access to, and ensure timely resolution of, sentence
modification hearings.
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[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.]