FIRST REGULAR SESSION
SENATE BILL NO. 122
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY SENATOR BEAN.
0726S.01I KRISTINA MARTIN, Secretary
AN ACT
To repeal section 563.031, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof one new section relating to self-
defense.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 563.031, RSMo, is repealed and one new 1
section enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as section 563.031, 2
to read as follows:3
563.031. 1. A person may, subject to the provisions 1
of subsection 2 of this section, use physical force upon 2
another person when and to the extent he or she reasonably 3
believes such force to be necessary to defend himself or 4
herself or a third person from what he or she reasonably 5
believes to be the use or imminent use of unlawful force by 6
such other person, unless: 7
(1) The actor was the initial aggressor; exc ept that 8
in such case his or her use of force is nevertheless 9
justifiable provided: 10
(a) He or she has withdrawn from the encounter and 11
effectively communicated such withdrawal to such other 12
person but the latter persists in continuing the inciden t by 13
the use or threatened use of unlawful force; or 14
(b) He or she is a law enforcement officer and as such 15
is an aggressor pursuant to section 563.046; or 16
(c) The aggressor is justified under some other 17
provision of this chapter or other pr ovision of law; 18 SB 122 2
(2) Under the circumstances as the actor reasonably 19
believes them to be, the person whom he or she seeks to 20
protect would not be justified in using such protective 21
force; 22
(3) The actor was attempting to commit, committing, or 23
escaping after the commission of a forcible felony. 24
2. A person shall not use deadly force upon another 25
person under the circumstances specified in subsection 1 of 26
this section unless: 27
(1) He or she reasonably believes that such deadly 28
force is necessary to protect himself, or herself or her 29
unborn child, or another against death, serious physical 30
injury, or any forcible felony; 31
(2) Such force is used against a person who unlawfully 32
enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or att empts to 33
unlawfully enter a dwelling, residence, place of employment, 34
or vehicle lawfully occupied by such person; or 35
(3) Such force is used against a person who unlawfully 36
enters, remains after unlawfully entering, or attempts to 37
unlawfully enter private property that is owned or leased by 38
an individual, or is occupied by an individual who has been 39
given specific authority by the property owner to occupy the 40
property, or is a retail establishment or other place of 41
business wherein an individu al using such force has a right 42
to be, claiming a justification of using protective force 43
under this section. 44
3. A person does not have a duty to retreat: 45
(1) From a dwelling, residence, place of employment, 46
or vehicle where the person is no t unlawfully entering or 47
unlawfully remaining; 48
(2) From private property that is owned or leased by 49
such individual; or 50 SB 122 3
(3) If the person is in any other location such person 51
has the right to be. 52
4. The justification afforded by this s ection extends 53
to the use of physical restraint as protective force 54
provided that the actor takes all reasonable measures to 55
terminate the restraint as soon as it is reasonable to do so. 56
5. The defendant shall have the burden of injecting 57
the issue of justification under this section. If a 58
defendant asserts that his or her use of force is described 59
under subdivision (2) of subsection 2 of this section, the 60
burden shall then be on the state to prove beyond a 61
reasonable doubt that the defendant did not reasonably 62
believe that the use of such force was necessary to defend 63
against what he or she reasonably believed was the use or 64
imminent use of unlawful force. 65