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Committee recommends bill to limit when private citizens may break into a dwelling to make an arrest
Summary
House Bill 1299 would bar private persons from forcibly entering a building to effect an arrest except when there is imminent risk of death or serious bodily injury; the Senate Judiciary Committee issued a do-pass recommendation after sponsor testimony that the change balances citizens' arrest authority with protections for household safety.
House Bill 1299, introduced March 17, would narrow the circumstances under which a private person may forcibly enter a building to make an arrest. Representative Ben Koppelman told the Senate Judiciary Committee the bill responds to concerns that the state's citizen-arrest language and the Castle Doctrine can conflict when a private person attempts to effect an arrest at a private residence.
Under current law recited in committee testimony, a private person may arrest another for a public offense committed in the arresting person's presence, for a felony…
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