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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 committed outside the presence when the arresting person has reasonable grounds to believe the person committed it, or when the suspect is pursued immediately after an offense or escape. The bill preserves those arrest authorities but would prohibit forcible entry into a dwelling to effect an arrest except when the private person has reasonable grounds to believe there is a grave danger to a person inside—examples given in testimony included situations where someone is being threatened with serious bodily injury or death or where there is an ongoing hostage or sexual assault.
Representative Koppelman explained the bill is not intended to eliminate citizens' ability to pursue a suspect outside a dwelling or to wait for law enforcement; rather, it creates a higher threshold for forcible entry into a residence. "You can still go do all those things to attempt to make the arrest. But before you can forcibly enter someone's home, there has to be some elevated need to enter the home," Koppelman said.
The bill also would require that a person effecting an arrest disarm the arrested person and turn weapons over to the officer or magistrate to whom the arrestee is delivered. Committee members asked how the measure would interact with the Castle Doctrine and with practical policing in rural areas; sponsors said the measure preserves an exception for imminent threats and emphasized that callers may remain on 911 and await law enforcement when appropriate.
The committee adopted a do-pass recommendation on HB 1299. Senator Brownberger moved the do-pass and Senator Meerdal seconded; the roll call recorded several senators voting aye and Chair Larson announced the motion carried.
