General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 442
February Session, 2016		LCO No. 2917
		*02917_______JUD*
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)

AN ACT CONCERNING A VICTIM'S RIGHT TO BE REASONABLY PROTECTED FROM A PERSON ACCUSED OF COMMITTING A CRIME.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 29-36k of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(a) Not later than two business days after the occurrence of any event that makes a person ineligible to possess a pistol or revolver or other firearm or ammunition, such person shall (1) transfer in accordance with section 29-33 all pistols and revolvers which such person then possesses to any person eligible to possess a pistol or revolver and transfer in accordance with any applicable state and federal laws all other firearms to any person eligible to possess such other firearms by obtaining an authorization number for the sale or transfer of the firearm from the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, and submit a sale or transfer of firearms form to said commissioner within two business days, except that a person subject to a restraining or protective order or a foreign order of protection may only transfer a pistol, revolver or other firearm or ammunition under this subdivision to a federally licensed firearms dealer pursuant to the sale of the pistol, revolver or other firearm and ammunition to the federally licensed firearms dealer, or (2) deliver or surrender such pistols and revolvers and other firearms and ammunition to the Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection, or (3) transfer such ammunition to any person eligible to possess such ammunition. The commissioner shall exercise due care in the receipt and holding of such pistols and revolvers and other firearms or ammunition. In any matter involving a person subject to a restraining or protective order or a foreign order of protection, the commissioner shall, not later than seven days after the date of entry of a restraining or protective order or a foreign order of protection, provide written notice of compliance with the provisions of this subsection to the person protected by such order. For the purposes of this section, a "person subject to a restraining or protective order or a foreign order of protection" means a person who knows that such person is subject to (A) a restraining or protective order of a court of this state that has been issued against such person, after notice and an opportunity to be heard has been provided to such person, in a case involving the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against another person, or (B) a foreign order of protection, as defined in section 46b-15a, that has been issued against such person in a case involving the use, attempted use or threatened use of physical force against another person.

Sec. 2. Subsection (g) of section 54-56l of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(g) Any person who enters the program shall agree: (1) To the tolling of the statute of limitations with respect to such crime or violation; (2) to a waiver of such person's right to a speedy trial; [and] (3) to, prior to being accepted into the program, transfer, deliver or surrender any pistol, revolver, other firearm or ammunition in accordance with section 29-36k, as amended by this act; and (4) to any conditions that may be established by the division concerning participation in the supervised diversionary program including conditions concerning participation in meetings or sessions of the program.

Sec. 3. Subsection (b) of section 54-56e of the 2016 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(b) The court may, in its discretion, invoke such program on motion of the defendant or on motion of a state's attorney or prosecuting attorney with respect to a defendant (1) who, the court believes, will probably not offend in the future, (2) who has no previous record of conviction of a crime or of a violation of section 14-196, subsection (c) of section 14-215, section 14-222a, subsection (a) or subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 14-224 or section 14-227a, and (3) who states under oath, in open court or before any person designated by the clerk and duly authorized to administer oaths, under the penalties of perjury, (A) that the defendant has never had such program invoked on the defendant's behalf or that the defendant was charged with a misdemeanor or a motor vehicle violation for which a term of imprisonment of one year or less may be imposed and ten or more years have passed since the date that any charge or charges for which the program was invoked on the defendant's behalf were dismissed by the court, or (B) with respect to a defendant who is a veteran, that the defendant has not had such program invoked in the defendant's behalf more than once previously. [, provided the defendant shall agree thereto and provided notice has been given by the defendant,] The clerk of the court shall provide written notice of the defendant's application, on a form prescribed by the Office of the Chief Court Administrator, to the victim or victims of such crime or motor vehicle violation, if any, by registered or certified mail and such victim or victims have an opportunity to be heard thereon. Any defendant who makes application for participation in such program shall pay to the court an application fee of thirty-five dollars. No defendant shall be allowed to participate in the pretrial program for accelerated rehabilitation more than two times. For the purposes of this section, "veteran" means any person who was discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable from active service in the armed forces as defined in section 27-103.

Sec. 4. Section 54-222a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2016):

(a) Whenever a peace officer determines that a crime has been committed, such officer shall: (1) Render immediate assistance to any crime victim, including obtaining medical assistance for any such crime victim if such assistance is required; (2) present a card prepared by the Office of the Chief Court Administrator to the crime victim informing the crime victim of services available and the rights of crime victims in this state; and (3) refer the crime victim to the Office of Victim Services for additional information on rights and services. A peace officer shall not be liable for failing to present an informational card to any crime victim as provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection or for failing to refer any crime victim to the Office of Victim Services as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection. For the purposes of this subsection, "crime victim" has the same meaning as provided in section 1-1k.

(b) Whenever a peace officer effectuates an arrest, either with or without a warrant, and there is an identified crime victim relating to such arrest, the peace officer shall immediately provide notification to the crime victim of: (1) The date and time of the arrest; (2) the name of the person arrested; (3) the crimes alleged to have been committed by the person arrested; (4) the bond set in connection with the person's arrest, if any; (5) if the person arrested was released without execution of a bond, the conditions of release imposed by the court; (6) the date of the initial court appearance for the person arrested; and (7) the location of the court where such initial court appearance is to occur.

[(b)] (c) The Commissioner of Emergency Services and Public Protection shall adopt regulations in accordance with chapter 54 to implement the provisions of [subsection (a) of] this section.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2016	29-36k(a)
Sec. 2	October 1, 2016	54-56l(g)
Sec. 3	October 1, 2016	54-56e(b)
Sec. 4	October 1, 2016	54-222a

Statement of Purpose:

To afford greater protections to crime victims.

[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.]