AN ACT CONCERNING MILITARY PROTECTIVE ORDERS TO ADDRESS MILITARY INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE.

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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 278
February Session, 2026

AN ACT CONCERNING MILITARY PROTECTIVE ORDERS TO
ADDRESS MILITARY INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 46b -15 of the 2026 supplement to 1
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 3
(b) The application form shall allow the applicant, at the applicant's 4
option, to indicate whether the respondent holds a permit to carry a 5
pistol or revolver, an eligibility certificate for a pistol or revolver, a long 6
gun eligibility certificate or an ammunition certificate or possesses one 7
or more firearms or ammunition. The application shall be accompanied 8
by an affidavit made under oath which includes a brief statement of the 9
conditions from which relief is sought. Upon receipt of the application 10
the court shall order that a hearing on the application be held not later 11
than fourteen days from the date of the order except that, if the 12
application indicates that the respondent holds a permit to carry a pistol 13
or revolver, an eligibility certificate for a pistol or revolver, a long gun 14
eligibility certificate or an ammunition certificate or possesses one or 15
more firearms or ammunition, and the court orders an ex parte order, 16
the court shall order that a hearing be held on the application not later 17
than seven days from the date on which the ex parte order is issued. The 18
court, in its discretion, may make such orders as it deems appropriate 19
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for the protection of the applicant and such dependent children or other 20
persons as the court sees fit. In making such orders ex parte, the court, 21
in its discretion, may consider relevant court records if the records are 22
available to the public from a clerk of the Superior Court or on the 23
Judicial Branch's Internet web site. In addition, at the time of the 24
hearing, the court, in its discretion, may also consider a report prepared 25
by the family services unit of the Judicial Branch, provided the person 26
who prepared such report is available to testify at the hearing and is 27
subject to cross examination. The report may include, as available: Any 28
existing or prior orders of protection obtained from the [protection 29
order] registry of protective orders maintained pursuant to section 51 -30
5c, as amended by this act, including any military protective orders 31
contained in such registry; information on any pending criminal case or 32
past criminal case in which the respondent was convicted of a violent 33
crime; any outstanding arrest warrant for the respondent; and the 34
respondent's level of risk based on a risk assessment tool utilized by the 35
Court Support Services Division. The report may also include 36
information pertaining to any pending or disposed family matters case 37
involving the applicant and respondent. Any report provided by the 38
Court Support Services Division to the court shall also be provided to 39
the applicant and respondent. Such orders may include temporary child 40
custody or visitation rights, and such relief may include, but is not 41
limited to, an order enjoining the respondent from (1) imposing any 42
restraint upon the person or liberty of the applicant; (2) threatening, 43
harassing, assaulting, molesting, sexually assaulting or attacking the 44
applicant; or (3) entering the family dwelling or the dwelling of the 45
applicant. Such order may include provisions necessary to protect any 46
animal owned or kept by the applicant including, but not limited to, an 47
order enjoining the respondent from injuring or threatening to injure 48
such animal. If an applicant alleges an immediate and present physical 49
danger to the applicant, the court may issue an ex parte order granting 50
such relief as it deems appropriate. If a postponement of a hearing on 51
the application is requested by either party and granted, the ex parte 52
order shall not be continued except upon agreement of the parties or by 53
order of the court for good cause shown. If a hearing on the application 54
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is scheduled or an ex parte order is granted and the court is closed on 55
the scheduled hearing date, the hearing shall be held on the next day the 56
court is open and any such ex parte order shall remain in effect until the 57
date of such hearing. If the applicant is under eighteen years of age, a 58
parent, guardian or responsible adult who brings the application as next 59
friend of the applicant may not speak on the applicant's behalf at such 60
hearing unless there is good cause shown as to why the applicant is 61
unable to speak on his or her own behalf, except that nothing in this 62
subsection shall preclude such parent, guardian or responsible adult 63
from testifying as a witness at such hearing. As used in this subsection, 64
"violent crime" includes: (A) An incident resulting in physical harm, 65
bodily injury or assault; (B) an act of threatened violence that constitutes 66
fear of imminent physical harm, bodily injury or assault, including, but 67
not limited to, stalking or a pattern of threatening; (C) verbal abuse or 68
argument if there is a present danger and likelihood that physical 69
violence will occur; and (D) cruelty to animals as set forth in section 53-70
247, and "military protective order" means a protective order issued by 71
a commanding officer in the armed forces of the United States or the 72
Connecticut National Guard against a person under such officer's 73
command. 74
Sec. 2. Subsection (b) of section 46b -16a of the general statutes is 75
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 76
1, 2026): 77
(b) The application shall be accompanied by an affidavit made by the 78
applicant under oath that includes a statement of the specific facts that 79
form the basis for relief. If the applicant attests that disclosure of the 80
applicant's location information would jeopardize the health, safety or 81
liberty of the applicant or the applicant's children, the applicant may 82
request, on a form prescribed by the Chief Court Administrator, that his 83
or her location information not be disclosed. Upon receipt of the 84
application, if the allegations set forth in the affidavit meet the 85
requirements of subsection (a) of this section, the court shall schedule a 86
hearing not later than fourteen days from the date of the application. If 87
a postponement of a hearing on the application is requested by either 88
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party, no ex parte order shall be continued except upon agreement of 89
the parties or by order of the court for good cause shown. If the court is 90
closed on the scheduled hearing date, the hearing shall be held on the 91
next day the court is open and any ex parte order that was issued shall 92
remain in effect until the date of such hearing. If the applicant is under 93
eighteen years of age, a parent, guardian or responsible adult who 94
brings the application as next friend of the applicant may not speak on 95
the applicant's behalf at such hearing unless there is good cause shown 96
as to why the applicant is unable to speak on his or her own behalf, 97
except that nothing in this subsection shall preclude such parent, 98
guardian or responsible adult from testifying as a witness at such 99
hearing. If the court finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe 100
that the respondent has committed acts constituting grounds for 101
issuance of an order under this section and will continue to commit such 102
acts, or acts designed to intimidate or retaliate against the applicant, the 103
court, in its discretion, may make such orders as it deems appropriate 104
for the protection of the applicant. If the court finds that there are 105
reasonable grounds to believe that an imminent danger exists to the 106
applicant, the court may issue an ex parte order granting such relief as 107
it deems appropriate. In making such orders, the court, in its discretion, 108
may consider relevant court records if the records are available to the 109
public from a clerk of the Superior Court or on the Judicial Branch's 110
Internet web site , as well as any existing or prior military protective 111
order that is contained in the registry of protective orders maintained 112
pursuant to section 51 -5c, as amended by this act, and that may have 113
been obtained from such registry. Such orders may include, but are not 114
limited to, an order enjoining the respondent from: (1) Imposing any 115
restraint upon the person or liberty of the applicant; (2) threatening, 116
harassing, assaulting, molesting, sexually assaulting or attacking the 117
applicant; and (3) entering the dwelling of the applicant. As used in this 118
subsection, "military protective order" means a protective order issued 119
by a commanding officer in the armed forces of the United States or the 120
Connecticut National Guard against a person under such officer's 121
command. 122
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Sec. 3. (NEW) ( Effective October 1, 2026 ) (a) As used in this section, 123
"military protective order" means a protective order issued by a 124
commanding officer in the armed forces of the United States or the 125
Connecticut National Guard against a person under such officer's 126
command. 127
(b) A military protective order may be registered in this state by 128
sending to the Superior Court in this state: (1) A letter or other document 129
requesting registration; (2) two copies, including one certified copy, of 130
the military protective order sought to be registered and a statement 131
under penalty of perjury that, to the best of the knowledge and belief of 132
the petitioner, the order has not been modified; and (3) the name and 133
address of the person seeking registration, except if the disclosure of 134
such name and address would jeopardize the safety of such person. 135
(c) On receipt of the documents required in subsection (b) of this 136
section, the registering court shall: (1) Cause the military protective 137
order to be filed, together with one copy of any accompanying 138
documents and information, regardless of their form; and (2) cause the 139
military protective order to be entered in the automated registry of 140
protective orders maintained pursuant to section 51 -5c of the general 141
statutes, as amended by this act, together with any accompanying 142
information required or permitted to be contained in the registry of 143
protective orders pursuant to the procedures adopted by the Chief 144
Court Administrator under section 51 -5c of the general statutes, as 145
amended by this act. 146
Sec. 4. Subsection (a) of section 51 -5c of the 2026 supplement to the 147
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 148
thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 149
(a) The Chief Court Administrator shall establish and maintain an 150
automated registry of protective orders that shall contain (1) protective 151
or restraining orders issued by courts of this state, including, but not 152
limited to, orders issued pursuant to sections 46b-15, as amended by this 153
act, 46b-16a, as amended by this act, 46b-38c, 53a-40e, 54-1k, 54-82q and 154
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54-82r, [and] (2) foreign orders of protection that have been registered 155
in this state pursuant to section 46b -15a, and (3) military protective 156
orders that have been registered in this state pursuant to section 3 of this 157
act. The registry shall clearly indicate the date of commencement, the 158
termination date, if specified, and the duration of any order contained 159
therein. The Chief Court Administrator shall adopt policies and 160
procedures for the operation of the registry, which shall include policies 161
and procedures governing the disclosure of information in the registry 162
to the judges of the Superior Court and employees of the Judicial 163
Department. 164
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 October 1, 2026 46b-15(b)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2026 46b-16a(b)
Sec. 3 October 1, 2026 New section
Sec. 4 October 1, 2026 51-5c(a)

VA Joint Favorable Subst. C/R JUD