Contains provisions relating to law enforcement officer accountability

SECOND REGULAR SESSION
HOUSE BILL NO. 1953
103RD GENERAL ASSEMBL Y
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENT A TIVE BOSLEY .
4918H.01I JOSEPH ENGLER, Chief Clerk
AN ACT
T o repeal section 563.046, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof five new sections relating to
law enforcement of ficer accountability , with penalty provisions.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:
Section A. Section 563.046, RSMo, is repealed and five new sections enacted in lieu
2 thereof, to be known as sections 563.046, 590.1065, 590.1250, 590.1252, and 590.1256, to
3 read as follows:
563.046. 1. A law enforcement of ficer need not retreat or desist from effort s to ef fect
2 the arrest, or from ef forts to prevent the escape from custody , of a person he or she reasonably
3 believes to have committed an of fense because of resistance or threatened resistance of the
4 arrestee. In addition to the use of physical force authorized under other sections of this
5 chapter , a law enforcement of ficer is, subject to the provisions of subsections 2 [ and ] , 3, and
6 4 of this section, justified in the use of such physical force as he or she reasonably believes is
7 immediately necessary to effect the arrest or to prevent the escape from custody .
8 2. The use of any physical force in making an arrest is not justified under this section
9 unless the arrest is lawful or the law enforcement of ficer reasonably believes the arrest is
10 lawful, and the amount of physical force used was objectively reasonable in light of the
11 totality of the particular facts and circumstances confronting the of ficer on the scene, without
12 regard to the of ficer's underlying intent or motivation.
13 3. In ef fecting an arrest or in preventing an escape from custody , a law enforcement
14 of ficer is justified in using deadly force only:
15 (1) When deadly force is authorized under other sections of this chapter; or
EXPLANA TION — Matter enclosed in bold-faced brackets [thus] in the above bill is not enacted and is
intended to be omitted from the law . Matter in bold-face type in the above bill is proposed language.
16 (2) When the of ficer reasonably believes that such use of deadly force is immediately
17 necessary to ef fect the arrest or prevent an escape from custody and also reasonably believes
18 that the person to be arrested:
19 (a) Has committed or attempted to commit a felony of fense involving the infliction or
20 threatened infliction of serious physical injury; or
21 (b) Is attempting to escape by use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument; or
22 (c) May otherwise endanger life or inflict serious physical injury to the of ficer or
23 others unless arrested without delay .
24 4. The use of a r espiratory choke-hold for any purpose other than is authorized
25 under section 590.805 shall be cause for the law enforcem ent officer's immediate
26 dismissal and revoca tion of his or her license under chapter 590.
27 5. The defendant shall have the burden of injecting the issue of justification under this
28 section.
590.1065. 1. A peace officer shall intervene to pr event or stop another peace
2 officer fr om using physical for ce that exceeds the degr ee of forc e permitted under this
3 chapter in pursuance of the other peace officer's law enfor cement duties in carrying out
4 an arres t of any person, placing any person under detention, taking any person into
5 custody , booking any person, or in the proce ss of crow d or riot control without reg ard to
6 chain of command.
7 2. A peace officer who intervenes as requ ired under subsection 1 of this section
8 shall report the intervention to his or her immediate supervisor . At a minimum, the
9 r eport r equir ed under this subsection shall include:
10 (1) The date, time, and place of the occurre nce;
11 (2) The identity , if known, and description of the participants; and
12 (3) A description of the intervention actions taken.
13
14 Such re port shall be made in writing within ten days of the occurr ence of the use of such
15 for ce and shall be appended to all other repor ts of the incident.
16 3. A member of a law enforcem ent agency shall not discipline or r etaliate in any
17 way against a peace officer for intervening as requ ired under subsection 1 of this
18 section, r eporting unconstitutional conduct, or failing to follow what the peace officer
19 r easonably believes is an unconstitutional dire ctive.
20 4. When an internal investigation finds that a peace officer failed to intervene or
21 pr event the use of unlawful physical for ce under this section, such finding shall be
22 pr esented to the pr osecuting attorney for a determination as to whether charges should
23 be filed. However , nothing in this subsection pro hibits the prosecuting attorney fr om
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24 charging a peace officer with failure to intervene before the conclusion of any internal
25 investigation.
26 5. In addition to any criminal liability and penalty , when an internal
27 investigation finds that a peace officer failed to intervene or prev ent the use of
28 unlawful physical for ce under this section in an incident res ulting in serious bodily
29 injury or death to any person, the peace officer's employer shall subject the peace
30 officer to discipline, up to and including termination, to the extent permitted under
31 applicable constitutional and statutory law , and the dir ector shall revo ke the peace
32 officer's license under chapter 590 upon r eceipt of notice of the peace officer's discipline.
33 Such revoc ation may be overturned only if the peace officer is exonerated by a court.
34 6. In a case in which the pr osecution charges a peace officer with offenses r elated
35 to and based on the use of excessive for ce but does not file charges against any other
36 peace officer or officers who were at the scene during the use of such for ce, the
37 pr osecuting attorney shall pr epare a written repo rt explaining his or her basis for the
38 decision not to charge any other peace officer with criminal conduct and shall disclose
39 the rep ort to the public; except that, if disclosur e of the repo rt would substantially
40 interfer e with or jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation, the pro secuting attorney
41 may delay public disclosure for up to forty-five days. The pr osecuting attorney shall
42 post the written repo rt on the prosecuting attorney office's website or , if the office does
43 not have a website, make it publicly available upon r equest.
44 7. The offense of failing to intervene to pr event the use of unlawful for ce under
45 this section is consider ed an act of complicity and the penalty for such act shall be equal
46 to the penalty imposed against the peace officer who committed the original wron gdoing
47 for which the peace officer failed to intervene. Nothing in this subsection shall pro hibit
48 or discourage pro secution of any other criminal offense relat ed to failure to intervene,
49 including a higher charge, if supported by the evidence.
590.1250. The pr ovisions of sections 590.1250 to 590.1256 shall be known and
2 may be cited as the "Law Enfor cement Accountability Act".
590.1252. 1. All peace officers in this state shall wear a video camera affixed to
2 the peace officer's uniform while on duty . The video camera shall r ecord each
3 interaction between a peace officer and a member of the public. The r ecording shall
4 include both audio and video.
5 2. Law enforcem ent agencies shall pr eserve any r ecordings made by a video
6 camera under this section for a minimum of sixty days and make such record ings
7 available to the public thr ough a statewide database within fourteen days of any
8 incident.
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9 3. The pr ovisions of this section shall not apply to detectives or other peace
10 officers while they ar e working in an under cover capacity or to any peace officer in any
11 situation wher e the wearing of such a video camera would endanger the safety of the
12 officer or the public.
13 4. Law enfor cement agencies shall develop policies and pr ocedur es necessary to
14 execute the pr ovisions of this section prior to January 1, 2027.
15 5. The dir ector of the department of public safety may promulg ate all necessary
16 rules and reg ulations for the administration of this section. Any rule or portion of a
17 rule, as that term is defined in section 536.010, that is crea ted under the authority
18 delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to
19 all of the pr ovisions of chapter 536 and, if applicable, section 536.028. This section and
20 chapter 536 ar e nonseverable, and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly
21 pursuant to chapter 536 to revi ew , to delay the effective date, or to disappr ove and annul
22 a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority
23 and any rule prop osed or adopted after August 28, 2026, shall be invalid and void.
590.1256. Notwithstanding any other pro vision of law , if any peace officer is
2 convicted of or pleads guilty or nolo contender e to a crime involving the unlawful use or
3 thr eatened use of physical for ce, or is found civilly liable for the use of unlawful physical
4 for ce, the dir ector shall r evoke the peace officer's license under this chapter . The
5 dir ector shall not r einstate the peace officer's license or grant a new license to the peace
6 officer unless the peace officer is exonerated by a court.
✔
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