Sec. 54-156. Pursuit of suspected criminals.
Sec. 54-156. Pursuit of suspected criminals. (a) Any member of a duly organized
state, county or municipal peace unit of another state of the United States who enters
this state in fresh pursuit, and continues within this state in such fresh pursuit, of a
person, in order to arrest him on the ground that he is believed to have committed a
felony in such other state, shall have the same authority to arrest and hold such person
in custody as has any member of any duly organized state, county or municipal peace
unit of this state to arrest and hold in custody a person on the ground that he is believed
to have committed a felony in this state.
(b) If an arrest is made in this state by an officer of another state in accordance with
the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, he shall, without unnecessary delay, take
the person arrested before a judge of the superior court for the judicial district in which
the arrest was made, who shall conduct a hearing for the purpose of determining the
lawfulness of the arrest. If such judge determines that the arrest was lawful, he shall
commit the person arrested to await for a reasonable time the issuance of an extradition
warrant by the Governor of this state or admit him to bail for such purpose. If such judge
determines that the arrest was unlawful, he shall discharge the person arrested.
(c) Subsection (a) of this section shall not be construed so as to make unlawful any
arrest in this state which would otherwise be lawful.
(d) For the purpose of this section the word "state" shall include the District of
Columbia.
(e) The term "fresh pursuit" as used in this section shall include fresh pursuit as
defined by the common law, and also the pursuit of a person who has committed a felony
or who is reasonably suspected of having committed a felony. It shall also include the
pursuit of a person suspected of having committed a supposed felony, though no felony
has actually been committed, if there is reasonable ground for believing that a felony
has been committed. Fresh pursuit, as used herein, shall not necessarily imply instant
pursuit, but pursuit without unreasonable delay.
(f) The provisions of this section shall apply only to those states which by their laws
grant similar rights to the duly constituted officers of this state.
(1949 Rev., S. 8870; P.A. 73-116, S. 31; 73-667, S. 1, 2; P.A. 82-472, S. 148, 183; P.A. 05-288, S. 189.)
History: P.A. 73-116 added reference to judicial districts in Subsec. (b); P.A. 73-667 changed effective date of P.A.
73-116 from October 1, 1973, to April 25, 1973; P.A. 82-472 deleted obsolete reference to counties; P.A. 05-288 made a
technical change in Subsecs. (b) and (c), effective July 13, 2005.
Charges of several offenses, if they are of the same character, shall be tried together unless the court shall order otherwise.
139 C. 234.