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.

Notation

Charges of several offenses, if they are of the same character, shall be tried together unless the court shall order otherwise. 139 C. 234.