Missouri Laws 563.061 – Use of force by persons with responsibility for care, discipline or safety ..
1. The use of physical force by an actor upon another person is justifiable when the actor is a parent, guardian or other person entrusted with the care and supervision of a minor or an incompetent person or when the actor is a teacher or other person entrusted with the care and supervision of a minor for a special purpose; and
(1) The actor reasonably believes that the force used is necessary to promote the welfare of a minor or incompetent person, or, if the actor’s responsibility for the minor is for special purposes, to further that special purpose or to maintain reasonable discipline in a school, class or other group; and
Terms Used In Missouri Laws 563.061
- Deadly force: physical force which the actor uses with the purpose of causing or which he or she knows to create a substantial risk of causing death or serious physical injury. See Missouri Laws 563.011
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Guardian: if used in a section in a context relating to property rights or obligations, means conservator of the estate as defined in chapter 475. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- Incompetent: if used in a section in a context relating to actual occupational ability without reference to a court adjudication of incompetency, means the actual ability of a person to perform in that occupation. See Missouri Laws 1.020
- person: may extend and be applied to bodies politic and corporate, and to partnerships and other unincorporated associations. See Missouri Laws 1.020
(2) The force used is not designed to cause or believed to create a substantial risk of causing death, serious physical injury, disfigurement, extreme pain or extreme emotional distress.
2. A warden or other authorized official of a jail, prison or correctional institution may, in order to maintain order and discipline, use whatever physical force, including deadly force, that is authorized by law.
3. The use of physical force by an actor upon another person is justifiable when the actor is a person responsible for the operation of or the maintenance of order in a vehicle or other carrier of passengers and the actor reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent interference with its operation or to maintain order in the vehicle or other carrier, except that deadly force may be used only when the actor reasonably believes it necessary to prevent death or serious physical injury.
4. The use of physical force by an actor upon another person is justified when the actor is a physician or a person assisting at his or her direction; and
(1) The force is used for the purpose of administering a medically acceptable form of treatment which the actor reasonably believes to be adapted to promoting the physical or mental health of the patient; and
(2) The treatment is administered with the consent of the patient or, if the patient is a minor or an incompetent person, with the consent of the parent, guardian, or other person legally competent to consent on his or her behalf, or the treatment is administered in an emergency when the actor reasonably believes that no one competent to consent can be consulted and that a reasonable person, wishing to safeguard the welfare of the patient, would consent.
5. The use of physical force by an actor upon another person is justifiable when the actor acts under the reasonable belief that:
(1) Such other person is about to commit suicide or to inflict serious physical injury upon himself or herself; and
(2) The force used is necessary to thwart such result.
6. The defendant shall have the burden of injecting the issue of justification under this section.