---
type: "Bill"
title: "An act relating to defense of others and justifiable homicide"
description: "An act relating to defense of others and justifiable homicide"
jurisdiction: "us/states/vt"
legislature: "Vermont General Assembly"
session: "2021-2022"
identifier: "S 184"
citation: "Vermont S 184 (2021-2022)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Joseph Benning", "Richard Sears"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 23
vote_count: 0
first_action: "2022-01-04"
last_action: "2022-04-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/19f9094b-3877-4c13-9341-8b9aa6b6929a"
source_url: "http://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/loadBillDetailedStatus/2022/1226"
source_hash: "2564dff0f3bc316499b2da2449e895dbd748f57f7542432be9e7df48f21766f8"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-vt"]
---

# Vermont S 184 (2021-2022) — An act relating to defense of others and justifiable homicide

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **As Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/BILLS/S-0184/S-0184%20As%20Introduced.pdf)
2. **Act Summary** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/ACTS/ACT095/ACT095%20Act%20Summary.pdf)
3. **As Enacted** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/ACTS/ACT095/ACT095%20As%20Enacted.pdf)
4. **Official** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/BILLS/S-0184/S-0184%20As%20passed%20by%20the%20Senate%20Official.pdf)
5. **Unofficial** (committee substitute) — [source](https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2022/Docs/BILLS/S-0184/S-0184%20As%20Passed%20by%20the%20Senate%20Unofficial.pdf)

## Sponsors

- Joseph Benning — primary (person)
- Richard Sears — primary (person)
- Alice Nitka — cosponsor (person)
- Andrew Perchlik — cosponsor (person)
- Ann Cummings — cosponsor (person)
- Brian Collamore — cosponsor (person)
- Corey Parent — cosponsor (person)
- Jeanette White — cosponsor (person)
- Joshua Terenzini — cosponsor (person)
- Randolph Brock — cosponsor (person)
- Richard McCormack — cosponsor (person)
- Richard Westman — cosponsor (person)
- Robert Starr — cosponsor (person)
- Russell Ingalls — cosponsor (person)
- Thomas Chittenden — cosponsor (person)
- Virginia Lyons — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2022-01-04** Read 1st time & referred to Committee on Judiciary `introduction`
- **2022-02-02** Entered on Notice Calendar
- **2022-02-02** Favorable report with recommendation of amendment by Committee on Judiciary `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-03** New Business/Second Reading `reading-2`
- **2022-02-03** Favorable report with recommendation of amendment by Committee on Judiciary `committee-passage`
- **2022-02-03** Read 2nd time, reported favorably with recommendation of amendment by Senator Benning for Committee on Judiciary `committee-passage-favorable, reading-2`
- **2022-02-03** Recommendation of amendment agreed to
- **2022-02-03** 3rd reading ordered
- **2022-02-04** New Business/Third Reading `reading-3`
- **2022-02-04** Read 3rd time & passed `reading-3`
- **2022-02-09** Read First Time and referred to the Committee on Judiciary `introduction`
- **2022-03-31** Notice Calendar: Favorable
- **2022-04-05** Action Calendar: Favorable
- **2022-04-05** Read Second time `reading-2`
- **2022-04-05** Rep. Grad of Moretown reported for the Committee on Judiciary
- **2022-04-05** Third Reading ordered `reading-3`
- **2022-04-06** Action Calendar: Third reading `reading-3`
- **2022-04-06** Read Third time and passed in concurrence `reading-3`
- **2022-04-08** House message: House passed bill in concurrence
- **2022-04-08** As passed by Senate and House `passage`
- **2022-04-15** Delivered to Governor on April 15, 2022 `executive-receipt`
- **2022-04-21** Signed by Governor on April 21, 2022 `executive-signature`
- **2022-04-21** Senate Message, signed by Governor April 21, 2022 `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/19f9094b-3877-4c13-9341-8b9aa6b6929a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Vermont legislature records).