SB102 (2005) Detail

(New Title) limiting liability for failure to arrest persons under 21 years of age illegally transporting alcoholic beverages.


SB 102-FN – AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE

03/17/05 0551s

2005 SESSION

05-0931

03/10

SENATE BILL 102-FN

AN ACT limiting liability for failure to arrest persons under 21 years of age illegally transporting alcoholic beverages.

SPONSORS: Sen. Flanders, Dist 7; Rep. Knowles, Straf 6

COMMITTEE: Judiciary

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill limits liability for failure to arrest persons under 21 years of age for illegally transporting alcoholic beverages, if such failure is pursuant to an established policy of the officer’s department.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

03/17/05 0551s

05-0931

03/10

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five

AN ACT limiting liability for failure to arrest persons under 21 years of age illegally transporting alcoholic beverages.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 Alcoholic Beverages; Seizure; Liability Limited. Amend RSA 179:2 to read as follows:

179:2 Seizure. Any beverage or liquor possessed, kept for sale, or transported in violation of the provisions of this title or any law of the state, together with the casks, bottles, or other paraphernalia used in such illegal possession, keeping, or transportation, shall be subject to seizure either upon a warrant issued upon a complaint against the person charged with violating the law, and containing a command for such seizure, or upon a libel directed against the property, filed in accordance with the provisions of RSA 617, and upon due proceedings may be adjudged forfeited. When any sheriff or deputy sheriff, duly appointed police officer or constable of any city or town, or other duly appointed law enforcement officer, shall discover any person in the act of transporting beverages or liquor in violation of this chapter or any other law of this state, in any wagon, buggy, automobile, watercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle, or any other conveyance, it shall be his or her duty to seize all beverage and liquor found therein being transported contrary to law. No officer shall, without a warrant, cause any automobile or other vehicle traveling upon a public highway in this state to be stopped for the purpose of searching the same for beverages or liquor unless [he] the officer has reasonable cause to believe that such automobile or other vehicle is, at the time of said stopping or search, being used for the illegal transportation of beverage or liquor. Whenever beverage or liquor being illegally transported shall be seized by an officer, [he] the officer shall take possession of any vehicle, team, automobile, boat, aircraft, watercraft, or any other conveyance engaged in such illegal transportation, and shall arrest any person or persons in charge of such transportation; provided, however, that failure to arrest a person pursuant to this section for violating RSA 179:10 shall not give rise to any liability if such failure is pursuant to an established policy of the officer’s department. Such officer shall at once proceed against the person or persons arrested under the provisions of this chapter in any court having competent jurisdiction, and the vehicle or conveyance, on due proceedings in accordance with the provisions of RSA 617, may be adjudged forfeited, unless by intervention or otherwise at hearing, or in some other proceeding brought for the purpose, a lien or liens shall be established to have been created without notice that such vehicle was being used or was to be used for the illegal transportation of beverage or liquor. The vehicle may be ordered sold by the court, and the proceeds of the sale, after deducting the expenses of keeping and sale, used for the purpose of paying such liens in the order of their priority, and the balance disposed of as provided in RSA 179:3. If a lien or liens shall be established in excess of the value of such vehicle, the court shall order its surrender to the first lienholder upon payment of costs of seizure, but subsequent lienholders shall have the right of redemption in the order of their liens upon satisfaction of prior liens and charges, provided such right is asserted within such time as the court shall fix in its order of surrender.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2006.

LBAO

05-0931

Revised 2/2/05

SB 102 FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to the unlawful possession and consumption of alcoholic beverages by persons under 21 years of age.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The Judicial Branch indicates state revenue and expenditures will increase by an indeterminable amount in FY 2006 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on local and county revenue or expenditures.

METHODOLOGY:

The Judicial Branch states this bill would amend RSA 179: 10, the statute dealing with unlawful possession of alcohol or intoxication by minors, to change “intoxication” to “consumption.” For the fiscal impact of the statutory change in this bill, the question is whether the broadening of the offense from intoxication to consumption will similarly result in more cases. One reason the Judicial Branch believes this statutory change will not result in a similarly dramatic increase in charges is that consumption is almost equivalent to intoxication given the low threshold of intoxication in the statute (.02 alcohol concentration). Thus, the Judicial Branch anticipates some increase in the number of charges pursuant to this statute under this bill. Any fiscal impact to the Judicial Branch will result in increased delays in processing of other cases.

The Department of Justice states this bill will have no fiscal impact on their Department. It is an existing offense, which is prosecuted either by the county attorney or local prosecutor. The Criminal Justice Bureau would not do any prosecutions, nor is there any expectation of seeing any significant increase in appeals.

The Judicial Council states as this is a violation level offense, there is no right to counsel and no impact on indigent defense representation.

The New Hampshire Association of Counties states this legislation will have no effect on county revenues or expenditures.