CHAPTER 292
SB 61 – FINAL VERSION
03/31/05 0900s
03/31/05 0969s
11May2005… 1223h
06/29/05 2013cofc
2005 SESSION
10/09
SENATE BILL 61
AN ACT relative to judges giving notice of intent to retire, and relative to retired status for judges and assignment of judicial referees.
This bill establishes a procedure for supreme, superior, district, probate, and administrative judges to give notice of intent to retire.
This bill also revises the procedure for assignment of judicial referees and establishes senior active status judges.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
03/31/05 0900s
03/31/05 0969s
11May2005… 1223h
06/29/05 2013cofc
05-0992
10/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Five
AN ACT relative to judges giving notice of intent to retire, and relative to retired status for judges and assignment of judicial referees.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
292:1 Tenure of Judges; Optional Retirement. RSA 493:3 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
493:3 Optional Retirement. Any supreme or superior court judge, full-time district court judge, or full-time probate court judge who is eligible to retire pursuant to the provisions of RSA 100-C may retire. The judge shall give not less than 30 days’ notice nor more than 90 days’ notice of the judge’s intention to retire to the chief justice of the supreme court or the administrative judge of the judge’s court and to the governor and council and the board of trustees of the judicial retirement plan under RSA 100-C. If a chief justice wishes to retire, the chief justice shall give not less than 30 days’ notice nor more than 90 days’ notice of the chief justice’s intention to retire to the senior associate justice of the chief justice’s court and to the governor and council and the board of trustees of the judicial retirement plan under RSA 100-C. If an administrative judge wishes to retire, the administrative judge shall give not less than 30 days’ notice nor more than 90 days’ notice of the administrative judge’s intention to retire to the chief justice of the supreme court and to the governor and council and the board of trustees of the judicial retirement plan under RSA 100-C. Retirement shall be effective upon acceptance by the governor and council. The vacancy created by the retirement of a judge shall be filled according to law.
292:2 Chapter Title; Retired Judges. Amend the chapter title of RSA 493-A to read as follows:
RETIRED JUDGES; JUDICIAL REFEREES
292:3 Judges; Senior Active Status; Retired Status. RSA 493-A:1 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
493-A:1 Senior Active Status; Retired Status.
I. Any full-time justice of the supreme, superior, district, or probate court who retires or has retired from regular active service prior to age 70 pursuant to RSA 100-C or any predecessor judicial retirement plan or system, may elect to take either senior active status or retired status for the period prior to the time when the justice reaches age 70. A justice who desires to be designated on senior active status shall make such election by providing written notice to the chief justice or administrative justice of the court from which he or she retired. The first such election shall be made not later than 30 days prior to the date the justice’s retirement becomes effective and shall be valid for one year from the date of the justice’s retirement. Thereafter, a justice who desires to remain in senior active status shall provide a similar notice on an annual basis to the chief or administrative justice of the court from which the justice retired not later than 30 days prior to the anniversary date of the justice’s retirement. Judges retired on the effective date of this section shall make the first such election not later than 30 days after the effective date of this section. Each election shall be valid for a period of one year, except that an election made for the year in which the justice reaches age 70 shall terminate on the day before the justice turns 70. A justice who desires to be designated on retired status may do so at any time following his or her retirement from regular active service by providing written notice of this election to the chief or administrative justice of the court from which the justice retired; provided, however, that once a justice elects to be designated on retired status such election shall be final and the justice shall not thereafter be allowed to return to senior active status.
II. A senior active justice shall have all the powers of a justice in regular active service and may serve on the court from which he or she retired or on any other court in which he or she is authorized by law to serve.
III. A justice who elects to be designated on senior active status shall not, during the period while such designation is in effect, engage in the practice of law, but such justice may serve as a teacher or professor of law at an educational institution.
292:4 New Section; Judicial Referees; Assignment. Amend RSA 493-A by inserting after section 1 the following new section:
493-A:1-a Judicial Referees.
I. Any full-time justice of the supreme, superior, district, or probate court who is mandatorily retired from either regular active service or senior active service upon reaching age 70, and any part-time district or probate court justice who is mandatorily retired upon reaching age 70, shall thereafter be eligible to serve as a judicial referee on the court from which he or she retired or on any other court in which his or her service as a referee is authorized by law.
II. A judicial referee may be assigned to take testimony, receive and review evidence, and make recommendations for findings of fact and conclusions of law in any court specified in paragraph I by the chief justice of the supreme court or superior court, from which the referee retired, or the administrative justice of any other court from which the referee retired. All recommendations of judicial referees shall be approved by a justice in regular active service or senior active service of the court to which the referee is assigned. A judicial referee shall not preside over jury trials and shall not enter final orders in any case.
III. Nothing in this section shall prevent a retired justice of the supreme, superior, district, or probate courts from sitting as a temporary justice of the supreme court when selected to do so pursuant to the procedures specified in RSA 490:3.
292:5 Repeal. RSA 491:23, relative to appointment of former judges as referees, auditors and masters, is repealed.
292:6 Application; Status of Judicial Retirement Plan. If any provision of this act is determined to affect the validity or status for federal tax purposes of the judicial retirement plan established under RSA 100-C, this act or the offending provision thereof shall be deemed null and void and shall be of no further force or effect.
292:7 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2005.
(Approved: July 25, 2005)
(Effective Date: July 1, 2005)