HB 526-FN-A – AS INTRODUCED
2007 SESSION
09/01
HOUSE BILL 526-FN-A
AN ACT requiring district court judges to annually attend an educational program offered by the National Judicial College and establishing a surcharge on fines collected in the district court to pay for the costs of such attendance.
SPONSORS: Rep. Burridge, Ches 3
This bill requires district court judges to annually attend an educational program offered by the National Judicial College and establishes a surcharge on fines collected in the district court to pay for the costs of such attendance.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
07-0442
09/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seven
AN ACT requiring district court judges to annually attend an educational program offered by the National Judicial College and establishing a surcharge on fines collected in the district court to pay for the costs of such attendance.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Subdivision; Attendance of National Judicial College. Amend RSA 502-A by inserting after section 37 the following new subdivision:
Attendance of National Judicial College
502-A:38 Attendance of National Judicial College; Surcharge.
I. Each district court judge shall annually attend an educational program offered by the National Judicial College. The costs of attendance, including costs of travel, lodging, meals, tuition, and books and materials shall be paid from the district court judicial training fund established in paragraph II.
II. There is established in the office of the state treasurer a district court judicial training fund, which shall be continually appropriated to the supreme court for the purposes of paragraph I. In addition to all other fees and penalty assessments, the district court shall collect a $10 surcharge on each fine imposed by the court. Such surcharge shall be deposited in the district court judicial training fund.
2 New Subparagraph; District Court Judicial Training Fund. Amend RSA 6:12, I(b) by inserting after subparagraph (252) the following new subparagraph:
(253) Moneys deposited in the district court judicial training fund, established by RSA 502-A:38.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.
LBAO
07-0442
01/24/07
HB 526-FN-A - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT requiring district court judges to annually attend an educational program offered by the National Judicial College and establishing a surcharge on fines collected in the district court to pay for the costs of such attendance.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch has determined this bill will increase state restricted revenue by $823,520 in FY 2008 and each year thereafter. State restricted expenditures will increase by $348,721 in FY 2008 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local revenue and expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The judicial branch stated this bill would add to the statute governing the district court a new section, RSA 502-A:38, which would require all district court judges to attend annually an education program offered by the National Judicial College. All costs would be paid from a district court judicial training fund to be funded by a $10 surcharge on each fine imposed by the district court.
In FY 2006 the District Court collected fines totaling $12,352,810. This amount does not include the plea-by-mail fines paid through the Department of Safety. The judicial branch does not have information on how many individual fines there were in the district court. The judicial branch assumed the average fine was $150, then 82,352 fines were imposed ($12,352,810 divided by $150). A surcharge of $10 per fine would thus yield $823,520 annually for the district court judicial training fund (82,352 fines X $10 surcharge per fine).
The judicial branch stated the National Judicial College offers many programs of varying length. The judicial branch assumes attendance at a four day course with a total of two days of travel to and from the college, which is in Reno, Nevada. The average cost of attendance at a four day course is calculated at $2,840, as follows:
Tuition $1,180, Flight $800, Hotel $500, Food $300, and miscellaneous $60 for a total of $2,840.
Currently, the number of judges in the district court totals sixty six, including twenty full-time and forty six part-time. To send sixty six judges to a four day program at the National Judicial College annually would thus cost $187,440 (66 judges X $2,840 per judge).
Additionally, the sixty six judges being gone a week each would mean 330 additional days of judicial compensation for the district court. The loss of the full-time judges would have to be made up by part-time judges sitting in their place, and the part-time judges would have to be
LBAO
07-0442
01/24/07
paid for their time at the National Judicial College. The per diem for a part-time judge is $454 plus a benefit percentage of .0765 for a total of $488.73. 330 additional days of part-time
judge pay totals $161,281 ($488.73 per day X 330 days). Adding the compensation to the cost of attendance makes for a total cost of $348,721 ($187,440 + $161,281).