HB 348 – AS INTRODUCED
2009 SESSION
04/09
HOUSE BILL 348
AN ACT relative to criminal penalties and alternatives to incarceration.
SPONSORS: Rep. Kurk, Hills 7; Rep. Pratt, Hills 7; Rep. Craig, Hills 9
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill:
I. Requires the prosecuting attorney, in all misdemeanor or felony cases for which incarceration is a possible penalty but which do not involve the use or threat of force or violence, to submit to the court a written statement explaining why incarceration is necessary and why alternatives to incarceration would be unsuitable.
II. Authorizes the sentencing court or the superintendent of a county correctional facility to order the release of a person sentenced to incarceration for the purpose of participating in a day reporting or work release program or for home confinement.
III. Orders the commissioner of the department of corrections to close the Lakes Region facility in Laconia.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
09-0117
04/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT relative to criminal penalties and alternatives to incarceration.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Classification of Crimes; Nonviolent Crimes. Amend RSA 625:9 by inserting after paragraph VIII the following new paragraph:
IX. In all misdemeanor or felony cases for which incarceration is a possible penalty but which do not involve the use or threat of force or violence, the prosecuting attorney may submit a written statement to the court explaining why incarceration is necessary and why alternatives to incarceration would be unsuitable. If the prosecuting attorney does not submit such a statement, the court shall not sentence the defendant to incarceration.
2 Employment of Offenders; Work Release. Amend RSA 30-B:20 to read as follows:
30-B:20 Work Release. A sentencing court at the time of sentencing or the superintendent of a county correctional facility at any time thereafter may order that any person sentenced to imprisonment in a county department of corrections facility may be released therefrom by the superintendent with the approval of the sentencing court at the time of sentence, or at any time during the term of sentence based on the rules and regulations of the county correctional facility for such purposes as the superintendent may deem conducive to his or her rehabilitation. Such release shall be for such terms or intervals of time and under such terms and conditions as may be permitted by the facility’s rules and regulations or as the court may order. Any part of a day spent in the free community under such a release order shall be counted as a full day toward the serving of the sentence [unless otherwise provided by the sentencing court].
3 Discretionary Sentences; Release for Gainful Employment. Amend RSA 651:19 to read as follows:
651:19 Release for Purpose of Gainful Employment, Rehabilitation, or Home Confinement. A sentencing court at the time of sentencing or the superintendent of a county correctional facility at any time thereafter may order any person who has been committed to a correctional institution other than state prison under a criminal sentence may be released therefrom for the purpose of obtaining and working at gainful employment, for the performance of uncompensated public service as provided in RSA 651:68-70, under the terms of a day reporting program, provided the correctional facility has a day reporting program, or to serve the sentence under home confinement, provided the correctional facility has a home confinement program. If the superintendent determines the person is inappropriate for such release, the court shall be notified and, at the request of the defendant, a hearing may be scheduled. In any case, the defendant shall first serve 14 consecutive days prior to eligibility for home confinement, or for such other purpose as the [court] superintendent may deem conducive to his or her rehabilitation, for such times or intervals of time and under such terms and conditions as the rules and regulations of the correctional facility may allow or as the court may order. Any part of a day spent in the free community, or in home confinement, under such a release order shall be counted as a full day toward the serving of the sentence [unless otherwise provided by the court]. If a person violates the terms and conditions laid down for his or her conduct, custody, and employment, he or she shall be returned to the correctional facility. The superintendent may then require that the balance of the person’s sentence be spent in actual confinement.
4 Discretionary Sentences; Day Reporting Program. Amend RSA 651:19-a to read as follows:
651:19-a Day Reporting Program.
[I.] The superintendent of a county correctional facility may establish a day reporting program in lieu of incarceration for certain offenders as deemed appropriate by the superintendent. Such release shall be for such terms or intervals of time and under such terms and conditions as may be permitted by the facility’s rules and regulations or as the court may order. Any part of a day spent in the free community under such a release order shall be counted as a full day toward the serving of the sentence [unless otherwise provided by the sentencing court.
II. The sentencing court may order any person who has been committed to a correctional institution other than state prison to be released therefrom for the purpose of participating in a day reporting program, provided the county correctional facility has established such a program].
5 Lakes Region Facility Closure. The commissioner of the department of corrections shall close the Lakes Region facility in Laconia not later than January 1, 2010.
6 Applicability. Section 1 of this act shall apply to all cases in which an indictment is issued on or after the effective date of this act and to all individuals incarcerated on the effective date of this act.
7 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2010.
LBAO
09-0117
02/24/09
HB 348 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to criminal penalties and alternatives to incarceration.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch and Department of Corrections state this bill will have an indeterminable fiscal impact on state general fund expenditures in FY 2010 and each year thereafter. The New Hampshire Association of Counties states this bill may decrease county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2010 and each year thereafter. This bill will have no fiscal impact on local expenditures or state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill amends laws to require a written statement from prosecuting attorneys to the court explaining why incarceration is necessary and why alternatives to incarceration would be unsuitable; allows a sentencing court or superintendent of a county superintendent of a correctional facility to order the release of a person sentenced to incarceration for the purpose of participating in a day reporting or work release program or for home confinement; and closes the Lakes Region facility in Laconia The Branch states the requiring a written statement from prosecuting attorneys to the court explaining why incarceration is necessary and why alternatives to incarceration would be unsuitable will have an indeterminable fiscal impact. The Branch states this bill does not specify when the written statement is to be provided to the court. If the written statement is provided at the time of sentencing, the Branch would not have any decreased costs and may have some increased costs associated with clerical time processing the written statement and judicial time reviewing the statement. If the written statement is provided at the time of filing of criminal charges, the bill would likely result in a savings for the Branch. The Branch states filing the statement at the outset of a case may result in some misdemeanor cases being charged as class B misdemeanors and some felony offenses being charged as misdemeanors, reducing processing costs for the Branch.
The Department of Corrections states it is unable to predict the number of cases that normally involve incarceration that would result in alternatives to incarceration as a result of this bill. The Department states the fiscal impact would be indeterminable for this part of the bill.
The Department states it estimated the cost to keep the Lakes Region Facility in Laconia open would require general fund expenditures of $12,212,748 in FY 2010 and $12,552,125 in FY 2011 and each year thereafter. The bill has an effective date of January 1, 2010, however, the Department assumes it will close the Lakes Region Facility effective July 1, 2009. The Department states it would still have some expenditures when the Lakes Region Facility is closed associated with moving the inmates to other parts of the correction system and maintaining the Lakes Region Facility after closure. For example, increasing the number of inmates located in the Berlin facility will result in increased costs associated with staff reassignments, food, current expense, and utilities and increased costs for the field division related to administrative home confinement. Overall, the Department states the closure of the Lakes Region Facility in Laconia will result in a decrease in general fund expenditures of $8,011,537 in FY 2010 and $8,553,668 in FY 2011 and each year thereafter.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states this bill would require prosecuting attorneys to submit a statement to the court explaining why incarceration is necessary and authorizes superintendents of county correctional facilities to order the release of a person sentenced to incarceration for purposes of participating in day reporting, work release program, or home confinement. The Association is not able to predict how many individuals would be sentenced to alternative incarceration by the court or ordered to alternative incarceration by the county superintendents. The Association states to the extent an individual is not incarcerated, there would be a decrease in expenditures. The Association states the annual cost of incarceration in a county correctional facility is $30,165.
The Judicial Council states this bill will not have any direct impact on the indigent defense expenditures. The Council states the bill does not specify when the prosecutor must file the written memo and until there is a definitive and binding statement made that there is no potential for a loss of liberty at any stage of the proceeding, an individual is entitled to counsel.