Revision: April 17, 2009, midnight
HB 86 – AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
18Feb2009… 0004h
2009 SESSION
10/03
HOUSE BILL 86
AN ACT allowing towns to issues citations and accept pleas by mail for local ordinance violations.
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government
This bill allows municipalities to enforce municipal codes and ordinances by issuing citations and accepting pleas by mail for violations.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
18Feb2009… 0004h
09-0107
10/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT allowing towns to issues citations and accept pleas by mail for local ordinance violations.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Powers of Towns; Ordinances; Citations and Pleas by Mail. Amend RSA 31 by inserting after section 39-b the following new section:
31:39-c Local Ordinance Citations; Pleas by Mail. In addition to any other enforcement procedure authorized by law, a local official with authority to prosecute an offense under any municipal code, ordinance, bylaw, or regulation, if such offense is classified as a violation under applicable law, may issue and serve upon the defendant, in addition to a summons to appear in the district court, a local ordinance citation as set forth in this section. The defendant receiving such a citation may plead guilty or nolo contendere by mail by entering that plea as provided herein. If such a plea is accepted by the district court, the defendant shall not be required to appear personally or by counsel; otherwise the defendant shall appear as directed by the court. The following procedure shall be used:
I. No local ordinance citation as set forth in this section shall be served unless the defendant has first been given written notice of the violation by the municipality and has had a reasonable opportunity to cure the violation or has expressly refused to do so.
II. The local ordinance citation shall contain:
(a) The caption: “Local Ordinance Citation, Town (City) of ___”.
(b) The name of the offender, and address if known to the prosecuting official.
(c) The code, ordinance, bylaw, or regulation the offender is charged with violating.
(d) The act or circumstances constituting the violation.
(e) The place of the violation.
(f) The date upon which the offender received written notice of the violation by the municipality.
(g) The time and date, if any, upon which any further violation or continuing violation was witnessed subsequent to such written notice.
(h) The amount of the penalty that is payable by the offender. If the offense is a continuing one for which a penalty is assessed for each day the offense continues, the amount of the penalty shall be based on the number of days the violation has continued since the time notice was given to the offender, up to a maximum of 10 days’ violation charged in one citation.
(i) Instructions informing the defendant that the defendant may answer the citation by mail or may personally appear in court upon the date on the summons, and instructing the defendant how to enter a plea by mail, together with either the amount of the penalty specified in the citation, or a request for a trial.
(j) The address of the clerk of the district court where the plea by mail may be entered.
(k) A warning to the defendant that failure to respond to the citation on or before the date on the summons may result in the defendant's arrest as provided in paragraph V.
(l) The signature of the prosecuting official.
III. Defendants who are issued a summons and local ordinance citation and who wish to plead guilty or nolo contendere shall enter their plea on the summons and return it with payment of the civil penalty, as set forth in the citation, to the clerk of the court prior to the arraignment date, or shall appear in court on the date of arraignment.
IV. Civil penalties collected by the district court under this section shall be remitted to the municipality issuing the citation. Whenever a defendant (a) does not enter a plea by mail prior to the arraignment day or does not appear personally or by counsel on or before that date or move for a continuance; or (b) otherwise fails to appear for a scheduled court appearance in connection with a summons for any offense, the defendant shall be defaulted and the court shall determine what the civil penalty would be upon a plea of guilty or nolo contendere and shall impose an administrative processing fee in addition to the civil penalty. Such fee shall be the same as the administrative processing fee under RSA 502-A:19-b, and shall be retained by the court for the benefit of the state.
V. The court may, in its discretion, issue a bench warrant for the arrest of any defendant who:
(a) Is defaulted in accordance with the provisions of paragraph IV of this section;
(b) Fails to pay a fine or other penalty imposed in connection with a conviction for a violation of a local code, ordinance, bylaw, or regulation which a court has determined the defendant is able to pay, or issues a bad check in payment of a fine or other penalty; or
(c) Fails to comply with a similar order on any matter within the court's discretion.
VI. For cause, the court in its discretion may refuse to accept a plea by mail and may impose a fine or penalty other than that stated in the local ordinance citation. The court may order the defendant to appear personally in court for the disposition of the defendant's case.
VII. The prosecuting official may serve additional local ordinance citations, without giving additional written notice or appeal opportunity under paragraph I, if the facts or circumstances constituting the violation continue beyond the date or dates of any prior citation. A plea of guilty or nolo contendere to the prior citation shall not affect the rights of the defendant with respect to a subsequent citation.
VIII. Forms and rules for the local ordinance citation and summons shall be developed and adopted by the New Hampshire supreme court.
IX. This section is not intended in any way to abrogate other enforcement actions or remedies in the district or superior court, nor to require written notice as a prerequisite to other types of actions or remedies for violations of local codes, ordinances, bylaws, or regulations.
X. This section shall not apply to offenses that are subject to enforcement under RSA 676, or to motor vehicle offenses under title XXI or any local law enacted thereunder.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2010.
LBAO
09-0107
Amended 04/15/09
HB 86 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT allowing towns to issues citations and accept pleas by mail for local ordinance violations.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill, as amended by the House (Amendment #2009-0004h), will decrease local expenditures and increase local revenues by an indeterminable amount in FY 2010 and each year thereafter. The Judicial Branch states this bill will have an indeterminable fiscal impact on state revenues and expenditures in FY 2010 and each year thereafter. This bill will have no fiscal impact on county revenues or expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
This bill allows towns to issue citations and accept pleas by mail for local ordinance violations. The New Hampshire Municipal Association states the proposed legislation will decrease local expenditures by an indeterminable amount by enabling municipalities to collect some fines without the necessity of hiring legal council or paying police officers to appear in court. The Association also states the proposed legislation will increase local revenues by an indeterminable amount as it will enable municipalities to pursue collection of fines that otherwise would not have been pursued due to legal costs.
The Judicial Branch states that some courts already accept pleas by mail for local ordinance violations, thereby diminishing any fiscal impact the proposed legislation may have on state revenues or expenditures to an indiscernible amount. The Branch also has no information on how many more individuals charged with these violations would avail themselves of the plea by mail procedure and therefore states the fiscal impact is indeterminable.