HB 1468-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
08/04
HOUSE BILL 1468-FN
AN ACT relative to official oppression.
SPONSORS: Rep. L. Christiansen, Hills 27
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill defines the crime of official oppression.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2212
08/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to official oppression.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Official Oppression and Infringement of Constitutional Rights. RSA 643:1 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
643:1 Official Oppression. A public servant, as defined in RSA 640:2, II is guilty of official oppression, if, under color of law the public servant ignores, denies or infringes upon any constitutionally guaranteed right of any inhabitant or, if with a purpose to benefit the public servant or other agent or substitute, or to harm another, the public servant knowingly omits any specific accountability, or commits an act which purports to be an act of the office held, or knowingly refrains from performing a duty imposed by statute or common law, which is clearly inherent in the nature of the office.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2011.
LBAO
10-2212
11/23/09
HB 1468-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to official oppression.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, the Judicial Council, and the New Hampshire Association of Counties state this bill may decrease state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2011 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on local expenditures or state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill will amend RSA 643:1 to redefine official oppression. The bill does not specify a penalty. Under current law, a violation of RSA 643:1 is an unspecified misdemeanor. The Branch states the cost of an unspecified misdemeanor case is $36.89 in FY 2010 and each year thereafter. The Branch states for the period from 1999 through June 30, 2008 there were only 13 charges brought in the district courts for violations of RSA 643:1. This bill may result in a decrease in state expenditures.
The Judicial Council states this bill does not contain penalty language. The Judicial Council states to the extent this bill results in less individuals needing services from the Council there would be a decrease in general fund expenditures.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states this bill contains no penalty. The Association states to the extent an individual is not prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced to incarceration, the counties may have decreased expenditures. The Association is unable to determine the number of individuals who will no longer be detained or incarcerated as a result of this bill. The average cost to incarcerate an individual in a county facility is $35,342 a year.