Revision: Dec. 17, 2009, midnight
HB 1647-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
04/09
HOUSE BILL 1647-FN
AN ACT relative to residency restrictions for certain sexual offenders and relative to requiring persons convicted of first or second degree homicide against a child to register for life.
SPONSORS: Rep. Wendelboe, Belk 1; Sen. Reynolds, Dist 2
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill requires any person convicted of first or second degree murder against a child under 18 years of age to register on the department of safety’s public list.
This bill also prohibits certain sexual offenders from residing less than 25 miles from the victim or the victim’s family.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
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04/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT relative to residency restrictions for certain sexual offenders and relative to requiring persons convicted of first or second degree homicide against a child to register for life.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Registration of Criminal Offenders; Definitions. Amend RSA 651-B:1, IX(a) to read as follows:
(a) RSA 169-B:41, II; RSA 630:1-a where the victim was under 18 years of age; RSA 630:1-b where the victim was under 18 years of age; RSA 632-A:3, I; RSA 632-A:3, II; RSA 632-A:3, IV; RSA 633:2; RSA 633:3; RSA 639:3, III; RSA 645:1, II; RSA 645:1, III; RSA 645:2; RSA 649-A:3; RSA 649-A:3-a; RSA 649-A:3-b; RSA 649-B:3; RSA 649-B:4; or RSA 650:2, II.
2 Registration of Criminal Offenders; Definitions. Amend RSA 651-B:1, X(a) to read as follows:
(a) RSA 630:1, I(e), RSA 630:1-a, [I(b)(1)] where the victim was under 18 years of age, RSA 630:1-b where the victim was under 18 years of age; RSA 632-A:2, RSA 632-A:3, III, or RSA 633:1.
3 New Paragraph; Registration of Criminal Offenders; Penalties. Amend RSA 651-B:9 by inserting after paragraph VII the following new paragraph:
VIII. Any sexual offender or offender against children who is required to register under this chapter, and who is released on probation, parole, conditional or unconditional release, or completion of sentence, released from secure psychiatric care, released into the community after involuntary commitment, released from a juvenile detention facility, or released for any other reason, and who knowingly resides less than 25 miles from the victim or the victim’s immediate family shall be guilty of a class B felony. In this paragraph, the “victim’s immediate family” means:
(a) Persons who are related either by blood or marriage and includes the following: mother, father, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, wife, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, granddaughter, great-grandchildren, step-parents, step-children, aunts, uncles, nephews, and nieces, and
(b) In the case of divorce, legal separation, and civil annulment records, the person’s former or separated spouse from a legal separation or a marriage ending in divorce or civil annulment.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
LBAO
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12/16/09
HB 1647-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to residency restrictions for certain sexual offenders and relative to requiring persons convicted of first or second degree homicide against a child to register for life.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, Judicial Council, Department of Safety, New Hampshire Association of Counties and Department of Corrections state this bill may increase state, county and local expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2010 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill would amend RSA 651-B to provide for registration of those convicted of first or second degree murder against a child under age 18, and to prohibit certain sexual offenders from residing less than 25 miles from the victim or the victim’s family punishable as a class B felony. With respect to the registration requirement for those convicted of first or second degree murder against a child under age 18, the penalty for failing to register is an unspecified misdemeanor if done negligently and a felony if done knowingly. The Branch is unable to estimate how many new charges will be brought pursuant to the proposed legislation. The Branch states the cost to process an average class B misdemeanor charge is $36.89, and the cost to process an average felony case is $335.98. These figures do not consider any salary increases or decreases that may occur, or the cost of any appeals that may be taken following trial in any potential criminal cases. The exact fiscal impact cannot be determined at this time. With respect to violations of the residency requirement imposed, the Branch is unable to estimate how many new charges will be brought pursuant to the proposed legislation. The Branch states the cost to process an average felony case is as stated above, $335.98.
The Judicial Council states this bill may result in an indeterminable increase in general fund expenditures. The proposed legislation adds two new sections to the existing registration law where current penalties are at the misdemeanor, class A and class B felony levels depending on the character of the failure to comply from negligently to knowingly failing to comply. The Council asserts there will probably not be many defendants released who are charged with first and second degree murder where the victim was under the age of 18, therefore the Council anticipates that the potential fiscal impact of that section to be negligible. The Council states
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12/16/09
the part of the bill that adds a new felony for knowingly residing less that 25 mile from the victim or victim’s immediate family will have an indeterminable increase in state expenditures. The Council states the costs are a fixed fee of $275 for a misdemeanor and $756.25 per felony level offense charged by a public defender or contract attorney. If an assigned counsel attorney is used the fee is $60 per hour with a cap of $1,400 for a misdemeanor or $4,100 for a felony level offense. The Council also states additional costs could be incurred if an appeal is filed. The public defender, contract attorney and assigned counsel rates for Supreme Court appeals is $2,000 per case, with many assigned counsel attorneys seeking permission to exceed the fee cap. Requests to exceed the fee cap are seldom granted. Finally, expenditures would increase if services other than counsel are requested and approved by the court during the defense of a case or during an appeal. The exact fiscal impact cannot be determined at this time.
The Department of Safety, Division of State Police states expenditures will increase to change the sex offender registration forms to include the additional crimes for which a sex offender would have to register, however, the increase would be less that $10,000. The Division further asserts that while there would be no fiscal impact on the Department from the proposed change in residency restrictions, there may be an indeterminable increase in local expenditures since local law enforcement would be required to perform a second level of investigation of the residency of each sex offender in their community.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states to the extent an individual is convicted, and sentenced to incarceration, the counties may have increased expenditures. The Association is unable to determine the number of individuals who might 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.
The Department of Corrections states crime and arrest data is not available in sufficient detail to predict the number of individuals who would likely be subject to this legislation. However, the average annual cost of incarcerating an individual in the general prison population for FY 2009 was $33,110. The cost to supervise an offender by the Department’s Division of Field Services for FY 2009 was $744.
The Department of Justice states any fiscal impact could be absorbed by the Department.