Revision: May 6, 2010, midnight
HB 1680-FN – VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
04/21/10 1367s
2010 SESSION
04/03
HOUSE BILL 1680-FN
AN ACT establishing the crime of aggravated harassment by an inmate.
SPONSORS: Rep. P. Garrity, Hills 14; Rep. D. Sullivan, Hills 8; Rep. Goley, Hills 8; Rep. Baldasaro, Rock 3; Rep. Rhodes, Hills 22; Sen. DeVries, Dist 18; Sen. Letourneau, Dist 19; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill establishes the crime of aggravated harassment by an inmate.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
04/21/10 1367s
10-2498
04/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT establishing the crime of aggravated harassment by an inmate.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Assaults by Prisoners. Amend RSA 642:9 by inserting after paragraph II the following new paragraph:
II-a. An inmate is guilty of aggravated harassment of an employee when, with intent to harass, annoy, threaten, or alarm a person who the inmate knows or reasonably should know is an employee of such facility, or the department of corrections, or any law enforcement agency, the inmate causes or attempts to cause such employee to come into contact with blood, seminal fluid, urine, feces, emesis, or saliva by throwing or expelling such substance either directly or indirectly at the employee, thus contaminating the employee’s work environment.
2 Assaults by Prisoners. Amend RSA 642:9, III-IV to read as follows:
III. For the purposes of this section:
(a) “Official custody” means custody in a penal institution or other confinement by an order of a court.
(b) “Inmate” means [an offender, as defined in RSA 21-H:2, VII] a person committed by law to the custody of the commissioner of the department of corrections, a person in pretrial confinement, [or] any person incarcerated in a local detention facility operated by a county department of corrections, or a person in detention at a police department.
(c) “Facility” means a correctional facility or local correctional facility hospital, operated by the state or a county department of corrections, or a police department.
IV. The offense is a class B felony if it is an aggravated assault or harassment as defined in paragraph II or II-a, or if the offense committed is simple assault as defined under RSA 631:2-a unless committed in a fight entered into by mutual consent, in which case it is a misdemeanor. The offense is a class A felony if the offense committed is first degree or second degree assault as defined under RSA 631:1 or RSA 631:2.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2011.
LBAO
10-2498
Amended 04/30/10
HB 1680 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT establishing the crime of aggravated harassment by an inmate.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, Judicial Council, Department of Corrections, and New Hampshire Association of Counties state this bill, as amended by the Senate (Amendment #2010-1367s), may increase 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 add RSA 642:9, II-a establishes the crime of aggravated harassment by an inmate and makes this crime a class B felony. The Branch has no information to estimate how many new class B felonies would be brought as a result of the changes contained in this bill to determine the fiscal impact on expenditures. The Branch states this type of case would be classified as a complex felony. The average cost of a complex felony case is $661.17 in FY 2011 and each year thereafter. The Branch states it would take 16 additional felony cases annually to have a fiscal impact in excess of $10,000. However, the possibility of appeals reduces the number of cases needed for a fiscal impact to the Branch in excess of $10,000.
The Judicial Council states this bill may result in an indeterminable increase in general fund expenditures. The Council states if an individual is found to be indigent, the flat fee of $756.24 per felony is charged by a public defender or contract attorney. The fee increases to $2,282.50 if it is a first degree felony assault. If an assigned counsel attorney is used the fee is $60 per hour with a cap of $1,400 for a misdemeanor charge and $4,100 for a felony charge. 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 Department of Corrections states this bill may increase expenditures by an indeterminable amount, but is unable to predict the number of individuals that might be impacted. The Department states the average annual cost of incarcerating an individual in the general prison population for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 was $33,110. The cost to supervise an individual by the Department’s division of field services for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 was $744.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states to the extent an individual is prosecuted, 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 Justice states the criminal offense created by this bill could normally be prosecuted by a local prosecutor or county attorney’s office. If an appeal is filed, the Department would have increased expenditures. The Department is unable to estimate how many cases would be prosecuted by the Department or appealed to the Supreme Court. The Department assumes any increase in appellate workload would be nominal and could be absorbed within the Department’s budget.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill as amended will have no fiscal impact on municipal government.