Bill Text - HB138 (2012)

Relative to the cold case homicide unit.


Revision: June 18, 2012, midnight

CHAPTER 200

HB 138-FN – FINAL VERSION

04/25/12 1760s

2012 SESSION

11-0192

04/09

HOUSE BILL 138-FN

AN ACT relative to the cold case homicide unit.

SPONSORS: Rep. Welch, Rock 8; Rep. Shurtleff, Merr 10; Rep. Shuler, Rock 11; Rep. Charron, Rock 7; Rep. Pantelakos, Rock 16; Sen. Merrill, Dist 21

COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety

ANALYSIS

This bill repeals the session law inserted by HB 690-FN of the 2009 legislative session establishing the cold case homicide unit with a prospective repeal date of July 1, 2013, and establishes the cold case homicide unit and a nonlapsing cold case homicide unit fund within the department of justice.

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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

04/25/12 1760s

11-0192

04/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve

AN ACT relative to the cold case homicide unit.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

200:1 New Section; Attorney General; Criminal Justice Bureau; Cold Case Homicide Unit. Amend RSA 21-M by inserting after section 8-l the following new section:

21-M:8-m Cold Case Homicide Unit.

I. The attorney general and the commissioner of the department of safety shall collaborate to establish a cold case homicide unit to work exclusively on unsolved murders in the state. The unit shall consist of such personnel from the division of state police and the department of justice as the commissioner of the department of safety and the attorney general shall determine. The commissioner and the attorney general, or their designees, shall develop procedures for the operation of the unit.

II. The departments of justice and safety shall jointly provide administrative support as may be necessary to the cold case unit.

III. There is established in the office of the state treasurer a nonlapsing fund to be known as the cold case homicide unit fund which shall be administered by the attorney general and which shall be kept distinct and separate from all other funds. All moneys in the cold case homicide unit fund shall be continually appropriated to the attorney general and may be expended for the purposes of this section. The treasurer shall deposit all grants, donations, or other funds received from any source pursuant to this section in the cold case homicide unit fund.

IV. The attorney general shall apply for, accept, and expend funds from federal, private, or any other source for the purposes of this section. Funding for the state police and department of justice personnel for the cold case unit established in paragraph I shall be contingent upon the receipt of grants or federal funds for such purpose, including but not limited to, funds received pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Public Law 111-5, 111th Cong. (2009).

V. The commissioner of the department of safety and the attorney general, or their designees, shall jointly issue a report on the activities and results of the cold case unit no later than December 1 of each year to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the state librarian.

200:2 New Subparagraph; Application of Receipts; Cold Case Homicide Unit Fund. Amend RSA 6:12, I by inserting after subparagraph (304) the following new subparagraph:

(305) Moneys deposited in the cold case homicide unit fund established in RSA 21-M:8-m, III.

200:3 Repeal. 2009, 269, relative to the establishment of a cold case homicide unit, is repealed.

200:4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.

Approved: June 13, 2012

Effective Date: August 12, 2012