Revision: Jan. 26, 2012, midnight
HB 1696-FN – AS INTRODUCED
2012 SESSION
04/09
HOUSE BILL 1696-FN
AN ACT limiting the offense of speeding to cases resulting in property damage or personal injury to another and excluding speeding offenses from the habitual offender statute.
SPONSORS: Rep. Lambert, Hills 27; Rep. Manuse, Rock 5
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill establishes that the offense of speeding shall be charged only in cases resulting in property damage or personal injury to another. The bill also excludes speeding offenses from the habitual offender statute.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
12-2107
04/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT limiting the offense of speeding to cases resulting in property damage or personal injury to another and excluding speeding offenses from the habitual offender statute.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Basic Rule and Maximum Limits. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 265:60, II to read as follows:
II. Where no hazard exists that requires lower speed for compliance with RSA 265:60, I, the speed of any vehicle not in excess of the limit specified in this section or established as hereinafter authorized shall be prima facie lawful, but any speed in excess of the limit specified in this section or established as hereinafter authorized resulting in property damage or personal injury to another shall be prima facie evidence that the speed is not reasonable or prudent and that it is unlawful:
2 Repeal. RSA 259:39, II(b), relative to speeding offenses in the habitual offender statute.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.
LBAO
12-2107
Revised 01/25/12
HB 1696 FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT limiting the offense of speeding to cases resulting in property damage or personal injury to another and excluding speeding offenses from the habitual offender statute.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Department of Safety, Judicial Branch, New Hampshire Association of Counties, and New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill will decrease state and local revenue, decrease state expenditures, and increase local expenditures by indeterminable amounts in FY 2013 each year thereafter. The New Hampshire Association of Counties states this bill will have an indeterminable impact on county expenditures in FY 2013 and each year thereafter. There is no impact on county revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Department of Safety states this bill limits the motor vehicle offense of speeding to cases involving property damage or personal injury to another, and also removes the offense of speeding from the habitual offender statutes. The Department states this bill will result in drastic decreases in the number of speeding tickets issued and the fine and penalty assessment revenues associated with those tickets. The Department states it does not currently track property damage or personal injury associated with speeding offenses, so it cannot estimate the change in speeding offenses or revenue as a result of this bill. The Department estimates that the revenues associated with speeding offenses are deposited in multiple spots, and it states all of those spots would be affected by the projected decrease in revenue. The Department states fine revenue from speeding violations is deposited as agency income within the Department if paid via the mail or online or as state highway fund income if paid at a state courthouse. Beginning in FY 2012, the Department also states the penalty assessment revenue, which is 24% of the fine amount, is allocated to the police standards and training council fund (66.66%), judicial branch information technology fund (16.67%), and victims’ assistance fund (16.67%). In FY 2011, the Department states the allocation of revenue related to speeding offenses was as follows:
State Highway Fund $1,996,882
Department of Safety Agency Income $5,198,038
Police Standards and Training Council Fund $964,522
General Fund $173,600
Victims’ Assistance Fund $284,615
Judicial Branch Information Technology Fund $282,737
Total $8,900,394
The Department states the allocation was changed for FY 2012 and thereafter to shift the portion previously deposited in the state general fund over to be deposited as revenue for the police standards and training council fund. If the revised allocation had been in effect in FY 2011, the police standards and training council fund would have received $1,138,122 ($964,522 + $173,600) and the general fund portion would have been $0.
The Department states this bill would also limit the number of individuals eligible for driver’s license suspensions, thus decreasing, by an indeterminable amount, license restoration fees paid to the Department. The Department also states this bill’s projected decrease of an indeterminable amount on certain state highway fund revenue would also result in a decrease in state expenditures and a corresponding decrease in local revenue related to block grant aid, pursuant to RSA 235:23. The Department estimates this bill’s elimination of the speeding offense for habitual offenders will not significantly affect habitual offender hearings, as the majority of habitual offender certifications are not due to speeding offenses.
The Judicial Branch states this bill would substantially reduce the number of speeding offenses prosecuted in the court system and may also reduce the number of habitual offenders and the prosecutions for motor vehicle operation after being judged a habitual offender. The Branch states the speeding offenses are classified as violation level offenses and the habitual offender offenses are classified as felony offenses, but it has no information to estimate how many fewer charges would result from this bill, although it can provide the average per case cost for processing these types of cases. The Branch states all costs are estimated based on case weight information from the last needs assessment completed in 2005. The Branch states a violation will cost $41.92 per case in FY 2013 and $43.20 per case in FY 2014 and each year thereafter. The Branch states the felony in this statute would be classified as an average routine felony and treated as an average routine criminal case in the Superior Court. The Branch states an average routine criminal case will cost $389.84 per case in FY 2013 and $401.48 per case in FY 2014 and each year thereafter.
The Department of Justice states speeding offenses and offenses stemming from habitual offender certification are typically handled by the county attorney, and as a result this bill should have no fiscal impact on the Department.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states this bill will reduce revenue to the Police Standards and Training Council, among others, which may require those who receive law enforcement training through the Council, including employees of County Sheriff’s Offices, to begin paying for such training. The Association states it cannot provide an estimate of this increase in county expenditures. The Association also states to the extent fewer individuals are charged, convicted, and sentenced to incarceration in a county correctional facility, the counties may have decreased expenditures. The Association is unable to determine the number of individuals who may not be charged, convicted or incarcerated as a result of this bill to determine an exact fiscal impact. The average annual cost to incarcerate an individual in a county correctional facility is approximately $35,000. The Association states there is no impact on county revenue.
The New Hampshire Municipal Association states this bill may decrease local expenditures, as this bill may reduce the need for municipalities to enforce speed limits, however it cannot estimate the amount of such a decrease.