HB 1137-FN – VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
04/24/14 1348s
2014 SESSION
04/03
HOUSE BILL 1137-FN
AN ACT relative to annulment of certain obstruction of justice crimes and relative to the crime of escape.
SPONSORS: Rep. Parison, Hills 25; Rep. Coffey, Hills 25
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill allows a petition for annulment in the case of misdemeanor obstruction of justice crimes and redefines the penalty for the crime of escape.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
04/24/14 1348s
14-2232
04/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT relative to annulment of certain obstruction of justice crimes and relative to the crime of escape.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Annulment of Criminal Records. Amend RSA 651:5, V to read as follows:
V. No petition shall be brought and no annulment granted in the case of any violent crime, of [any crime of] felony obstruction of justice crimes, or of any offense for which the petitioner was sentenced to an extended term of imprisonment under RSA 651:6.
2 Escape. Amend RSA 642:6 to read as follows:
642:6 Escape.
I. A person is guilty of an offense if [he] such person escapes from official custody.
II. “Official custody” means arrest, custody in a penal institution, an institution for confinement of juvenile offenders or other confinement pursuant to an order of a court.
III. The offense is a class A felony if the actor employs force against any person or threatens any person with a deadly weapon to effect the escape, except that if the deadly weapon is a firearm, [he] the actor shall be sentenced in accordance with RSA 651:2, II-g. [Otherwise it] The offense is a class B felony if the actor was on parole, subject to a bail order, was a prisoner at an adult or juvenile correction facility at the time, or had a prior conviction of the crime of escape. If no physical force was used by the actor and no persons other than the actor sustained bodily injury as a result of the escape, the offense is a class A misdemeanor.
IV. If a person is convicted of the offense of escape under this section, the term of imprisonment authorized by RSA 651:2, II or RSA 651:6 shall be added to the portion of the term which remained unserved at the time of the commission of the offense.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2015.
LBAO
14-2232
Amended 04/28/14
HB 1137-FN FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT relative to annulment of certain obstruction of justice crimes and relative to the crime of escape.
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 #2014-1348s), will have an indeterminable impact on state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2015 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 amends RSA 651:5, V to allow petitions for annulment in misdemeanor obstruction crimes and amends RSA 642:6 to reduce escape offenses from class B felony to a class A misdemeanor where the actor does not cause serious bodily injury. The Branch states numerous misdemeanor charges of obstruction of justice are prosecuted annually by the district division of the circuit court. The Branch estimates approximately 3,000 obstruction charges are prosecuted annually, resulting in numerous convictions. Petition for annulment of a criminal conviction is weighted similarly as a class A misdemeanor; therefore the cost for a petition for annulment will be $66.17 in FY 2015, and $67.64 in FY 2016 and each year thereafter. The reduction of an escape offense from a class B felony to a class A misdemeanor will result in a decrease in state expenditures. The Branch states an average of 36 charges of escape are prosecuted on an annual basis in the superior court. The cost for a class B felony will be $425.27 in FY 2015, and $433.34 in FY 2016 and each year thereafter and the cost for a class A misdemeanor will be $66.17 in FY 2015, and $67.64 in FY 2016 and each year thereafter. The decrease in cost will be $359.10 ($425.27 - $66.17) in FY 2015, and $365.70 ($433.34 - $67.64) in FY 2016 and each year thereafter. All costs are estimated based on case weight information from the last needs assessment completed in 2005. Since that timeframe there have been various changes that may impact the costs, such as the creation of the circuit court, the increase in self-represented litigants, and the change to presume that an unspecified misdemeanor be treated as a class B misdemeanor.
The Judicial Council states the change in classification for the offense of escape from a felony to a class A misdemeanor may decrease state general fund expenditures by a minimal amount. The Council states the criminal justice system sees an average of 40-45 escape cases on an annual basis. The majority of the cases (approximately 85%) would be handled by the public defender program, with the remaining cases going to contract attorneys (14%) or assigned counsel (1%). The public defender program is appropriated monies that it expends according to the terms of its contract with the Council, of which the proposed changes in this bill would not impact. The Council states the flat fee of $275 per misdemeanor or $756.25 per felony is charged by a contract attorney. If an assigned counsel attorney is used the fee is $60 per hour with a cap of $1,400 for a misdemeanor charge or $4,100 for a felony charge.
The Department of Corrections states it is not able to determine the fiscal impact of this bill because it does not have sufficient detail to predict the number of individuals who would be subject to this legislation. However, the Department does know there are 39 inmates serving prison sentences for felony-level escape. The Department states the average annual cost of incarcerating an individual in the general prison population for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013 was $32,872. The cost to supervise an individual by the Department’s division of field services for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013 was $570.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states to the extent more individuals are charged, convicted, and sentenced to incarceration in a county correctional facility, the counties will have increased expenditures. The Association is unable to determine the number of individuals who may 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. There is no impact on county revenue.
The Department of Justice states this bill will not have a fiscal impact on the Department because such offenses are typically prosecuted by local and county prosecutors not the Department.