HB 1533-FN – VERSION ADOPTED BY BOTH BODIES
5Mar2014… 0595h
04/24/14 1368s
4Jun2014… 1898CofC
2014 SESSION
04/06
HOUSE BILL 1533-FN
AN ACT requiring a warrant to search information in a portable electronic device.
SPONSORS: Rep. Kurk, Hills 2; Rep. Sandblade, Hills 18; Rep. O'Flaherty, Hills 12
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
This bill requires a government entity to obtain a warrant before searching a portable electronic device.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
5Mar2014… 0595h
04/24/14 1368s
4Jun2014… 1898CofC
14-2468
04/06
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen
AN ACT requiring a warrant to search information in a portable electronic device.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Breaches of the Peace and Related Offenses; Searches of Portable Electronic Devices. Amend RSA 644 by inserting after section 20 the following new section:
644:21 Searches of Portable Electronic Devices.
I. Definitions. In this section:
(a) “Government entity” means a federal, state, county, or local government agency, including but not limited to a law enforcement agency or any other investigative entity, agency, department, division, bureau, board, or commission, or an individual acting or purporting to act for, or on behalf of, a federal, state, county, or local government agency. “Government entity” shall not apply to a federal government agency to the extent that federal statute preempts state statute.
(b) “Information” includes any information concerning the substance or meaning or purported substance or meaning of a communication, including without limitation the name and address of the sender and receiver and the time, date, location, and duration of the communication.
(c) “Portable electronic device” means any portable device that is capable of creating, receiving, accessing, or storing electronic data or communications, including but not limited to cellular telephones.
II. No information contained in a portable electronic device shall be subject to search by a government entity, including a search incident to a lawful arrest or for inventory purposes, except pursuant to a warrant signed by a judge and based on probable cause, or pursuant to a legally-recognized exception to the warrant requirement. A portable electronic device searched pursuant to this paragraph shall be returned to its owner as expeditiously as possible.
III. Evidence obtained in violation of this section shall not be admissible in a criminal, civil, administrative, or other proceeding, except as proof of a violation of this section.
IV. A person injured by a government entity as a result of a violation of this section may file civil suit against the government entity.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.
LBAO
14-2468
12/03/13
HB 1533-FN - FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT requiring a warrant to search information in a portable electronic device.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch and Department of Justice state this bill, as introduced, may increase state expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2014 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local expenditures, or state, county, and local revenue.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states this bill adds RSA 644:21 to require a search warrant to obtain information in a portable electronic device. A government entity that purposely violates this provision would be guilty of a class A misdemeanor and a person injured by the government entity is allowed to file a civil suit against the government entity. This bill could result in additional search warrant requests, additional class A misdemeanors and additional civil damage actions, however the Branch has no information to estimate the additional activity. The Branch estimates a class A misdemeanor will cost $66.17 per case in FY 2015, and $67.64 per case in FY 2016 and each year. A warrant request is classified as a simple criminal case which will cost $256.30 in FY 2015, and $261.84 in FY 2016 and each year thereafter. The Branch states the civil actions resulting from this bill would be processed as average complex civil cases, which will cost $686.96 in FY 2015, and $699.09 in FY 2016 and each year thereafter. Any decrease in appeals will result in a decrease in expenditures. 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 can be treated as a class B misdemeanor.
The Department of Justice states this bill will have indeterminable increase on state expenditures. The Department states its Integrity Unit investigates and prosecutes criminal conduct by government officials undertaken in their official capacity. This bill will result in an increase in the number of investigations and prosecutions. The Department is not able to determine the degree of increase to predict the fiscal impact.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties and New Hampshire Municipal Association state this bill will not have a fiscal impact on county and local expenditures or revenue.