HB 1571-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2016 SESSION
\t16-2569
\t08/09
HOUSE BILL\t1571-FN
AN ACT\tprohibiting the possession, purchase, or sale of equipment used for animal fighting.
SPONSORS:\tRep. Booras, Hills. 33
COMMITTEE:\tEnvironment and Agriculture
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ANALYSIS
\tThis bill prohibits the possession, purchase, or sale of equipment used for animal fighting.
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Explanation:\tMatter added to current law appears in bold italics.
\t\tMatter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
\t16-2569
\t08/09
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\tprohibiting the possession, purchase, or sale of equipment used for animal fighting.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t1 Exhibitions of Fighting Animals. Amend RSA 644:8-a, III-V to read as follows:
\tIII.(a) Any person who possesses, owns, buys, sells, transfers, or manufactures animal fighting paraphernalia with the intent to engage in or otherwise promote or facilitate such fighting shall be guilty of a class B felony.
\t\t\t(b) For purposes of this paragraph, "animal fighting paraphernalia" means equipment, products, implements, and materials of any kind that are used, intended for use, or designed for use in the training, preparation, conditioning, or furtherance of animal fighting, and includes, but is not limited to, the following: breaking sticks, cat mills, treadmills, fighting pits, springpoles, unprescribed veterinary medicine, treatment supplies, gaffs, slashers, or heels or any other sharp implement designed to be attached in place of the natural spur of a cock or game fowl.
\t\t\t(c) In determining whether an object is animal fighting paraphernalia, a court shall consider:
\t\t\t\t(1) Any prior convictions under federal or state law relating to animal fighting;
\t\t\t\t(2) The proximity of the object in time and space to the direct violation of this section;
\t\t\t\t(3) Direct or circumstantial evidence of the intent of the accused to deliver the object to persons whom he or she knows or should reasonably know intends to use the object to facilitate a violation of this section;
\t\t\t\t(4) Oral or written instructions provided with or in the vicinity of the object concerning its use or descriptive materials accompanying the object which explain or depict its use; and
\t\t\t\t(5) All other logically relevant factors.
\t\tIV. All animals so kept, bred, or trained by a person charged with violating the provisions of paragraph I may be seized by the arresting officer, pursuant to RSA 595-A:6 and RSA 644:8. Upon said person's conviction, said animals may, at the discretion of the court, be destroyed in a humane manner by a licensed veterinarian. The costs, if any, incurred in boarding the animals, pending disposition of the case, and in disposing of the animals, upon a conviction of said person for violating paragraph I, shall be borne by the person so convicted.
\t\t[IV.] V. Upon conviction of a violation of this section, all animals used or to be used in training, fighting, or baiting, and all equipment, paraphernalia, and money involved in a violation of this section may be forfeited to the state at the discretion of the court, pursuant to RSA 595-A:6. Proceeds of any such forfeiture shall be used to reimburse local government and state agencies for the costs of prosecution of animal fighting cases. Proceeds which are not needed for such reimbursement shall be deposited in the companion animal neutering fund, established in RSA 437-A:4-a.
\t\t[V.] VI. In addition to other penalties prescribed by law, the court may issue an order prohibiting a person who is convicted of a violation of this section from owning or possessing any animals within the species that is the subject of the conviction, or any animals kept for the purpose of training, fighting, or baiting, for a period of time determined by the court.
\t2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2017.
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t16-2569
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t11/30/15
HB 1571-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT\tprohibiting the possession, purchase, or sale of equipment used for animal fighting.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, Department of Corrections and New Hampshire Association of Counties state this bill, as introduced, may increase state and county expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2017 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on state, county, and local revenues or on local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states the proposed bill would make it a class B felony for a person to possess, own, sell, transfer or manufacture animal fighting paraphernalia with the intent to engage or otherwise promote or facilitate such fighting. The Branch has no information on how many additional class B felonies would be brought, but does have information on the average cost of processing such cases in the trial court. The Branch indicates these cases would be classified as routine criminal cases in the superior court. The cost to the Judicial Branch of an average routine criminal case in the superior court will be $448.84 in FY 2017 and $469.80 in FY 2018. The Branch states these amounts do not consider the cost of any appeals that may be taken following trial. The Branch indicates the costs figures are based on studies of judicial and clerical weighted caseload times for processing the average routine criminal case and these studies are now more than 10 years old for judicial time and 8 years old for clerical time and may not have current validity. The Branch also states there have been changes during this time span with respect to how cases are processed that would impact the average costs.
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. The Department of Corrections states the average annual cost of incarcerating an individual in the general population for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 was $34,336. The average cost to supervise an individual by the Department’s Division of Field Services for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015 was $520.
The New Hampshire Association of Counties states this bill may increase county expenditure by an indeterminable amount. The Association states the cost to prosecute cases depends on the circumstances and the county doing the prosecuting. The Association indicates the county cost to for incarceration in county jails ranges from $85 to $110 per day.
The Judicial Council assumes this bill would expand the number of felony criminal offenses. The Judicial Council states it would have the responsibility of ensuring that anyone charged with a class B felony created by this bill who could not afford the assistance of counsel is provided a lawyer at State expense. The Council assumes this proposed legislation will not have a significant effect on expenditures for the defense of the indigent accused. The Council states the Public Defender’s budget would have the ability to absorb a small increase in cases and assumes future offenses related to animal fighting paraphernalia could be handled by the Public Defender Program without additional costs beyond the Program’s annual appropriation.
The Department of Justice states since such offenses are typically prosecuted by county prosecutors; the bill would not increase the Department of Justice’s prosecutorial costs. The Department would handle any appeals from convictions under the newly create offense and assumes those could be handled with in the current budget.