HB 1574-FN-A - AS INTRODUCED
2016 SESSION
\t16-2288
\t08/03
HOUSE BILL\t1574-FN-A
AN ACT\trelative to the penalty assessment fund and requiring payment into the penalty assessment for persons performing court-mandated community service.
SPONSORS:\tRep. Tholl, Coos 5; Rep. Welch, Rock. 13; Rep. Eaton, Ches. 3; Rep. Richardson, Coos 4; Rep. Theberge, Coos 3; Rep. Pantelakos, Rock. 25; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Forrester, Dist 2
COMMITTEE:\tJudiciary
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ANALYSIS
\tThis bill removes the judicial branch information technology fund from the revenue stream of penalty assessments.
\tThis bill also requires persons performing court-ordered community service to pay a penalty assessment.
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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\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
\t16-2288
\t08/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\trelative to the penalty assessment fund and requiring payment into the penalty assessment for persons performing court-mandated community service.
\tBe it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t1 Penalty Assessment; Waiver of Penalty. Amend RSA 188-F:31, IV to read as follows:
\t\tIV. The clerk of each court shall collect all penalty assessments and shall transmit the amount collected under paragraphs I-III to the state treasurer for deposit in the following funds. The state treasurer shall deposit [66.66] 83.33 percent of the amount collected in the police standards and training council training fund, and 16.67 percent of the amount collected in the victims' assistance fund[, and 16.67 percent of the amount collected in the judicial branch information technology fund].
\t2 New Paragraphs; Penalty Assessment; Community Service. Amend RSA 188-F:31 by inserting after paragraph V the following new paragraphs:
\t\tVI. The calculation of any penalty assessment shall include the full fine, including any suspended portion.
\t\tVII. Any person sentenced to community service in lieu of a fine shall pay a penalty assessment of $2 for every hour of community service mandated by the sentencing court.
\t3 Judicial Branch Information Technology Fund; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 490:26-h, I(a) to read as follows: \t
\t\t\t(a) Thirty percent of each entry fee collected in the supreme, superior, and circuit courts [and 16.67 percent of the penalty assessment collected pursuant to RSA 188-F:31] shall be deposited in the judicial branch information technology fund.
\t4 Judicial Branch Information Technology Fund; Reference Removed. Amend RSA 262:44, I to read as follows:
\t\tI. Such defendant shall receive, in addition to the summons, a uniform fine schedule entitled "Notice of Fine, Division of Motor Vehicles'' which shall contain the normal fines for violations of the provisions of title XXI on vehicles for which a plea may be entered by mail. The defendant shall be given a notice of fine indicating the amount of the fine plus penalty assessment at the time the summons is issued; except if, for cause, the summoning authority wishes the defendant to appear personally. Defendants summoned to appear personally shall do so on the arraignment date specified in the summons, unless otherwise ordered by the court. Defendants who are issued a summons and notice of fine and who wish to plead guilty or nolo contendere shall enter their plea on the summons and return it with payment of the fine plus penalty assessment to the director of the division of motor vehicles within 30 days of the date of the summons. The director of the division of motor vehicles may accept payment of the fine by credit card in lieu of cash payment. Any transaction costs assessed by the issuer of the credit card shall be paid out of the portion of the fine amount which is credited as agency income and not out of the penalty assessment charged by the district court. The director of the division of motor vehicles shall remit the penalty assessments collected to the police standards and training council for deposit in the police standards and training council training fund and to the state treasurer to be credited and continually appropriated to the victims' assistance fund [and the judicial branch information technology fund in the percentages and manner prescribed in RSA 188-F:31]. Fines shall be paid over to the state treasurer, and shall be credited as agency income by the department of safety within 14 days of their receipt and shall not lapse to the general fund until the second year of each biennium.
\t\tI. Section 2 of this act shall take effect January 1, 2017.
\t\tII. The remainder of this act shall take effect upon its passage.
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t16-2288
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t11/30/15
HB 1574-FN-A- FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT\trelative to the penalty assessment fund and requiring payment into the penalty assessment for persons performing court-mandated community service.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch and the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training Council state this bill, as introduced, will increase state revenue and expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2017 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local expenditures or revenues.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states the proposed bill would amend the penalty assessment statute and related statutes to remove the Judicial Branch Information Technology Fund from being a recipient of a portion of the penalty assessment. The bill would also enact RSA 188-F:31,VI to require the penalty assessment to be calculated on the full fine, including any suspended portion, and new RSA 188-F:31, VII to impose a penalty assessment of $2 for every hour of community service mandated by the sentencing court. The Branch states the bill does not change the penalty assessment percentage, which would remain 24%, but changes the allocation so the amount funding the Judicial Branch Information Technology Fund would be eliminated and that amount would instead increase funds to the Police Standards and Training Council training fund. The Branch indicates the amount the Judicial Branch Information Technology Fund received penalty assessment funds in the amount of $757,167 in FY 2013, $723,435 in FY 2014 and $701,727 in FY 2015. Regarding the proposed RSA 188-F:31, VI, which would require the penalty assessment to be applied to the full fine, the Branch cannot estimate how much additional penalty assessment revenue would be assessed if the assessment was imposed on the full fine amount whether suspended in whole or part. Concerning the proposed RSA 188-F:31, VII, which would impose a penalty assessment of $2 for every hour of community service, the Branch’s records show 36,246 hours of community service ordered in FY 2014 and 32,801 hours ordered in FY 2015. The Branch assumes these hours are understated as hours ordered may not always be recorded, but based on the hours above; the penalty assessment revenue would have been $72,492 higher in FY 2014 and $65,602 higher in FY 2015. The Branch states the full dollar impact may not be realized as community service is generally granted only to those who cannot afford to pay the fine.
The Police Standards and Training Council states this bill would increase Council’s portion of penalty assessment revenue from 66.66% of the assessment revenue to 83.33%. The Council states the penalty assessment revenue is variable and projecting it is difficult. The Council indicates penalty assessment revenue has declined by an average of 3.63% for the past three years. Based on FY 2015 penalty assessment revenue of $2.8 million, the Council states the proposed 83.33% portion would have yielded an additional $712,216 in FY 2015. The Council assumes the trend in declining assessment revenue will continue and the portion attributable to the percentage increase would also decline in future years. The Council is not able to determine how much additional penalty assessment revenue would result from applying the assessment to the full fine amount or by applying a $2 assessment to each hour of community service.