Revision: March 8, 2016, midnight
\t \t\tHB 1628-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2016 SESSION
\t16-2038
\t08/04
HOUSE BILL\t1628-FN
AN ACT\trelative to human trafficking involving persons under 18 years of age.
SPONSORS:\tRep. Gallagher, Belk. 4; Rep. Lachance, Hills. 8; Rep. Hill, Merr. 3; Rep. Seidel, Hills. 28; Sen. Forrester, Dist 2
COMMITTEE:\tCriminal Justice and Public Safety
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ANALYSIS
\tThis bill makes it a crime for a person to pay to engage in sexual contact with a person under the age of 18.
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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\t\tMatter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
\t16-2038
\t08/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Sixteen
AN ACT\trelative to human trafficking involving persons under 18 years of age.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
\t1 New Paragraph; Human Trafficking; Purchase of Sexual Contact With a Minor. Amend RSA 633:7 by inserting after paragraph III the following new paragraph:
\t\tIII-a. A person is guilty of a class B felony if the person pays, agrees to pay, or offers to pay to engage in sexual contact, as defined in RSA 632-A:1 or sexual penetration, as defined in RSA 632-A:1, V with a person under the age of 18, or to observe a sexually explicit performance involving a person under the age of 18. The payment or offer or agreement to pay may be made to the person under the age of 18 or a third party.
\t2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2017.
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t16-2038
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t12/18/15
HB 1628-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AN ACT\trelative to human trafficking involving persons under 18 years of age.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Judicial Branch, Judicial Council 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 impact on state, county and local revenue or local expenditures.
METHODOLOGY:
The Judicial Branch states the proposed bill would enact RSA 633:7, III-a to make it a class B felony for a person to pay, agree to pay, or offer to pay for sex with a person under the age of 18 or to observe a sexually explicit performance involving a person under the age of 18. The Branch has no information on the number of class B felonies that would be brought, but has information on the average cost of processing such cases in the trial court:
| FY 2017 | FY 2018 | |
Routine Criminal Felony Case | $449 | $470 | |
It should be noted average case cost estimates for FY 2017 and FY 2018 are based on data that is more than ten years old and does not reflect changes to the courts over that same period of time or the impact these changes may have on processing the various case types. | |||
The Judicial Council states this bill makes it a class B felony to pay for or offer to pay to engage in sex with someone under the age of 18. Under current law, it is a misdemeanor to purchase or offer to purchase sexual contact in all circumstances. The Council assumes some of these cases are currently prosecuted as prostitution and some as endangering the welfare of a child. The Council assumes this bill would increase the number of felony cases, but not significantly. The Council would have responsibility to ensure anyone charged with a class B felony offense created by this bill who could not afford the assistance of counsel is provided a lawyer at State expense. The Council assumes the number of total cases would not change, but there would be slightly more felony cases and slightly fewer misdemeanor cases. The costs to the Judicial Council to provide counsel for these cases is shown in the table below.
Public Defender Program | Has contract with State to provide services. | Has contract with State to provide services. |
Contract Attorney – Felony | $756/Case | $756/Case |
Contract Attorney – Misdemeanor | $275/Case | $275/Case |
Assigned Counsel – Felony | $60/Hour up to $4,100 | $60/Hour up to $4,100 |
Assigned Counsel – Misdemeanor | $60/Hour up to $1,400 | $60/Hour up to $1,400 |
It should be noted that a person needs to be found indigent and have the potential of being incarcerated to be eligible for indigent defense services. The majority of indigent cases (approximately 85%) are handled by the public defender program, with the remaining cases going to contract attorneys (14%) or assigned counsel (1%). | ||
The New Hampshire Association of Counties indicates there could be an impact on county prosecution and incarceration expenditures. The Association states prosecution costs vary throughout the state and incarceration costs range from $85 to $110 per day.
The Department of Corrections has no information on which to estimate the number individuals that may be found guilty of class B felony under this bill. The Department 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 Department of Justice states this bill would establish a new class B felony offense for paying, agreeing to pay, or offering to pay to engage in sex with someone under the age of 18. The Department states because such offenses are typically handled by county prosecutors, passage of the bill would not impact the Department of Justice’s prosecutorial function. The Department indicates it would handle any appeals from convictions under the newly created offense, could do so within its current operating budget and there would be no fiscal impact on the Department.