Revision: Jan. 27, 2017, 1:53 p.m.
HB 397 - AS INTRODUCED
2017 SESSION
17-0719
05/03
HOUSE BILL 397
AN ACT relative to juvenile justice procedures.
SPONSORS: Rep. Walz, Merr. 23; Rep. Wallner, Merr. 10
COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law
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I. Prohibits the use of handcuffs and shackles on a minor who is the subject of a juvenile delinquency petition while the minor is in a court facility occupied by members of the public.
II. Prohibits a prosecutor, law enforcement officer, or other state or municipal employee from advising a juvenile or the juvenile's parent or guardian to waive the right to counsel.
III. Limits the use of room confinement at the youth services center to situations in which there is an immediate risk of serious bodily injury and all other less restrictive measures have been exhausted.
IV. Codifies the annulment procedure in 2015, 260:3, which provides for annulment of a criminal conviction if the criminal offense occurred between May 14, 2014 and July 1, 2015 and while the person was 17 years of age.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
17-0719
05/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Seventeen
AN ACT relative to juvenile justice procedures.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Paragraph; Delinquent Children; Court Sessions; Use of Handcuffs. Amend RSA 169-B:34 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraph:
V. No minor who is the subject of a petition filed pursuant to RSA 169-B:6 shall be held in or escorted through any part of a court facility that is occupied by the members of the public while the minor is in handcuffs, shackles, or other devices which would indicated that the minor is in law enforcement custody or subject to an order of confinement.
2 New Paragraph; Delinquent Children; Waiver of Counsel. Amend RSA 169-B:12 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraph:
V. No prosecutor, law enforcement officer, juvenile probation and parole officer, juvenile parole board member, or any other state or municipal employee shall advise a juvenile to waive their right to counsel under this chapter or under chapter 621, nor shall any such person advise a parent or guardian of a juvenile that the juvenile should waive their right to counsel, nor shall any such person provide information to a juvenile or the parent or guardian of a juvenile under circumstances which a reasonable person would know would encourage a waiver of the right to counsel.
3 New Section; Youth Services Center; Room Confinement. Amend RSA 621 by inserting after section 36 the following new section:
621:37 Room Confinement.
I. No minor confined at the youth development center or successor facility shall be subjected to room confinement except to address an immediate risk of serious bodily injury and after all other less restrictive measures have been exhausted. For purposes of this section, “room confinement” is the involuntary restriction of a minor alone in a cell, room, or other area, including the minor’s own room, except during normal sleeping hours. Restrictions on room confinement pursuant to this section apply without regard to whether the door to an area is locked but do not apply to instances where all residents of the facility are confined to their rooms.
II. Whenever a minor is subject to room confinement, the parent or guardian of the person and, if the child is known to have received a diagnosis of a behavioral health, developmental, or sensory disability, the state's federally-designated protection and advocacy agency for individuals with disabilities shall be notified as soon as possible. For purposes of this section, a child is known to have received a diagnosis if the facility’s records include information indicating such a diagnosis was received.
III. The duration of room confinement shall be no longer than is necessary to address the safety risk. If the confinement lasts for longer than an hour, it must be authorized in writing by a supervisor. If the confinement lasts longer than 2 hours, it must be authorized in writing by the director of the facility. Such authorization must be renewed for every 2-hour period of the confinement. Authorizations under this paragraph shall describe with particularity the circumstances and justification for the confinement and shall be provided to the parent, guardian, and, in the case of a child known to have received a diagnosis of a behavioral health, developmental, or sensory disability, to the state's federally-designated protection and advocacy agency for individuals with disabilities.
IV. No minor shall be subject to room confinement under the circumstances permitted in paragraph I unless he or she is under continuous auditory and visual observation.
4 New Section; Delinquent Children; Annulment. Amend RSA 651 by inserting after section 5 the following new section:
651:5-a Annulment of Criminal Record Based on Conduct Occurring Between May 14, 2014 and 31 July 1, 2015. Notwithstanding any provision of RSA 651:5 to the contrary, any person convicted of a criminal offense which occurred between May 14, 2014 and July 1, 2015, and while the person was 17 years of age, shall be entitled to an annulment of such conviction upon application to the court. This section shall not apply to any offenses which may continue to be prosecuted as an adult criminal offense after July 1, 2015 against persons who have not yet reached 18 years of age. Annulment requests brought under this section shall not be subject to any filing fee, and may only be brought following the expiration of any sentence imposed by the court. The only permitted basis for denial of an annulment request brought under this section is a written finding by the court, based on clear and convincing evidence, that the subject offense would have qualified for transfer to the superior court pursuant to RSA 169-B:24 and that the prosecution would have pursued such transfer.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.