Revision: Dec. 27, 2018, 12:01 p.m.
HB 229 - AS INTRODUCED
2019 SESSION
19-0408
04/05
HOUSE BILL 229
AN ACT relative to rulemaking requirements of the department of corrections.
SPONSORS: Rep. P. Schmidt, Straf. 19; Rep. Tucker, Coos 5; Rep. Marsh, Carr. 8; Rep. Dolan, Rock. 5; Rep. Bartlett, Merr. 19; Sen. Watters, Dist 4
COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration
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ANALYSIS
This bill removes the rulemaking exemptions for the department of corrections and requires various policies and procedures of the agency to be adopted by rules under RSA 541-A.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
19-0408
04/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nineteen
AN ACT relative to rulemaking requirements of the department of corrections.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Department of Corrections; Powers and Duties of Commissioner; Rulemaking. Amend the introductory paragraph of RSA 21-H:8, III to read as follows:
III. The commissioner shall adopt, as rules under RSA 541-A, such reasonable internal practices and procedures[, which shall not be considered rules subject to the provisions of RSA 541-A,] as may be necessary to carry out the duties of the department and its divisions, consistent with this chapter. These procedures shall include at least the following elements:
2 Department of Corrections; Powers and Duties of Commissioner; Rulemaking. Amend RSA 21-H:8, XI to read as follows:
XI. The commissioner and the commissioner of the department of health and human services shall jointly establish procedures for sharing data, at least in the aggregate, on delinquents and offenders for purposes of correctional planning and needs assessments. These procedures shall [not be considered rules subject to] be adopted as rules under RSA 541-A and shall be established so as to ensure compliance with state and federal confidentiality and privacy laws.
3 Behavior of Inmates. Amend RSA 21-H:14 to read as follows:
21-H:14 Behavior of Inmates. The commissioner shall establish, as rules adopted under RSA 541-A, written standards regarding the behavior and responsibilities of inmates. These standards shall be made available to all such inmates and shall be considered public records. [These standards shall not be considered rules subject to the provisions of RSA 541-A.]
4 Delivery of Articles to Prisoners. Amend RSA 622:24 to read as follows:
622:24 Regulations. No person shall deliver or procure to be delivered or have in his or her possession with intent to deliver to a prisoner confined in the state prisons, or deposit or conceal in or about the prisons, or in any building or upon any land appurtenant thereto, or in any vehicle entering the premises belonging to the prisons, any article with intent that a prisoner shall receive or obtain it, or receive from a prisoner any article with intent to convey it out of the prisons, or bring into or attempt to take from the prisons any article contrary to the rules [and regulations] established by the commissioner of corrections under RSA 541-A and without the knowledge and permission of the commissioner of corrections.
5 Prisoner's Earnings. Amend RSA 622:29 to read as follows:
622:29 Prisoner's Earnings, etc. The commissioner of corrections may provide for the payment to prisoners confined in the state prisons of such pecuniary earnings, and render to their families such pecuniary assistance, as the commissioner of corrections may deem proper, [under such rules as he may prescribe] pursuant to rules adopted under RSA 541-A.
6 Approved Absences from New Hampshire State Prisons; Authority to Establish Regulations. Amend RSA 623-A:1 to read as follows:
623-A:1 Authority to Establish Regulations. The commissioner of corrections is hereby authorized to establish rules under RSA 541-A permitting approved absences of eligible inmates who are in [his] official custody. The rules shall be subject to the limitations, restrictions, and conditions of this chapter and may impose additional limitations, restrictions, or conditions. The rules may be amended from time to time or rescinded in accordance with RSA 541-A.
7 Sentences and Limitations; Home Confinement. Amend RSA 651:2, V(e) to read as follows:
(e) The department of corrections, [and] in consultation with the various county departments of corrections, shall adopt rules under RSA 541-A governing eligibility for home confinement, intensive supervision, and special alternative incarceration programs.
8 Parole of Prisoners; Credits for Good Conduct. Amend RSA 651-A:22, II to read as follows:
II. The commissioner shall [by rule determine] adopt rules under RSA 541-A relative to the standards for [the] earning [of] credit for good conduct. [Such rules shall not be subject to the provisions of RSA 541-A.] Such rules shall establish standards for prisoners to receive credit for participating in programs designed to reduce recidivism of participants, as determined by the commissioner.
9 Repeal. The following are repealed:
I. RSA 541-A:21, I(aa), relative to the rulemaking exemption for internal practices and procedures of the department of corrections.
II. RSA 541-A:21, I(j), relative to the rulemaking exemption for credits for good conduct of prisoners.
10 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.