Revision: Nov. 20, 2021, 11:11 a.m.
HB 1335-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2022 SESSION
22-2072
04/05
HOUSE BILL 1335-FN
AN ACT relative to the parole board and the procedure for medical parole of prisoners.
SPONSORS: Rep. Murphy, Graf. 12; Rep. Marsh, Carr. 8; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Sherman, Dist 24; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
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ANALYSIS
This bill revises the criteria necessary for determining if an inmate qualifies for medical parole and revises the membership of the adult parole board. The bill also renames the position of "executive assistant to the parole board" as the "parole board director of operations."
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
22-2072
04/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Two
AN ACT relative to the parole board and the procedure for medical parole of prisoners.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Compensation of Certain State Officers; Department of Corrections; Director of Operations. Amend RSA 94:1-a, I(b), Grade CC to read as follows:
CC Department of corrections [executive assistant to] parole board director of operations
2 Parole of Prisoners; Adult Parole Board. Amend RSA 651-A:3, I-III to read as follows:
651-A:3 Adult Parole Board; Establishment; Procedures.
I. There shall be an adult parole board with [5] members as set forth in paragraph II[, 2 of which shall be attorneys with active licenses]. The members of the board shall be appointed by the governor with the consent of the council for staggered terms of 5 years or until their successors are appointed. No member shall serve more than 2 consecutive terms. A vacancy on the board shall be filled for the unexpired term.
II. The composition of the board shall be as follows:
(a) [One member as chairman] Two attorneys who are members of the New Hampshire bar in good standing and who are in active status.
(b) [Four] Three additional members, to include:
(1) One member with law enforcement or corrections experience, either current or former.
(2) One member with criminal justice experience, which may be direct employment experience, current or former, in some capacity within the criminal justice system, or [post-secondary] postsecondary school teaching, scholarship, and research pertaining to the criminal justice system.
(3) [One at-large member who is either an attorney with an active New Hampshire license or a mental health professional with an active New Hampshire license;
(4)] One at-large member without any categorical designation.
III. The governor shall designate one member as [chairman] chairperson. The salary of the [chairman] chairperson shall be that established in RSA 94:1-a as grade GG, with appropriate step to be determined in accordance the provisions of RSA 94:1-d. The [chairman] chairperson shall designate one other member to serve as [temporary designee chairman] vice chairperson who shall serve as chairperson in [his or her] the chairperson's absence, however, the [designated chairman] vice chairperson shall not receive the [chairman’s] chairperson's salary or employee status while serving in the [chairman’s] chairperson's absence. In the case of a revocation hearing an attorney of the board shall be present at the hearing. Board members shall be paid an annual stipend of $20,000 for each member, to be paid in equal installments on each state employee pay period date. Board members shall be paid mileage at the state employee rate while engaged in parole hearings or administrative meetings.
3 Parole of Prisoners; Medical Parole Amend RSA 651-A:10-a, I-IV to read as follows:
I. Upon the recommendation of the commissioner of the department of corrections and the administrative director of forensic and medical services, after review of the information provided by a physician licensed pursuant to RSA 329, the parole board may grant medical parole to an inmate residing in a state correctional facility, regardless of the time remaining on his or her sentence, provided [all of the following conditions apply:
(a) The inmate has a terminal, debilitating, incapacitating, or incurable medical condition or syndrome, as certified by a physician licensed pursuant to RSA 329, and, if requested by the parole board, at least one additional physician licensed pursuant to RSA 329.
(b) The cost of medical care, treatment, and resources for the inmate is determined to be excessive.
(c) The parole board has determined that there is a reasonable probability that the inmate will not violate the law while on medical parole and will conduct himself or herself as a good citizen] that the inmate falls into one or more of the following medical categories:
(a) Permanently incapacitated. An inmate who satisfies all of the following as certified by a physician licensed pursuant to RSA 329, and, if requested by the board, at least one additional physician licensed pursuant to RSA 329:
(1) Has a medical or mental condition that is not necessarily terminal but prevents the inmate from performing activities of daily living without routine assistance, or for the inmate’s own safety, requires constant supervision;
(2) Has such limited physical or mental ability, strength, or capacity that the inmate poses an extremely low risk of physical threat to others or to the community, and that incarceration does not offer additional restrictions; and
(3) The condition or illness is unlikely to improve noticeably or has little possibility of benefitting from prison rehabilitative efforts throughout the remaining period of the sentence.
(b) Terminally ill. An inmate who satisfies all of the following as certified by a physician licensed pursuant to RSA 329, and, if requested by the board, at least one additional physician licensed pursuant to RSA 329:
(1) Will likely die within 6-12 months if the illness runs its normal course or is entering into hospice care; and
(2) The irreversible and incurable disease, illness, or injury is not caused by noncompliance with a prior standing medical treatment plan.
(c) Serious and complex medical condition. An inmate who satisfies one or more of the following:
(1) Requires medical care, treatment, and resources that exceed the department’s medical capabilities, or requires atypical care; or
(2) Suffers from a serious, life or limb threatening disease, and persistent medical condition which requires tertiary level of care, with concurrent immediate and acute long-term care and defined rehabilitation needs as certified by a physician licensed pursuant to RSA 329, and, if requested by the board, at least one additional physician licensed pursuant to RSA 329.
II. The administrative director of forensic and medical services, on behalf of an inmate, may petition the parole board for hearing to determine if the inmate is eligible for medical parole [and if the inmate is eligible, shall submit the parole plan to the parole board.] A licensed medical practitioner from the department shall attend any medical parole hearing. If the condition, disease, illness, or injury of the inmate does not allow for participation of the inmate at a scheduled hearing, the inmate may have a representative approved by the board or have an attorney participate in the hearing on the inmate’s behalf.
II-a. The board shall require as a condition of release on medical parole that the parolee agree to placement and that the parolee is able to be placed for a definite or indefinite period of time in a hospital, hospice, or other housing accommodation suitable to his or her condition, disease, illness, or injury, including a family home, as specified by the board.
II-b. Any medical parolee shall remain in the assigned residence except to engage in medical treatment.
III. Medical parole shall be granted by a majority vote of the members of the hearing panel if the inmate satisfies the criteria under paragraph I and the parole board has determined that there is a reasonable probability that the inmate will not violate the law while on medical parole and will conduct himself or herself as a good citizen.
IV. The parole board may request, as a condition of medical parole, that such inmate, or his or her representative, submit to the administrative director of forensic and medical services, the results of periodic medical examinations while on medical parole and comply with any other parole conditions imposed by the parole board. The administrative director of forensic and medical services, after review of any such medical examination shall report the findings to the parole board. After review of such findings the parole board may require the issuance of a warrant to return the parolee to the prison for a revocation hearing. If the parole board[, after review of such findings, determines that the parolee no longer has a terminal, debilitating, incapacitating, or incurable medical condition or syndrome,] finds that the condition, disease, illness, or injury of the parolee has improved to the extent that the parolee no longer meets the criteria specified in paragraph I, or has violated the conditions of parole, the medical parole shall be revoked and the parolee shall be returned to the custody of the state.
4 Parole of Prisoners; Executive Assistant. Amend RSA 651-A:5 to read as follows:
651-A:5 [Executive Assistant] Director of Operations. The board may appoint [an executive assistant] a director of operations who shall be an unclassified employee and shall serve at its pleasure. The salary of the [executive assistant] director of operations shall be that established in RSA 94:1-a.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.
22-2072
10/22/21
HB 1335-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to the parole board and the procedure for medical parole of prisoners.
FISCAL IMPACT: [ X ] State [ ] County [ ] Local [ ] None
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| Estimated Increase / (Decrease) | |||
STATE: | FY 2022 | FY 2023 | FY 2024 | FY 2025 |
Appropriation | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Expenditures | $0 | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase | Indeterminable Increase |
Funding Source: | [ X ] General [ ] Education [ ] Highway [ ] Other | |||
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METHODOLOGY:
This bill revises the criteria necessary for determining if an inmate qualifies for medical parole and revises the membership of the adult parole board. The bill also renames the position of "executive assistant to the parole board" as the "parole board director of operations."
The Department of Corrections indicates the language in proposed RSA 651-A:10-a, I (a) provides an opportunity for the parole board to request corroboration by another licensed physician before granting medical parole. The Department assumes this will increase costs by an indeterminable amount if the adult parole board sets a requirement for a specific type of community based physician to be paid for by the Department. In addition, the Department expects it would incur additional costs to hire specialty risk assessors to determine if an inmate meets the conditions of proposed in RSA 651-A:10-a, I (a) (1) through (3). The Department is not able to predict the number of people that would or would not be released on parole due to the proposed language, but does have the following information on the current prison population:
The NH Adult Parole Board indicates there is no fiscal impact associated with changing the title of executive assistant to director of operations as the salary would remain the same. In addition, the proposed changes to RSA 651-A:3, I-III will have no fiscal impact as they are language changes to streamline the text and also make the title of the chair of the board gender-neutral. Regarding proposed RSA 651-A:10-a, I-IV, the Board assumes there would be no fiscal impact as the changes address how the Department of Corrections petitions the Board for medical parole of an inmate, how the parole board judges the inmate against the new criteria for medical parole, how the inmate or their representative provides ongoing medical reports to allow the parole board to determine the inmate’s continued appropriateness for medical parole, and how the parole board revokes medical parole. The Board notes the changes to how the Department petitions the Board for medical parole of an inmate and how the Board the judges the inmate against the new criteria for medical parole were developed to address the Parole Board Audit of April 2019 and to align New Hampshire’s criteria with the best national medical and medical parole practices and criteria.
It is assumed that any fiscal impact would occur after FY 2022.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Corrections and New Hampshire Adult Parole Board