Revision: Nov. 28, 2023, 8:13 a.m.
HB 1021 - AS INTRODUCED
2024 SESSION
24-2285
09/10
HOUSE BILL 1021
AN ACT relative to body-worn cameras and exculpatory evidence.
SPONSORS: Rep. Hynes, Hills. 2
COMMITTEE: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
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ANALYSIS
This bill makes changes to which individuals are allowed access to police body-worn camera (BWC) footage by allowing criminal defendants greater access. This bill further repeals the requirements that officers only use BWCs while in uniform and that they not use the BWC to record communications with other police personnel.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2285
09/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to body-worn cameras and exculpatory evidence.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Body-Worn Cameras; Use of Footage. Amend RSA 105-D:2, XIII to read as follows:
XIII. Recorded images and sound made from an agency-issued BWC shall be for law enforcement purposes only. All access to this data shall be audited to ensure that authorized users only are accessing the data for law enforcement purposes only. All access to BWC data shall be authorized by the head of the law enforcement agency and only for the purposes set forth in this chapter. Additionally, a defendant in a criminal case is entitled to all BWC footage related to the defendant's case. The defendant is entitled to copy, share, and display the data unless it involves an interview with a victim of a crime or otherwise violates any individual's right to privacy. The state may seek a protective order from the court to prevent dissemination of BWC footage.
2 Body-Worn Cameras; Exculpatory Evidence. Amend RSA 105-D:2, XVIII to read as follows:
XVIII. Any recording undertaken in violation of this chapter or any other applicable law shall be immediately destroyed and, whether destroyed or not, shall not be admissible as evidence in any criminal or civil legal or administrative proceeding, except in a proceeding against an officer for violating the provisions of this chapter or where there is evidence that is exculpatory for a criminal defendant. In a proceeding against an officer for violating the provisions of this chapter, the recording shall be destroyed at the conclusion of the proceeding and all appeals. Evidence that is exculpatory to a criminal defendant shall not be destroyed without a court order and is admissible as evidence in the criminal trial.
3 Repeals. The following are repealed:
I. RSA 105-D:2, IV, relative to officer use of body-worn cameras.
II. RSA 105-D:2, VII(a), relative to communications with other police.
4 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2025.