HB 1124 - AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
21Mar2024... 0979h
2024 SESSION
24-2582
11/08
HOUSE BILL 1124
AN ACT relative to limiting conflicts of interest for municipal board and committee members.
SPONSORS: Rep. Spilsbury, Sull. 3
COMMITTEE: Municipal and County Government
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ANALYSIS
This bill limits conflicts of interest and excessive concentration of power for municipal board and committee members.
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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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
21Mar2024... 0979h 24-2582
11/08
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to limiting conflicts of interest for municipal board and committee members.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Municipal Office Limitations. RSA 669:7 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
669:7 Municipal Office Limitations.
I. In order to eliminate conflicts of interest in municipal government;
(a) No person shall at the same time hold any 2 of the following offices: selectman, treasurer or deputy treasurer, moderator, trustee of trust funds, collector of taxes, auditor, highway agent, and head of the town’s police department on full-time duty.
(b) No town clerk or deputy town clerk may hold any other elected or appointed office other than tax collector, if authorized as provided in RSA 41:45-a.
(c) No full-time town employee shall at the same time hold the office of selectman.
(d) No town manager or other administrator shall at the same time hold any other office listed subparagraph (a), other than tax collector when authorized under RSA 37:16.
(e) No selectman may also serve as either a school board member serving the same town or a member of a board of assessors elected pursuant to RSA 41:2-c.
(f) No official handling funds of a town shall at the same time hold the office of auditor.
(g) No selectman, moderator, town clerk, deputy town clerk, or inspector of elections shall at the same time serve as a supervisor of the checklist.
(h) No selectman, town manager, school board member except a cooperative school board member, full-time town, village district, school district except a cooperative school district, or other associated agency employee or village district commissioner shall at the same time serve as a budget committee member-at-large under RSA 32 or other municipal finance committee member.
(i) No municipal employee working in a capacity that provides support for a local land use board established under RSA 673 may serve on a local land use board of the same municipality.
(j) No full-time municipal employee or department head shall serve on a planning board, except as expressly provided in RSA 673:2.
(k) No full-time municipal employee or department head shall serve on any budget or finance board or committee of the same municipality.
II. No person shall at the same time file a declaration of candidacy for any 2 or more elected offices that are incompatible under paragraph I.
III. The provisions of paragraph I shall not be construed to prevent the transfer between offices of information obtained in the regular conduct of business nor to prevent the personnel in any office from furnishing clerical assistance to any other office.
IV. This section shall not prevent a member of the governing body from serving as an ex officio on any committee over which the governing body has supervisory responsibility.
V. Alternates for any board shall be treated as a full member in the same manner for the purposes of this section.
2 Applicability; Conflicting Positions Pursuant to RSA 669:7.
On the effective date of RSA 669:7, as amended by section 1 of this act, members of boards and committees holding conflicting positions may remain in those positions until the next elections are held.
| Date | Amendment |
|---|---|
| March 13, 2024 | 2024-0979h |
| Date | Body | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Jan. 17, 2024 | House | Hearing |
| Feb. 21, 2024 | House | Exec Session |
| March 6, 2024 | House | Exec Session |
| March 6, 2024 | House | Floor Vote |
| May 7, 2024 | Senate | Hearing |
April 24, 2024: Hearing: 05/07/2024, Room 103, LOB, 10:00 am; SC 17
March 26, 2024: Introduced 03/21/2024 and Referred to Election Law and Municipal Affairs; SJ 8
March 21, 2024: Ought to Pass with Amendment 2024-0979h: MA VV 03/21/2024 HJ 9
March 21, 2024: Amendment # 2024-0979h (NT): AA VV 03/21/2024 HJ 9
March 15, 2024: Committee Report: Ought to Pass with Amendment # 2024-0979h (NT) 03/06/2024 (Vote 20-0; CC)
Feb. 21, 2024: ==CONTINUED== Executive Session: 03/06/2024 09:45 am LOB 307
Feb. 15, 2024: ==RECESSED== Executive Session: 02/21/2024 09:30 am LOB 307
Jan. 8, 2024: Public Hearing: 01/17/2024 01:30 pm LOB 301-303
Nov. 28, 2023: Introduced 01/03/2024 and referred to Municipal and County Government